Game Groups > Oxyd series

In the Oxyd series of games, the player controls a rolling ball and has to touch stones with the same symbols to lock them. A physical simulation allows magnets, gravitation and other effects affecting the ball movement. Cooperative multiplayer is an essential feature of these games, and networking options were included starting with Oxyd and used throughout the series.

The predecessor of the Oxyd games, Esprit, was released as a retail game by Application Systems Heidelberg. After that game, the series was renamed to Oxyd, released under the Dongleware label, with a shareware concept: the game could be copied without permission, allowing it to be shared over PD libraries. To enjoy the overall game however, codes were required for later levels, which had to be purchased in the form of an instruction manual book.

Like its release format, the target audience was fairly unusual as the games weren't marketed primarily towards core players: they were instead intended for more casual players and serious computer users wanting some games on their machine. Some of the earlier titles (like Esprit, Oxyd or Oxyd 2) were for example running on the Atari ST monochrome monitor, which was widespread used by people using their home computers for work, or they were made compatible with the professional workstation models like the Atari TT.