Falldown

About the game

Falldown is a one-idea arcade game, and the idea is in the name. You are a ball at the top of the screen, and rows of green blocks, each with a gap in it, rise from the bottom. All you can do is slide left and right so that the ball drops through the gap and lands on the next row. The rows keep coming up, the ball keeps falling, and the game ends when the rows push you against the top of the screen. Your score is how far you went.

The game is a remake of a classic that circulated on graphing calculators in the late 1990s. The author credits the TI-83 port that inspired it and the original authors, and wrote his own version in Fennel, a Lisp, for the TIC-80. It has two speeds, Fast and Slow, chosen on the title screen, and it keeps your high score.

The rhythm is what makes it work: the gaps are irregular, the ball needs a moment to line up, and every decision has to be quick. Runs last seconds, which makes it very easy to say "one more try".

Playing it here

Falldown was made for TIC-80, a fantasy console: an imaginary 1980s-style computer with a 240 by 136 screen and 16 colours, for which independent developers write new games. It runs here in the official TIC-80 web player. Click Play, press Left or Right to choose Fast or Slow and press Space to start.

Your high score is kept in this browser. The game needs a keyboard because it starts and restarts with Space; Esc opens the TIC-80 menu.

Controls

A few things worth knowing

Look one row ahead. The next gap is what matters, not the one you are passing through, so start sliding as soon as the ball leaves a row.

Do not stop. The title tells you: do not hesitate. Moving early is almost always better than waiting to be sure.

Slow mode is the place to learn. The rows rise more slowly, which gives you time to see how the gaps are laid out.

Frequently asked questions

Is my high score saved? Yes, in this browser. Clearing the site data in your browser deletes it.

Does it work on a phone? Not well: starting and restarting need the Space key.

Is it free? Yes. The code is free software under the GNU GPL version 3.

Credits and licence

Falldown was made by Colin Woodbury (fosskers), as the screen says "FALLDOWN by CW (2023)", inspired by a TI-83 port by IG (1999) of an original by AE and FD. The code is under the GNU General Public License, version 3, stated in the header of the cartridge, which holds the game's complete, readable Fennel source code, so the file served here is also its source code. It runs here in the TIC-80 web player (MIT licence). The licence texts are linked from this page.