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1983 video game From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hover Bovver is a 1983 maze video game written by Jeff Minter released for the Commodore 64. A port to Atari 8-bit computers by Aaron Liddiment followed in 1984.[1] Like many of Minter's other games, it has an offbeat sense of humour.[2] The background music is based on the folk tune "Country Gardens" by Percy Grainger, arranged by James Lisney.[3]
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2017) |
| Hover Bovver | |
|---|---|
| |
| Publisher(s) | Llamasoft |
| Designer(s) | Jeff Minter |
| Programmer(s) | Jeff Minter (C64) Aaron Liddiment (Atari) |
| Platform(s) | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 |
| Release | 1983: C64 1984: Atari 8-bit |
| Genre(s) | Maze |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The purpose of the game is to mow the lawn (using the neighbour's mower) whilst avoiding static obstacles – the flowerbeds – and mobile enemies, including the neighbour himself.[4] The player's pet dog will antagonise the neighbour and keep him away, but as the dog itself is vulnerable to the mower, care must be taken not to run it over.
The lawnmower is controlled with the joystick. Completion of a level requires to mowing every square of grass on the screen. The mower moves slowly at first, but accelerates rapidly if the joystick is held in a single direction, encouraging the player to optimise a route to include as many long, straight lines as possible.
The player is pursued by "the neighbour", an antagonist who always moves directly towards the player. If caught by the neighbour, the player loses a credit, although this is represented as the neighbour taking the lawnmower away (it being, in fact, the neighbour's property) and the player having to borrow a mower from someone else. The player's credit remaining are indicated by the name of the neighbour from whom the current mower has been borrowed: Jim, Tom and finally Alf.
As well as grass, the playing area also includes hedges through which the mower cannot be moved,[5] and flowers. Mowing flowers results in a second antagonist, the gardener, appearing who pursues the player in the same way as the neighbour.[6] Unlike the neighbour, the gardener will not walk over the existing flowerbeds. Moving the mower too fast results in the mower heat gauge rising; if it reaches maximum, the mower will stop moving until the gauge drops back to a particular level. It usually results in the player being caught by the neighbour or gardener.
The player's only weapon is their dog. By hitting the fire button, the player can set the dog on the neighbour or gardener.[7] This causes them to run away or freeze in place. The amount of time for which this can be done is limited (displayed as a Dog Loyalty meter). The dog also remains active, roaming randomly on the board even when not being used to attack. A Dog Tolerance meter slowly drops, representing a time limit. Once this reaches zero, the dog begins to attack the mower, causing an immediate overheat if he manages to bite it. If Dog Loyalty remains, the dog can be distracted from attacking the mower by commanding it to attack the neighbour or gardener instead. Also, if the mower collides with the dog, the Dog Tolerance meter immediately drops to zero.
In 2002, Idigicon released a Microsoft Windows version under its Kool Dog label. It was not programmed by Jeff Minter. Mower acceleration was removed, and the player has 5 lives instead of 3.
In 2018, Elektronite released an Intellivision version. It was not programmed by Jeff Minter but rather by Óscar Toledo Gutierrez.[8]
In 2002 Minter released a sequel, Hover Bovver 2, for the Windows and PocketPC platforms. This introduced new features:
In 2022 Llamasoft released a version of Hover Bovver that runs under MAME.[9][10]
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