[b]edit:[/b] 3 new worlds got added in august, now there are 100 levels total.
do you play a mean pinball? do you have a supple wrist? time to be a pinball wizard in [b]plungeroo[/b], but there has to be a twist. namely, you're laying down the path for the ball to reach the hole, the very opposite of the philosophy behind pinball. if present, gotta pass over all the pressure plates that lower the wall around the hole first. besides bumpers as the main guiding force, there are, well, other pinball machine parts. I know zero terminology.
after a major content update there are [b]100 levels[/b], unlocked one by one, the least accessible way (except the bonus level, that's neat), but an [b]unlock all levels option[/b] got patched in. there are on-screen level numbers and [b]undo and hints[/b] are also available. the former isn't really necessary, you can easily re-arrange stuff and [b]a failed attempt doesn't reset the whole thing[/b]. no level complete screen, the next stage loads automatically. without rating, move limit or anything to consider, it's fine.
[b]controls are mouse-based and needed improvement as well.[/b] left click on the arsenal on the bottom or a placed item to rotate, hold to drag it around, let go to place, right click while being held to rotate. right click and mouse wheel rotation had to be patched in, along with left click to pick up, left click to place on top of holding and dragging. the latter is either or, can be set in the options for accessibility and convenience.
clicking the home button or [b]pressing esc quits the level instantly[/b]. should be a needs-holding thing with an indicator or a confirmation prompt. the only other hotkeys I found were 'r' for reset and 'h' for hint, nothing for undo, as they're all undocumented, no tooltips, nothing. except I accidentally found out during an alt+tab in the menu that [b]holding alt brings up tooltips for the icons and the game is completely playable with the keyboard[/b]. why the hell would you do it like this? with so much wasted space they could and should be on-screen all the time. so there's q/e on level select to change packs, arrows/wasd and enter to pick one, also to select and place stuff on levels (honestly, didn't even think to try until then). oh, and 'z' is undo.
[b]really nice retro presentation[/b] for the most part, each world with its own theme, as usual (the monochrome one is my favorite). the nature of a pinball table means most of the screen on a level is empty, [b]backgrounds are totally blank and often way too bright, so partial dark mode was a welcome addition[/b]. tables with gaps have animated backgrounds already, though those on the entire screen would be a horrible idea and wouldn't mind a toggle for them as is either, I prefer static over animated. separate volumes, windowed mode and resolutions (another thing that had to be requested), languages, in-game representation of achievements, all only accessible from the main menu. for some reason, there are 2 icons for the credits and player profiles would be nice too.
the concept is nothing new, it's [b]essentially a draw a single line puzzler[/b], but the pinball coat of paint, while reminiscent of mini-golf (so much so that world 2 takes place there), is a rarity and works well. not sure why it's 2gb but overall, [b]a nice little game for a few hours[/b]. starts out easy, doesn't get a whole lot more challenging later either, mostly because of the limited space and mechanics, but I still ran into some trouble. visualizing paths, looping ones most of all, is one of my many shortcomings, so hints were much appreciated. there's a [b]demo to try[/b], make sure you do.
