PopCap makes great games. I played their Bejeweled 2 for the iPhone (read my 4-star review here) so much I was afraid I was going to wear out my touch screen. And now they've come out with another addictive time-waster. It's called Peggle and it's PopCap's newest game for the iPod classic, 3d generation iPod nano, and 5th generation iPod with video.

The premise is simple... You have a limited number of balls per level. Your goal is to aim the ball and clear all of the orange pegs and bricks before you run out of balls. You aim the cannon with the scroll wheel and shoot a ball from the top of the screen. Then, the law of gravity kicks in and the ball drops toward the bottom of the screen, bouncing off pegs or bricks it encounters on its way. The pegs and bricks disappear after they're touched by the ball.

Blue pegs and bricks are normal. They have no special value. Use them strategically to bounce the ball where you want it. The green pegs and bricks release a secret magical power. In the picture below that magic power is a set of flippers that allow you bat the ball back up onto the playing field. On a different level the magic power might get you an extra ball. Touch a purple peg or brick to jack your score way up.

At the bottom of the screen is a bucket that moves back and forth of its own volition. If the ball lands in it, you get a free ball. But if the ball touches the bottom of the screen, it's dead and you have to shoot a new ball (if you have a ball left).

If you run out of balls and there are still orange pegs or bricks on the screen, you fail the level and have to replay it. When the ball touches the last orange peg or brick the level is over and you go on to the next. In the picture below the ball has just bounced off the edge of the bucket and is about to touch the last orange peg to complete the level.

With more than 50 increasingly difficult levels it's one of those games that makes you say, "I'll just play one more level..." It's a lot of fun and pretty addictive.

Unlike many iPod games, PopCap also offers versions of Peggle you can play on a Mac or PC. So download the free trial for the Mac or the PC and see how you like it. If you do, for just $5 you can play it forever on your supported iPod.

The Bottom Line

Easy to learn but not so easy to master, Peggle has become one of my all-time favorite iPod games.