Archibald's Adventures is an engaging little puzzler that has actually been around for quite a while, but the latest version contains not only the original game, but its two expansion packs as well, for 179 levels of 2D fun.

The gameplay revolves around a young skateboarder who falls down a large pipe one day while trying to impress his friends with a huge jump. He ends up in his kooky grandfather's secret laboratory, where the old man tells him he's lost control of his computer, which is why there are now mutated creatures running about the place. Just go with it.

So, the professor needs you to deactivate the computer by hand, by traversing the complex and putting your skateboard skills to use. Each level is a puzzle with only one solution. You must get from the starting point of a room to its exit, using only your character's skating ability. The controls to do this couldn't be simpler -- A and D or directional keys left and right move your 'boarder, and that's it. He'll jump automatically when he hits an obstacle his height (which we'll call "one square", as the game is laid out by squares); or, rather, he'll jump up onto the obstacle.

Furthermore, he's got two skating speeds, regular and max. Continuously skating for three squares gets you max speed, which allows you to leap over large gaps. This is an important distinction to make, as all of the levels require careful judgment of the distances between surfaces.

Another important element to note: you can only fall six squares without dying. This too plays into your negotiation of a level, as sometimes you have to fall just to reach an area you're aiming for. And there's a difference between a regular speed fall and a max speed fall as well. You'll also bounce off of walls when you fall into them, which has its own perils to consider.

Speaking of dying: there are no "lives" in Archibald's Adventures -- you will die if you fall into a trap, or touch a creature, but that will just start you over from the beginning of the level. Unless, of course, you've touched a respawning device, in which case you start from where you touched the device. But this does not reset any pressed buttons or thrown levers, so if you feel you've made a mistake, you'll need to restart the level.

Later levels (and indeed later expansions) feature different mechanics and elements, like teleporters, wall switches you have to bounce off of, and a pink bubble you can use to affect things out of your immediate reach. It's definitely one of those titles that keeps you playing for way too long, muttering "just one more level" to yourself. You can pick up the demo right here on Big Download for both Mac and PC.