Line #3 VideoGame/ChuckieEgg


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chuckieegg_5142.gif]]
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3	''Chuckie Egg'' is a 1983 PlatformGame written by Nigel Alderton, simultaneously released on the Platform/ZXSpectrum and Platform/BBCMicro (the two versions having somewhat different JumpPhysics). In the style of the older platformers such as ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' (which the author acknowledges as an inspiration, along with ''Space Panic'') there is no scrolling; the action takes place on one screen, which is replaced by another once its objective is completed, and so on and so on.
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5	Your task on each screen is to collect twelve eggs, avoiding blue ostriches, which move on the platforms and ladders in predictable patterns, and the Mother Duck, which flies towards you ''in front'' of the platforms. Birdseed can be collected to pause the [[TimedMission level timer]] for a while, unless the ostriches eat it first.
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7	And... that's about it. For such a simple game it's amazingly addictive, perhaps because of its virtually flawless difficulty curve. Most players find, as they get better at the game, that they can steadily get ''just a little'' further each time, while the earlier levels gradually become easy enough to get through without losing any lives. This allows you to build up a big reserve of lives midway through the game, ''[[NintendoHard and you'll need them]]''.
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9	''Chuckie Egg 2: Choccy Egg'' was released two years later (without Alderton's involvement; in fact, he disliked the game) and involves Harry exploring a factory to find the necessary ingredients to make chocolate eggs.
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11	!! Tropes present in this work:
12	* ChekhovsGun: "If you see a duck hanging on the wall in the first level...."
13	* CollisionDamage
14	* DamnYouMuscleMemory: The default controls on the BBC Micro version are the standard ZX Spectrum ones, Q/A for up/down and O/P for left/right. Very confusing, as BBC Micro games tend to do the opposite, Z/X for left/right and [=@=]/? for up/down. Fortunately, you can redefine the controls.
15	* EndlessGame: ''After'' the HardModeFiller (see below), if you complete Level 256 you can continue playing from Level 1.
16	* Every10000Points: One extra life, which eventually allows you to get an extra life every level from the large time bonuses.
17	* HardModeFiller: Level (n + 8) has the same layout as Level n. The first iteration has just the ostriches; the second, just the Mother Duck; the third, both; the fourth, additional ostriches; the fifth speeds up the ostriches. Subsequent iterations just decrease the time limit.
18	* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: Only the Commodore version has difficulty levels. They control the global speed of the game.
19	* LadderPhysics: You can jump and catch onto a ladder, but you can't step off one midway unless there's a platform there (but jumping off is allowed). Also, if the bottom of a ladder is in mid-air, you can't let go; you must jump up to fall off the ladder. Finally, probably a glitch, but you can climb ladders sideways, so that your character retains his normal walking animation.
20	* MeaningfulName: Henhouse Harry.
21	* NintendoHard: The early stages are easy, but the later stages require careful jumps and level navigation.
22	* OneHitPointWonder
23	* RoadRunnerPC: Even the speedy ostriches that appear from Level 33 onwards cannot outrun the player.
24	* SequelEscalation: The sequel replaces the single-screen gameplay with an ''entire factory''.
25	* ShoutOut: The layout of Level 8 echoes the "rivets" level of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''.

Context VideoGame / ChuckieEgg