Snood

Overview

Snood is an indie shareware tile-matching puzzle game developed and released by Dave Dobson for Mac computers in 1996. It received multiple updates through the late-'90s and 2000's, with some versions also available for MS-DOS and Windows PCs, Pocket PCs, and Palm OS devices.

Heavily inspired by the Bust-A-Move series, Snood tasks players with launching different-colored creatures, called "Snoods", up on the playfield from an adjustable cannon at the bottom of the screen in an attempt to match three-or-more Snoods in a row. Unlike Bust-A-Move, the game moves in a leisurely turn-based pace, with the shrinking of the playfield based not on a conventional real-life timer, but on a "Danger Bar" that both fills up on each launch and depletes on efficient Snood matches (which "releases" other Snoods that are only attached to them).

Originally developed as a hobby project for Dobson, both as a programming exercise and a gift for his wife Christina, the game later received multiple updates adding new game modes (such as Puzzle, Tournament, Journey, and Armageddon) and new game mechanics (such as special "Magic Snoods"). As a shareware game, some versions include nagware while most restrict some content (such as access to custom Snood graphics and "mulligans"). The last version of the original game was v4.10, released in 2008.

The game received multiple third-party adaptations, including the 2001 handheld adaptation by Rebellion and Destination Software, Inc. (which later received a sequel), the 2009 mobile adaptation by Iron Galaxy and EA Mobile, and the 2008 retail game Snood Deluxe by Word of Mouse and Tri Synergy (which later received downloadable updates Snood 2011 and Snood Plus). It also received multiple spin-offs, bringing the "Snoods" to other casual genres (including card solitaire, sudoku, and SameGame games, along with clones of Threes!, Bejeweled, Flappy Bird, and Zuma).

The original game was officially ported to iOS and Android mobile devices on August 30, 2018 as Snood Original. Both the original and GBA versions were later ported to modern Windows PCs, as well as the Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, the original version released as Snood Original on August 25, 2019 and the GBA version released as Snood Advance on March 23, 2020.

Gameplay

The game plays like Bust-A-Move with the exception that there's no time limit in most modes. The player shoots different colored "snoods," queued at random, from a cannon on the bottom of the screen. The cannon can be angled differently, but cannot be moved from the center. The snoods are released and bounce off walls until they make contact with another snood or the ceiling. When three snoods of the same color touch they burst and are removed from the game board. Any snood that is not adjacent to other snoods or the ceiling is cleared from the board. As the round progresses, the ceiling lowers to reduce the playing field.