In Thing on a Spring (1985), players take control of a coiled hero on a mission to rescue enchanted toys from the underground lair of a malevolent Goblin. Spread across four vertically-stacked levels, each floor challenges players to collect nine jigsaw pieces while avoiding traps, unlocking doors with switches, and dodging a variety of animated hazards.
What sets Thing on a Spring apart is its unique movement mechanic: instead of running or jumping, the titular hero bounces through the factory, using platforms and spring momentum to reach new heights and hidden areas. Contact with enemies depletes the Thing’s oil supply, which serves as both health and a soft timer.
Praised at the time for its fluid animation, quirky design, and especially its Rob Hubbard soundtrack—regarded as one of the Commodore 64’s standout audio achievements—Thing on a Spring earned a 93% “Sizzler” rating from Zzap!64. The character became a recognizable mascot within the magazine itself. A sequel, Thing Bounces Back, followed in 1987.
This is a Gremlin Graphics title that we published in North America, along with the sequel,
Thing Bounces Back, which we released as
Coil Cop. The history of the Gremlin Graphics titles is a little opaque, and the titles may exist with either Urbanscan Ltd, or Funbox Media.