It’s more or less impossible to predict where your ball will go after its second bounce - and it frequently bounces ten or twelve times on a given shot - so a lot of Peggle is luck. As much, though, is strategy: hitting the high pegs first so that the chaotic fallout has a better chance of knocking out more oranges lower down, timing long-shots so that they’ll fall in the Free Ball Bucket if they miss, and glancing a ball you know you can hit to maximize the chances of it ricocheting into something else. Each five-level chapter also features its own magical power, triggered by hitting a green peg: Spooky Ball resurrects itself at the top of the screen when it falls off the bottom, Zen Ball analyzes your shot and adjusts it for maximum ricochet-hits and Dragon Ball blazes through everything in its path.

The luck element does become frustrating on the two or three tough levels you’ll encounter: the placement of pegs and physical barriers is fixed, but which ones are orange - and hence essential - is randomized each time the level loads. On some layouts that makes them nigh-impossible to reach, and it becomes easier to restart the level straight away and hope for a better layout. It also spoils the Duel mode, playable against an AI or taking turns with a friend on the same PC. You alternate in trying to score as many points as possible with each shot, but the player who goes first has an enormous advantage: half the board is cleared by the time the other player gets their turn.

The single-player adventure mode lasts a good four hours, and there are another 60 tougher one-off challenges after that. Peggle can be had for a reasonable $20 on Steam and its official site.