Elroy Goes Bugzerk is a 1995 Point-and-Click Adventure Game for Apple Macintosh and Windows PCs by Headbone Interactive. The game stars Elroy, a bug-loving boy who is looking for a bug that will win the upcoming annual Insectaton. His rival, Gordon Smugs, has caught a Hercules Beetle and is slated to win the contest. To make matters worse, his parents are leaving for the weekend and Elroy must stay with his uncle at the farm, meaning he'll miss the contest. If that wasn't bad enough, his dog Blue eats his aunt's birthday cake. The one bright spot to Elroy's day is an encounter with the technoloptera, a rare beetle that could defeat Gordon's Hercules beetle. Elroy must explore the farm to capture the technoloptera and find an egg so he can bake a new birthday cake.
The game is also an Edutainment Game, teaching kids about entomology.
Watch a Let's Play here
.
Also has a sequel, Elroy Hits The Pavement.
Elroy Goes Bugzerk contains the following tropes:
- The Ace: The technoloptera, which is why Elroy wants to catch it.
- Alphabet Soup Cans: At multiple points, the player will have to answer multiple-choice questions about bugs, based on facts that were previously shown.
- Bandage Mummy: Upset a swarm of hornets too many times and Elroy ends up in the hospital, wrapped in bandages.
- Blackout Basement: The island. You only reach it at night, so the only light source is a lightning bug.
- Bug Catching: One of Elroy's goals is to catch the technoloptera beetle.
- Chekhov's Classroom: All those insect facts you learn? Better remember them, you'll need them later.
- Hidden Depths: Elroy's step-grandad is implied to also be a big fan of bugs. He admits it in the ending.
- Mechanical Lifeform: The technoloptera looks more like a machine than an organic insect, with its helicopter propeller, stink bombs that it drops by opening a door on its stomach and using a pincer, and its ability to communicate through radio waves.
- Medium Blending: 2D clip-art with monochrome photographs as backgrounds.
- Oh, Crap!: Gordon loses his confident composure when Elroy brings out the technoloptera.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite Elroy's step-grandad being responsible for various failing scenarios, in the end he is a pretty easygoing guy and admittedly the rules he does implement are actually fair. He is also happy to drive Elroy to the Insectaton.
- Scary Stinging Swarm: A swarm of hornets prevent Elroy from grabbing a key.
- Schmuck Bait: A chicken appears on several screens to taunt Elroy, despite the order to not chase chickens. Chasing it results in a Game Over.
- Spinning Newspaper: The Game Over screen is a newspaper depicting Elroy being punished or recovering from an injury.
- Talking Animal:
- The mockingbird on one screen. It stars off by just repeating what Elroy says, but then starts taunting him outright.
- The technoloptera can talk by broadcasting her thoughts through a nearby radio.
- Timed Mission: If you take too long on certain screens, something happens that results in a game over.
