When I was around 15 I found myself playing Boulder Dash (1984) on my C64 for a long while: despite I didn't like puzzle games at that time, with very few exception, its perfect mix with action games was very fresh and charming. After spending some time on it, mostly on the first caves, finding my way out and being crushed by rocks and diamonds, thoughts naturally started taking a different route and kept going since today.

The fascinating part of that game was that it's about you against the rules of physics. It's you against something that isn't your enemy, is not trying to rule the world, is not designed for haunting you forever: it's there, for you, the rocks you've to avoid and the diamond you've to collect. It's man versus his own existence. It's about the choices he makes, the path he decide to dig in life. Shining happiness is there, sorrounded by ruthless failure. All is about taking the right route, running around failure and hoping for a long and worthy life.

But Boulder Dash have some more to teach. Sadness and happiness moves in the very same way - they are just different in color and number. They are still, ready to roll and fall on the right spot or crush you. Because, when not approached carefully, happiness can kill you as much as every problem. And a problem, rolling fast over your head, can be a good opportunity for more happiness - or just a part of a clever strategy you've in mind.

And what about the others? They are running in circle at our eyes (is it true?), but it's enough for keeping an eye on them. And what's that thing, that turns problems in happiness and vice versa, for a while? Is it the job we decide to do in life or the Boulder Dash 'Magic Wall'? And that thing that keep growing everyday and can turn in huge happiness when carefully confined or impenetrable despair when way too large? Is that our ambition? Is that a project we've for the future? Is that the Boulder Dash amoeba? And what about the exit to another stage, that opens after a certain amount of diamonds are collected - but you can collect as many more diamonds you can within the time limit?

Heh!

We can keep going forever. But, is all this thinking just building castles in the air? For most of the people, yes: this kind of 'videogame anthropology' is mostly found in comic strips - or in very bad videogame reviews. We all know that that an 'antropology' book is the place for studies about humans and their societies, and the same goes for religion, mathematics, physics etc. And we're also grownups and know that messages can be hidden on purpose in medias, doing politics propaganda in a funny movie or teaching history with a comic.

What we forget, instead, is that everything (for now) is written by humans and - in some way - part of them, their everyday life or a single blazing thought of the author can be impressed on paper. Are we able to spot them in a middle of something? Everything is the humanity diary, after all.

Plot!

You've been trapped in a mine and that's too bad! But every cloud has a silver lining - that's a diamond mine! Collect as many diamond as you can within the time limit and find your way out! Choose the difficulty level on the main screen with UP/DOWN and start a new game hitting the A BUTTON. Once in the game use UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT for moving around. You can hold LEFT/RIGHT for pushing a rock sideways. Hold the A BUTTON while pushing a direction for performing an action without moving (pushing a rock, picking a diamond). Hold the B BUTTON for a while for killing yourself - if your strategy didn't work and you're trapped somewhere. But, please, don't use this in real life. Any hope is lost forever for real.

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