A 1984 ColecoVision game inspired by the art of M.C. Escher. It was designed by Nice Ideas, a division of Mattel that was located midway between Cannes and Nice.
Players are asked to help the Gleebs, "amoeba-like creatures", escape a dimension of paradoxes through a series of Magic Mirrors. Gameplay alternates between two screens: a strange loop of ever-descending staircases, and a cube whose near and far edges criss-cross. On the stairs, all Gleebs must be made to collide and form a single Gleeb to pass through the mirror, while on the cube, they must be split up to pass through the mirror individually.
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual: It explains the game's storyline by way of a Narrative Poem.
- Art Imitates Art: The impossible staircase, impossible cube, rolling lizard, and fish/bird transformations all reference famous Escher prints.
- Bizarrchitecture: This might as well have been the title.
- Interface Screw: The cube levels, taking place on the other side of a mirror, have a Status Line with mirrored text.
- Involuntary Shapeshifter: Lizards exposed to water become fish.
- Status Line: Taking place on the other side of a mirror, the cube levels have status lines with mirrored text.
- Timed Mission: Each level has a five-minute countdown. The game only ends if the clock reaches zero.
