''Nibbles'', also known by the

source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comment (computer programming), comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a Computer program, p ...

's file name ''NIBBLES.BAS'', is a variant of the

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

video game concept used to demonstrate the

QBasic QBasic is an integrated development environment (IDE) and interpreter for a variety of dialects of BASIC which are based on QuickBASIC. Code entered into the IDE is compiled to an intermediate representation (IR), and this IR is immediately ex ...

programming language. ''Nibbles'' was written in

by Rick Raddatz, who later went on to create small businesses such as Xiosoft and Bizpad.

Gameplay

The game's objective is to navigate a virtual

through a walled space while consuming numbers (from 1 through 9) along the way. The

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

must avoid colliding with walls, other snakes or their own snake. Since the length of the snake increases with each number consumed, the game increases in difficulty over time. After the last number has been eaten, the player progresses to the next

level Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights *Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical * Canal pound or level * Re ...

, with more complex obstacles and increased speed. There is a

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

mode which allows a second player to control a second snake by using a different set of keys on the same keyboard.

Development

Nibbles was included with

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few oper ...

version 5.0 and above. Written in

, it is one of the programs included as a demonstration of that

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language. The description of a programming l ...

. The QBasic game uses the standard 80x25 text screen to emulate an 80x50 grid by making clever use of foreground and background colors, and the

ANSI The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organ ...

characters for full blocks and half-height blocks.

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

's 24kB

version was

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

ed in 1990. Because of MS-DOS's prevalence at that time, it was available on almost every

IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones ...

in the early 1990s.

References

External links

MS-DOS 5 included games
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nibbles (Video Game) 1991 video games BASIC software Commercial video games with freely available source code DOS games Linux games MacOS games Microsoft games Snake video games Video games developed in the United States Windows games

Gameplay

Development

See also

References

External links