Gumball (Apple II)

Gumball is a fairly obscure game that involves sorting and collecting gumballs at an increasingly difficult pace. However, it never caught on and legitimate copies of the game are now very rare, though fortunately it was dumped and cracked while the original magnetic disks were still intact.

Not only does the Apple II version have some evil copy protection (especially by 1983 standards), but it also has a couple of secrets hidden within.

Developer Messages#

When the game starts, the player can press Control-J to enable joystick mode. Press and hold button 2 to activate the targeting mode. Afterward, move the joystick to the bottom-left corner of the screen, then press button 1 to see this message:

PRESS CTRL-Z DURING THE CARTOONS

Pressing Control-Z during any of the four cartoons reveals pieces of a ciphered message. When each of these fragments are deciphered and combined, the decoded message says the following:

ENTER THREE LETTER CODE WHEN YOU RETIRE

If the player presses Control-Z while a piece of said ciphered message is revealed, another small clue will be revealed:

DOUBLE HELIX

After completing the game and successfully completing all five levels, typing in DNA at the retirement screen will display the following message:

AHA!  YOU MADE IT!
EITHER YOU ARE AN EXCELLENT GAME-PLAYER
OR (GAH!) PROGRAM-BREAKER!
YOU ARE CERTAINLY ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE
THAT WILL EVER SEE THIS SCREEN.

THIS IS NOT THE END, THOUGH.

IN ANOTHER BR0DERBUND PRODUCT
TYPE 'Z0DWARE' FOR MORE PUZZLES.

HAVE FUN!  BYE!!

                      R.A.C.

("R.A.C." refers to Robert Cook, who is credited on the title screen.)

This message is notable in that it took 33 years to find, mainly because of how obscured it was. As of this writing, it's currently unknown which Brøderbund product the "Z0DWARE" code is meant for.

Hidden Credits#

While in-game, press Control-U, then Control-C, and then Control-B.

References#