Marc & Penny Kniffelspiel is a puzzle game developed by German company CAPS Softwaredesign ULM and published by National Association of German Cooperative Banks (German: Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken, BVR).
Marc &…
Marc & Penny Kniffelspiel is a puzzle game developed by German company CAPS Softwaredesign ULM and published by National Association of German Cooperative Banks (German: Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken, BVR).
Marc & Penny were two advertisement characters BVR used from 1981 to 2007. They appeared in a children's magazine which was handed out for free in subsidiaries of the BVR. Marc & Penny Kniffelspiel was publsihed as a free promotional game to promote the BVR's bank account for children and youngsters.
The game is a slightly reworked version of the developer's game Arcy 2. Marc and Penny only appear on the title screen, but not in the game. Instead of collecting keys, you now collect coins. Several levels from Arcy 2 also appear in this version, but I don't know if all levels are from Arcy 2.
Each level consists of a single screen. You need to collect all coins in the level in order to unlock the exit, and then manage to get to the exit. You need to avoid enemies and make clever use of your environment to reach all coins. There are boulders which can be pushed around and slippery boulders which fall down, Boulder Dash style. Water cannot be crossed, but it can be filled with boulders. Lasers shoot periodically and transform everything they hit into blue crystals, which can be collected. Some creatures are lethal to the touch while others are non-lethal but may block you. Some creatures only go after you if they see you. Sometimes you even need to use other creatures for cover in order to pass. Certain creatures will turn themselves and all adjacent obects into crystals when closed in with boulders, which is sometimes the only way to get through an obstacle.
