Marbol

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Marbol
Developer(s)	Cryptic Allusion/Ganksoft Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Cryptic Allusion/Ganksoft Entertainment
Platform(s)	Mac OS and Windows
Release date	2005
Genre(s)	Puzzle
Mode(s)	singleplayer and multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Not Rated (NR)

Marbol was a concept created by Brian Peek of Ganksoft Entertainment. It was first demoed for the Dreamcast in the DC Tonic demo CD that was handed out to attendees at E3 2001. In 2005, Dan Potter of Cryptic Allusion began collaborating with Brian Peek to get the game completed as Brian Peek originally envisioned it, as well as devising plans to go beyond the original ideas. The freeware version of the game was released for Mac OS X on May 9, 2005, and on July 27, 2005 for Windows. There are plans for a shareware version of the game, entitled Marbol Freestyle, that will include several enhancements to the original game. The big enhancement that's being planned for it so far is a two-player mode, and all the trappings that go with that (PvP attacks, etc). As with games such as Puyo Puyo you can play the 2-player mode by yourself, you'll just get an AI opponent. There are also some extras like special marble types that destroy all marbles of the same color it touches on screen, etc. There may also be internet high scoring capabilities. (A local machine high score table was actually planned for the regular Marbol 1.0 but there wasn't time to code it in).

The Mac OS X version will receive some exclusive features, like being able to use an iTunes playlist as the background music, using iPhoto pics as backdrops for the levels, etc.

As time goes on, if interest in Marbol Freestyle seems reasonable, Cryptic Allusion will probably produce upgrades with better artwork, and more features.