About Lemmings

In short: Lemmings is a puzzle game in which the player has to get a certain amount of figures (named lemmings) from a beginning point to an exit point. The lemmings will walk by themselves and turn around when they reach a wall, but they need to be given certain “skills” by the player (like digging a hole or building a bridge) for them all safely to reach the exit. The original Lemmings game was released end 1990 / early 1991 by DMA Design and Psygnosis Ltd for the Commodore Amiga (more information on the history of this version of Lemmings can be found in The Lemmings Story by Mike Dailly) . Soon after it was released, versions for the PC and other platforms were released, and in the years after that, it was released on virtually every platform available. The game has 120 single-player levels to be played (which varies from 100 – 180 on other platforms), and, where available, 20 two-player levels. The single-player levels are separated into four difficulty levels: Fun, Tricky, Taxing and Mayhem (other versions also have “Present” and “Sunsoft” level sets). Beginning at the Fun difficulty, the player is introduced level by level to all the aspects of the game, primarily the skills that can be given to the lemmings.

Original Amiga box image

The following are the 8 skills that (when available in the level) can be given to the lemmings:

	Climber – will let a lemming climb any vertical wall, a skill a lemming will permanently have
	Floater – will let a lemming safely fall distances he might otherwise not survive, also a permanent skill
	Bomber – will make a lemming explode and die after 5 seconds, leaving behind a crater
	Blocker – will make a lemming stand still without letting any other lemming past
	Builder – will make a lemming build a 12-step diagonal upwards staircase
	Basher – will make a lemming dig horizontally
	Miner – will make a lemming dig diagonally
	Digger – will make a lemming dig vertically

More information on the usage of each skill is available on the hints page.

Other options the player has are pausing the game (which is helpful in allowing you to view the level and think about what to do), increasing or decreasing the release rate (increasing will release the lemmings sooner after each other, decreasing will put more time between the rate at which they are released) and exploding all lemmings still in the level (used when you want to get rid of remaining blockers or if you want to give up).

Other game elements:

	Time Limit - by which all required lemmings need to be saved
	Metal – lemmings can’t dig through this
	One-way wall – indicated by arrows on it, lemmings can only dig in the direction of the arrows or vertically through it
	Traps in levels – which kill lemmings one at a time when they walk into them. Not all of these can be seen before a lemming reaches it
	Dangerous elements - which kill all lemmings when they come into contact (water, lava, fire)
	The bottom of the screen - which will just make lemmings disappear

There are certain differences in the Lemmings versions, which include:

· More/less levels – The Sega Genesis version has most levels (180), the SNES version has 125, all other versions have 120 or less (C64, Gameboy and NES versions each have 100). Some levels are also a bit different, usually changed to fit the limits of the platform
· Predetermined skill use areas – Not a good feature that only the NES and Gameboy versions have been cursed with. It means that skills are only used in some places, not necessarily exactly where you give them to a lemming. This can mean the lemming will start doing what you want it to do too late or at an unexpected place.
· Release Rate adjustability – Not all versions allow you to increase or decrease the release rate.
· Map thumbnail – Not all versions have one of these either. Some have one, but won't let you scroll around the screen with it.
· Option to select a left/right walking lemming – Some (though few) versions let you select only a lemming walking to the left or right (like by holding the left/right key and clicking on them). Quite a useful function not available in the original Amiga version.