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Just what is it about balls that makes them so fascinating for programmers of puzzle games? Just what else can they do with them? (On second thoughts, don't think about it.) The Zoo have opted for the abstract approach.

The Ball Game is played on an 8x8 board, divided into squares, by one to four players. Each square may be one of three colours, corresponding to a points value. The players assume the role of one of the elements earth, air, fire or water, with a particular colour. These are three ways to move on each player's turn: walking, jumping and teleporting. You can only walk to an adjoining square; this creates a ball of your colour on the square you've just left and your score increases by the amount indicated by that square's colour. Jumping means you can move to a square two squares away, even over other balls, and all balls on the surrounding locations will turn to your colour. Teleporting moves you to a random square that hasn't any adjacent balls or players, so if you teleport and there aren't any free spaces, you're out of the game. This is the only way to end the game, and the winner is the player with the most points when this happens.

It sounds massively complex, but actually it's simplicity itself to play. In fact, there's a sneaking suspicion that it's too darn simple, because after a few games you just get a little bit bored. The boards get more difficult, sure, but that's about all. The graphics, too, are entertaining for the first couple of minutes - the little players trundling about and shooting with their guns to change the colour of the squares - but these too become tiresome. So nothing special, but passable (he said, grudgingly).