| Libble Rabble | |
|---|---|
 Arcade flyer | |
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Producer(s) | Makoto Sato |
| Designer(s) | Toru Iwatani |
| Composer(s) | Nobuyuki Ohnogi |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, FM Towns Marty, X68000, Super Famicom, PlayStation 4, Switch, Evercade |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Arcade system | Namco Libble Rabble |
Libble Rabble[a] is a 1983 puzzle arcade video game developed and published in Japan by Namco. The player is tasked with using two colored arrows, Libble and Rabble, to wrap them around pegs and surround small creatures known as Mushlins to "harvest" them under a time limit. The player can also uncover treasure chests that will have the player searching the stage for items in order to access a special bonus stage. It ran on the Namco Libble Rabble hardware, one of the only games to do so.
Described by Namco as a "bashishi game", it was designed by Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani and composed by Nobuyuki Ohnogi. Iwatani came up with the idea for the game after an experience at a crowded disco hall, where he envisioned himself tying up people with ropes and throwing them out of the way. It was also inspired by a game he played during his childhood, where the objective was to tie ropes to short metal poles on the ground. The game was known as Potato in early development as Namco considered making the game a tie-in with a potato chip manufacturer in Japan, but these plans later fell through. Iwatani soon passed off development to Makoto Sato due to being overwhelmed with other projects, who added additional ideas such as treasure chests as he felt the game was too simplistic. A North American release was planned by Midway Games but later cancelled.
In Japan, Libble Rabble was praised for its unique gameplay and colorful visuals. Retrospectively, it has been praised for its bizarre yet interesting premise and addictiveness, some labeling it as one of the most underappreciated games in Namco's arcade catalog. A Super Famicom version was released in 1994, followed by home ports for both the FM Towns Marty and X68000 — the Super Famicom release included a special cover slip for the face buttons to recreate the original game's twin-stick gameplay. It was digitally re-released for the Japanese Wii Virtual Console in 2009. In 2021, ports for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 were released internationally under the Arcade Archives brand line up.
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