AniPod click wheel game oriPod game is avideo game playable on the various versions of theApple portable media player, theiPod. The original iPod had the gameBrick (originally invented by Apple co-founderSteve Wozniak) included as aneaster egg hidden feature;^[1] laterfirmware versions added it as a menu option. Later revisions of the iPod added^[2] three more games in addition toBrick:Parachute,^{[citation needed]}Solitaire, andMusic Quiz.^[3] Apple later offered iPod games for sale through the iTunes store. These games should not be confused with games for theiPod Touch, which requireiOS and are only available on Apple'sApp Store.

Navigate to Extras → Games and, assuming you have a generation 3 (G3) iPod, you will find Brick, Music Quiz, Parachute, and Solitaire. If you have a G1 iPod, only the Breakout game is available, and that only as an Easter egg (a bit of hidden code on the iPod): access it by navigating to the iPod’s About screen and holding down the button in the centre of the jog wheel for about five seconds. Breakout will appear on your screen. Then, use the jog wheel to move the racket and play while you listen to your favorite songs.^[4]

On 23rd December 2005,CoolGorilla, a new start-up, launched a trivia game for the iPod. It was titled “Rock and Pop Quiz”.^[5]

In September 2006, theiTunes Store began to offer nine additional games for purchase with the launch ofiTunes 7, compatible with thefifth-generation iPod with iPod software 1.2 or later. Those games wereBejeweled,Cubis 2,Mahjong,MiniGolf,Pac-Man,Tetris,Texas Hold 'Em,Vortex, andZuma. These games were made available for purchase from the iTunes Store forUS$4.99 each. In December 2006, two more games were released byEA Mobile at the same price:RoyalSolitaire andSudoku. In February 2007,Ms. Pac-Man was released, followed in April 2007 byiQuiz. Until this time, all the available games could be purchased in a package, with no discount.

In May 2007, Apple releasedLost: The Video Game byGameloft, based on thetelevision show. In June 2007, "SAT Prep 2008" byKaplan was introduced as 3 separate educational games based on the subjects of writing, reading, and mathematics. In December 2007, Apple released a classicSega game,Sonic the Hedgehog, which was originally packaged with theSega Genesis system in the early 1990s.

With third parties likeNamco,Square Enix,EA,Sega, andHudson Soft all making games for the iPod, Apple's dedicated MP3 player took great steps towards entering the video game handheld console market. Even video game magazines likeGamePro andEGM have reviewed and rated most of their games.

The games are in the form of .ipg files (iPod game), which are actually .zip archives in disguise. When unzipped, they reveal executable files along with common audio and image files, leading to the possibility ofthird-party games, although this never eventuated (with the exception of superficial user-madetweaks). Apple never made asoftware development kit (SDK) available to the public for iPod-specific development.^[6] TheiOS SDK covers onlyiOS on theiPhone andiPod Touch, not traditional iPods.

In October 2011, Apple removed all the click wheel–operated games from its store.

This is a list of games that were made available for the newest iPods, excluding the iPod Touch. Each game (other thanReversi andChineseCheckers) costUS$4.99 to buy prior to their discontinuation in 2011.

The list contains54 games that are known to exist. The list is always kept up to date by thisscript.

These are the games that originally came with an iPod.^[8]

iTunes had come under much criticism due to theUK price of iPod games,GB£3.99 (about US$7.40). Many people from the UK had given the games 1-star ratings, stating that Apple was"ripping off" Britain.^[9]

A similar situation occurred inAustralia, where the price wasA$7.49, even though the Australian dollar was (at the time) worth more than the US dollar (A$7.49 = US$7.76).

Developers had criticized Apple for not creating asoftware development kit (SDK) for software developers to create new iPod games; this was likely to keep thedigital rights management of iPod games closed.^{[citation needed]} Despite this, it did not prevent users from running an alternative OS on the iPod such as Linux, whereby, for example, there are ports ofDoom that will run on fifth-generation iPods. Running Linux on an iPod retains the music-playing functionality of the device while also adding features such as the ability to create voice memos through the headphones.

When the iPod Classic and iPod Nano third generation were released, games which had previously been purchased could not be synced to the new iPods. Understandably, this made many consumers angry due to losing their investment.

It is also notable that after a game was downloaded, it could not be downloaded again unless a separate purchase was made for the same item.^[10] This is different behavior than applications downloaded on the App Store, which can be downloaded an unlimited number of times. These issues were later fixed, however, making it possible to install any single game on any number of iPods registered under the same account.

Some older iPod units are capable of using replacementfirmware such asiPod Linux andRockbox. These firmware projects can play many other games, including the aforementioned native port ofDoom; and, via a native port of theGame Boyemulator Gnuboy, many other games could be played, includingSuper Mario Bros.,Tomb Raider,Mega Man,Kirby,Metroid,The Legend of Zelda,Street Fighter, and hundreds more.^[11][12]

With the release of the third-generation iPod in 2003, Apple introduced a ″Notes″ feature to the iPod's firmware. This functionality provided the first opportunity for third-party developers to create simple text and audio games which could be installed and run on an iPod without users needing to replace the official firmware.

With a limit of 1,000 individual .txt files, each with a maximum file size of 4kb, the Notes feature made use of a limited set ofHTML tags.Hyperlinks could also be used to link to other .txt files or folders and play audio files stored on the device.^[13] The limitation of available html tags meant that developers were restricted toChoose Your Own Adventure–style text-based games^[14] or multiple choice–style quizzes with narrated audio.^[15] Subsequently, very few developers used the Notes feature as a way of publishing games.

• An archived iPod game page fromApple.com

• IPod games
• ITunes

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