Nobody will ever mistake the iPod for a Sony PSP or a Nintendo DS, and it won't take the place of one of those devices; but Apple has not left us high and dry when it comes to frivolous ways we can pass the time when we're accompanied by nothing but our iPods. Listening to music is great, and arguably nothing does it better than the iPodexcept that music without something visual to focus on isn't all that effective as a way to keep entertained. If you don't have a color iPod for browsing pictures, you've already watched all the videos on your iPod 5G, or you don't want to spend your time paging through your contacts or text notes, you can always turn to the array of simple video games packaged with the iPod.
All these games are designed to work with the iPod's interface. They work using the rotary wheel and the middle button, just like some of the best classic games from the days of joysticks and sub-8-bit graphics. Some of the games (such as Music Quiz) specifically take advantage of the iPod's nature as a music organizer and database storing everything in your iTunes Library.
Navigate to the Games Menu
From the Main Menu, select Extras, and then choose Games. You'll see the selection of four standard iPod games: Brick, Music Quiz, Parachute, and Solitaire. Play any of these games by scrolling to it and pressing Select. End a game by pressing Menu to return to the Games screen.
Play the Brick Game
Brick, originally the only game on the iPod and available only through a hidden, secret command, is a variation on the old Breakout arcade game programmed in 1976 by none other than Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak. The concept is simple: Use the wheel to move the paddle at the bottom of the screen back and forth to deflect the bouncing "ball" back up to the top of the screen, where it strikes a wall of bricks and breaks each one it touches, earning you points. You lose a "life" if the ball gets past your paddle. Keep the ball moving as long as you can, and break all the bricks to advance to the next level, where the ball moves faster, the paddle is smaller, and the brick wall is thicker.
Tip
On iPod 1G and 2G models, access the Brick game by navigating into the About screen (in the Settings menu) and holding down the Select button for several seconds.
Play the Music Quiz Game
Music Quiz is a game unique to the iPod in which you're presented with five song titles in a list. The iPod plays a randomly selected clip of music (about 10 seconds long) from the middle of a song whose title is somewhere in the list. You must identify the song as quickly as possible, highlight the correct title, and press Select. You earn points for each correct answer, and you score higher the faster you respond. (You can use the Play/Pause button to pause the game at any time.)
Note
Because the iPod must access its disk to select five new random titles for each round, the Music Quiz game is one of the most disk-intensive activities possible on the iPodand one of the fastest ways to run down the battery.
Play the Parachute Game
Parachute lets you engage your itchy trigger finger by putting you behind a defender's gun while helicopters drop paratroopers on you. Aim the gun using the track wheel, and fire using the Select button. Shooting a paratrooper before he reaches the safety of the ground is worth one point, and shooting a helicopter is worth two points. Each shot you take costs you one point, though, so simply filling the air with lead won't get you anywhere.
Play the Solitaire Game
Solitaire is mostly a game of patience. You use the track wheel to browse back and forth through the displayed cards, and you press Select to draw cards from the deck or pick up cards to move them from one pile to another. The game allows you to draw only three cards at a time (rather than a single card), meaning that it's easy to find yourself in an unsolvable game; if you do, just press Menu and re-enter the game to reset the cards.
Note
The iPod 3G, iPod mini, and monochrome iPod 4G have all the same games as are present on the iPod 5G and iPod nano. They're just a bit less flashy in their graphics.
Before You Begin
See Also
Find and Play Music on the iPod
Customize the iPod's Main Menu
Enhance Your iPod's Battery Capacity
Play iPod Games
