InkBall

InkBall is a video game developed by Microsoft for the Windows family of operating systems. It was first released in 2002 as a game for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, but could be played on a regular desktop version of Windows. It was included in Windows Vista and removed in Windows 7.

The Game

The goal of InkBall is to draw lines to navigate different coloured balls into the correct holes under a time limit. There are five different game modes, "Beginner", "Novice", "Intermediate", "Advanced" and "Expert".

In the Windows XP version of the game, the mouse cursor is hidden by default. You can show the mouse cursor by pressing the Alt key twice. The mouse cursor is shown by default in Windows Vista.

Objects

Walls

• Solid walls: Deflects balls, always grey.
• Disappearing wall: Deflects balls, disappears when a ball of the same colour touches it, hence its broken look.
• Colour wall: Deflects balls, and also changes its colour to the colour of the wall when touched.
• One way wall: Deflects all balls that approach it from the opposite direction of the arrow, but does not deflect balls that approach it from the same direction as the arrow. It is always grey.
• Colour filter wall: Deflects all balls of a different colour, but does not deflect balls of the same colour.
• One-way colour-filter wall: Deflects all balls of a different colour that approach it from any direction and any balls of the same colour that approach it from the opposite direction of the arrow. Does not deflect balls of the same colour that approach it in the same direction as the arrow.
• Clock wall: Alternates between disappearing and appearing as a solid wall which deflects balls.
• Keyhole wall: Disappears temporarily when touched by a ball that is the same colour as the wall.
• Ramp: Accelerates balls up, down, left or right depending on the position.

Balls

• Grey ball: A type of ball that is used in the Intermediate, Advanced and Expert game modes. They can only go into the grey finish holes.
• Orange ball: Used in all game modes. Can only go into the orange finish holes.
• Blue ball: Used in all game modes. Can only go into the blue finish holes.
• Green ball: Used in Intermediate, Advanced and Expert game modes. Can only go into the green finish holes.
• Gold ball: Used in all game modes. Can only go into the yellow finish holes. Awards more points when the ball goes into the hole.

Miscellaneous

• Finish hole: The spot where balls are supposed to go in. Once all the balls are in the holes of the right colour, the game proceeds to the next level.

Custom levels

InkBall level data shown in HxD

It is possible to create custom levels for the game, by directly modifying the game executable through a hex editor.

Gallery

• 

  A "Beginner" level

• 

  A "Novice" level

• 

  An "Intermediate" level

• 

  An "Advanced" level

• 

  An "Expert" level