View source for GooBall

{{Infobox video game
|title = GooBall
|image = GooBall.png
|developer = [[Unity Technologies|Over the Edge I/S]]
|publisher = [[Ambrosia Software]]
|designer =
|released = March 2005
|genre = [[Action game|Action]]
|modes = [[Single-player]]
|platforms = [[Mac OS X]]
}}
'''''GooBall''''' is a 2005 [[Arcade video game|arcade]]-style [[puzzle video game]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moss |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YrlbEAAAQBAJ |title=Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the internet |date=2023-01-10 |publisher=Unbound Publishing |isbn=978-1-80018-110-6 |language=en |access-date=2023-05-26 |archive-date=2023-04-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426210822/https://books.google.com/books?id=YrlbEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> developed by Over The Edge Entertainment (now [[Unity Technologies]]) for [[Mac OS X]] and published by [[Ambrosia Software]].<ref name="macworldmarch2005">{{Cite web |last=Cohen |first=Peter |date=March 16, 2005 |title=Ambrosia releases GooBall game |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/174909/gooball.html |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=[[Macworld]] |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122003729/https://www.macworld.com/article/174909/gooball.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Cook |first=Brad |date=May 2005 |title=Darwinia and GooBall: Grok These Games |url=http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2005/05/ambrosia/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221002944/http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2005/05/ambrosia/ |archive-date=December 21, 2010 |access-date=January 22, 2023 |website=Apple Games}}</ref> It is Over The Edge's first game, and runs on an early beta version of the [[Unity (game engine)|Unity engine]], which it was meant to showcase.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Nicoll |first1=Benjamin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osKqDwAAQBAJ |title=The Unity Game Engine and the Circuits of Cultural Software |last2=Keogh |first2=Brendan |date=2019-08-22 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-25012-6 |pages=13 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="insidemacgames">{{Cite magazine |last=Satterthwaite |first=Mark |date=April 21, 2005 |title=GooBall |url=http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=575&Page=1 |url-status=dead |magazine=[[Inside Mac Games]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051101152026/http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=575&Page=1 |archive-date=November 1, 2005 |access-date=January 22, 2023}}</ref> Though it was highly downloaded, the game was commercially unsuccessful, leading Over The Edge to change its focus from making games, to making the Unity engine.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=An interview with Unity's David Helgason |url=https://www.engadget.com/2005-10-04-an-interview-with-unity-ceo.html |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=Engadget |date=4 October 2005 |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122020441/https://www.engadget.com/2005-10-04-an-interview-with-unity-ceo.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=Dakin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_xAyEAAAQBAJ |title=Going Public: How Silicon Valley Rebels Loosened Wall Street's Grip on the IPO and Sparked a Revolution |date=2022-07-26 |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |isbn=978-1-5387-0790-6 |language=en}}</ref>
== Gameplay ==
The player assumes the role of an alien stranded on Earth. "Goober", as the alien becomes known to the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], is stuck inside a life support device made of [[protoplasm]]. The gameplay is similar to the ''[[Super Monkey Ball]]'' series in that the player tilts the environment, which causes Goober to roll around in it, collecting gems and making its way to the end gate within the imparted time. Goober can stick to surfaces by holding down the [[command key]]; this ability can be used to climb walls, or to avoid falling off from ledges. Jumping while in sticky mode launches Goober away from the wall, which players can use to reach the end of more advanced levels.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Cohen |first=Peter |date=June 2005 |title=GooBall |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/175553/gooball-2.html |magazine=[[Macworld]] |pages=41–42 |access-date=January 22, 2023 |archive-date=January 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122003731/https://www.macworld.com/article/175553/gooball-2.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="insidemacgames" /><ref name=":0" />
== Reception ==
{{Video game reviews
| title = GooBall
| rev1 = ''[[Macworld]]''
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="macworldmarch2005" />
| rev2 = ''[[Inside Mac Games]]''
| rev2Score = 8.5/10<ref name="insidemacgames" />
}}
''[[Inside Mac Games]]'' writer Mark Satterthwaite praised the game's level design, sound effects, and especially its graphics, saying that the game "offers lighting and [[shader]] and particle effects more commonly seen in top-of-the-line shooters like Doom 3". He said that "smooth sand and rippling water [...] looks better than anything in Halo or Doom 3", and called it "one of the few truly [graphically] impressive" Mac games at the time. However, he criticized GooBall's [[Virtual camera system|camera]] orientation, and its lack of [[gamepad]] support.<ref name="insidemacgames" />
Apple games reviewer Brad Cook compared GooBall to [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]''.<ref name=":0" />
In an October 2005 interview, Over The Edge CEO David Helgason called GooBall a "perfect showcase for Unity".<ref name=":2" /> Despite high downloads, the game was not a commercial success, leading Over The Edge to change its focus to engine development.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cook |first=Dave |date=October 18, 2012 |title=Unity interview: engineering democracy |url=http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/18/unity-interview-engineering-democracy/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025051556/http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/18/unity-interview-engineering-democracy/ |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |access-date=January 22, 2023 |website=VG247}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==External links==
* {{Official_website}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20050318042834/www.ambrosiasw.com/games/gooball/ 2005 archive], [https://web.archive.org/web/20120307180507/www.ambrosiasw.com/games/gooball/ 2012 archive])
{{Ambrosia Software}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gooball}}
[[Category:2005 video games]]
[[Category:MacOS games]]
[[Category:MacOS-only games]]
[[Category:Ambrosia Software games]]
[[Category:Action games]]
[[Category:Video games developed in the United States]]
{{platform-videogame-stub}}
[[Category:Single-player video games]]