Pushover

Sometimes the best ideas come from the most unexpected places — and Pushover is proof of that. This puzzle game from Red Rat Software, released in the early 1990s, was created to promote the Quavers snack, so the player is guided by a mascot in the form of an ant named Colin Curly, who sets out to save the spilled goodies. The commercial origin, however, does not prevent it from being one of the cleverest puzzles of its time.

The principle is ingeniously simple and at the same time devilishly clever. On each level there are domino pieces arranged around, and your task is to place them correctly so that knocking over a single one creates a chain reaction that topples all the others. The catch is that there are many kinds of pieces with different behaviors — some fall normally, others split, still others act as switches or disappear. You therefore have to work out the exact order and placement.

The mechanic combines planning with a small dose of dexterity, because you also actively control the ant across the platforms. You have to carry the pieces, place them in the right spots and only then trigger the cascade. The feeling when, after long deliberation, the whole structure collapses perfectly as planned is among the most satisfying things puzzle games offer.

Pushover excelled with gradually increasing difficulty and a large number of levels that forced players to think ever more creatively. It was a title that relied not on reflexes or a graphic show, but on the pure elegance of the puzzle — on that moment when the solution, which had seemed impossible before, finally clicks into place in your head.

At a time when puzzle games were experiencing a golden era on home computers and titles like Lemmings stood alongside it, Pushover found its place as a clever, addictive and surprisingly deep affair. It proves that even a game born from a marketing campaign can be a magnificently designed puzzle that players gladly return to.

Why play: An elegant domino puzzle where each level is a small engineering riddle — pure joy from having your plan work out perfectly.