Chuckie Egg



Chuckie Egg is a classic Platform Game written by Nigel Alderton, simultaneously released on the ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro (the two versions having somewhat different Jump Physics). In the style of the older platformers such as Donkey Kong (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.

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 level timer for a while, unless the ostriches eat it first.

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, and you'll need them.

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.

Tropes include:


 * Chekhov's Gun: "If you see a duck hanging on the wall in the first level...."
 * Collision Damage
 * Damn You Muscle Memory: 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.
 * Difficulty Spike: The game really gets serious from Level 21 onwards.
 * Endless Game: After the Hard Mode Filler (see below), if you complete Level 256 you can continue playing from Level 1.
 * Every Ten Thousand Points you get an extra life.
 * Fan Nickname: The ostriches are often called "hens", either because they look smaller than ostriches or because the main character's name is Henhouse Harry, but Word of God says they are meant to be ostriches.
 * Hard Mode Filler: 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.
 * Ladder Physics: Very strange ones; see that page for details.
 * Meaningful Name: Henhouse Harry.
 * Nintendo Hard
 * One-Hit-Point Wonder
 * One Winged Angel Duck
 * Road Runner PC: Even the speedy ostriches that appear from Level 33 onwards cannot outrun the player.
 * Sequel Escalation: The sequel replaces the single-screen gameplay with an entire factory.
 * Shout Out: The layout of Level 8 echoes the "rivets" level of Donkey Kong.
 * That One Level: Level 23 is often seen as this, but it's not that bad if you know the staircase jumping trick. Level 32 is the really sadistic one, but it has less of a reputation because few players reach it.
 * Urban Legend of Zelda: No, there are no levels with two Mother Ducks. See below.
 * What Could Have Been: Alderton had several ideas for additional iterations of the levels that were never implemented, such as a second Mother Duck and breaking or removing some of the ladders.