Pengo

Pengo is an action game developed by Coreland and released in arcades in 1982. It was later ported to home computers and game consoles. In the game players control Pengo the Penguin in an ice maze with the goal of defeating the dangerous Sno-Bees that are in pursuit.

Pengo is viewed with a top down perspective of a maze made out of ice blocks. The maze isn't fixed in place like in many maze style games; Pengo can move the ice blocks by pushing them, or the ice blocks can be destroyed if pushed and there is no room for them to move to (such as if another ice block is blocking the space or the block is at the edge of the playfield). Within some of the ice blocks are Sno-Bee eggs; at the beginning of each round, some of the eggs will hatch into Sno-Bees which will chase Pengo (the number of Sno-Bees on the screen at once varies depending on the level of difficulty selected). If a Sno-Bee catches Pengo, a life will be lost. Pengo can defeat the Sno-Bees by crushing them with ice blocks or stunning them and then walking over them (Sno-Bees can be stunned if they are near one of the walls at the edge of the playfield and Pengo kicks the wall). Each time a Sno-Bee is destroyed, one of the remaining eggs will hatch; if an ice block containing a Sno-Bee egg is destroyed then the egg within it is also destsroyed making for one less Sno-Bee that can hatch. Once there are no more eggs and all of the Sno-Bees are gone, the level is completed and the next, faster level begins. Each level has a time limit of 2 minutes; a life is lost if the level isn't completed in this time, or bonus points are earned if the level is completed with time to spare. As the Sno-Bees wander the maze and chase Pengo they will frequently destroy the ice blocks; when there are fewer ice blocks Pengo has less opportunity for defense so completing levels fast before all the ice blocks are gone can be advantageous.

On each level there are three ice blocks with diamonds in them; these blocks cannot be destroyed by Pengo or the Sno-Bees. If all three blocks are lined up next to each other, bonus points are earned and all Sno-Bees will be temporarily stunned. More bonus points are earned if the blocks are lined up in the middle of the playfield without touching any of the four walls.