IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

Hookey!

by DAVID PLOTKIN

Playing hookey from school is not such a good idea unless you want to be unemployed. But playing HOOKEY!, the game in this month's ANTIC, is an acceptable alternative.

How do you play HOOKEY!? First, type it into your computer and SAVE a copy before running it. Then run TYPO on it and fix any mistakes in your typing. Plug a joystick into Port One and you are ready.

You control a kid who decided to play on the local rock pile today instead of going to school. Guide the kid from stone to stone, turning each square from dark to light as he lands on it.

The joystick only responds to four directions: left, right, up and down. The play mechanics get are a little unusual, but you'll get used to them. You get a bonus for stepping on every stone then the pile is redrawn and it all starts over. You get ten points for each square completed and a thousand points for completing the whole rock pile. You start with three lives and get a new one at each thousand points you earn. Using all your lives ends the game.

Sounds easy, right? Come on folks, have you ever known me to write an easy game? First of all, you'd better stay on the pile! Hopping into empty space or stepping off the edge of the rock pile results in a loss of life when you fall off the screen. Next, three truant officers are determined to put you back in school.

They will converge on you, and they get smarter and faster with each round. If one touches you, you lose one life and have to start over at the top of the pile again. If they catch you when you have only one life left, then off you go to reform school, and the game is over.

By the way, due to the slowness of BASIC, the score and "lives" displayed on the screen are only updated when you are captured, fall off the rocks, or light all the squares. The program does know what these quantities are, however, so don't worry.

Listing: HOOKEY.BAS Download