Lost media: forgotten Big Bang Theory fan-game

cross-posted from: sh.itjust.works/post/66797464

I’ve been thinking about lost media recently, and I’ve suddenly remembered a bunch of old memories about tv shows, movies, YouTube videos, etc. that I want to go searching for again.

Today though, I want to focus on a game memory I have.

Around the early 2010’s, there was this game I encountered on the Google play store. I never played it, but I remember clicking on it to see what it was about. It was a fan-made game based on long-running sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ called Ballpit Bazinga with the slogan “Find Sheldon”.

Interestingly enough, I went searching for it on the internet and to my surprise, though it is (obviously) no longer available, I did find the ‘official’ website of the game, possibly one of the last traces of it on the internet. Though the game is no longer available (at least, it doesn’t seem to be, unless anyone can get it working from the link above?) the website does give some more details about this game that confirm what I remembered reading about it.

• First of all, this game appears to have been created by someone named Samuel Reid.

• Second of all, the website is timestamped 30 September 2011 (though I only found this via the googling of this game, see below).

• Thirdly, the website gives a publisher description that matches what I remember as the description of the game I saw on the App Store (or I believe I did, anyway). The description reads:

Help! Sheldon Cooper is running amok in a child s ball pit! You must help Leonard catch Sheldon by tapping him whenever he appears. But don’t hit Leonard, you’re trying to help him remember.

Beware of the Bazinga! If you hear that fabled phrase, you know you ve missed him this time…

Requires iOS 3.2 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Unfortunately, this is about as much as the website says about this game. And there doesn’t appear to have been any play through videos of the game itself on YouTube, etc. However, I am glad that my recollection of the existence of this game could be confirmed by the surviving traces of it. Too often is media lost via the method of all traces disappearing from existence, so to even have small traces of this game to remember it is a win for me. However, I do also find it notable that, if my recollection is correct at least, that a game of this nature made it to the app store in the first place.

Thanks for reading.