Start with a grid of flip gates à la Lady Bug, add a couple of things to chase each other around inside, throw in a challenge round bonus screen and voilà! Instant computer game. So how from these simple roots did we get a scenario about creatures called Drelbs, who are imprisoned in the time of unicorns and sorcerers by other creatures called Trollaboars and generally harassed by Gorgolytes (sometimes called Gargolytes) and Screwhead Tanks? You can't tell the players apart without a scorecard and none is provided, so just wing it.


Drelbs is an interesting game with many potentials for strategy. You've got to flip your flip grid to make complete squares while avoiding your enemies. Complete enough squares and you've freed a bunch of Drelbs and can go to the next screen to rescue them. But there are other ways to get to Drelbsville. Kissing the beautiful Princess is my favorite. (Don't bother to ask who she is. If you complete the game you get to discover her secret.) The Princess turns into a Gorgolyte (cf. Gargolyte) as soon as you look at her with a twinkle in your eye, though, and kissing a Gorgolyte is a fate equivalent to death.


There are two basic strategies - offensive and defensive. The offensive mode of play involves not only being rude but also chasing the Trollaboar around and trying to catch him inside a square. The defensive mode calls for a lot of running away from the Trollaboar. Both seem to work just as effectively because so much of the game seems to be random. Sometimes you'll get lots of opportunities to transport yourself into Drelbsville. Other times you'll close off every square and still not get a Drelbish window, the preferred mode of Drelbish dimension travel.


The graphics are excellent and once you get the hang of it, Drelbs is a challenging game. A little less luck would have made for a little more interest, though.


If you're not directly next to the Princess when she appears, forget it. You'll only get a mouthful of Gorgoltye.