Is Illusions on Steam?

No. Illusions is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.

What platforms is Illusions on?

Illusions is available on ColecoVision.

When did Illusions release?

Illusions was first released on February 1, 1984.

Illusions

Feb 1, 1984PuzzleArcadeColecoVision

Illusions — frequently asked questions

Is Illusions on Steam?: No. Illusions is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.
What platforms is Illusions on?: Illusions is available on ColecoVision.
When did Illusions release?: Illusions was first released on February 1, 1984.

About Illusions

Illusions is a surreal ColecoVision video game in which the player maneuvers blobs around the screen, trying to get them to merge, or, alternatively, split apart. At times, lizards may chase the blobs around. The water bucket, when spilled, can cause the lizard to turn into a fish. If the fish remains there too long, however, it turns into a bird. The game was created by Nice Ideas, a division of Mattel that was located midway between Cannes and Nice.

Summary via IGDB.

Illusions on Wikipedia

Illusions is a surreal puzzle video game published by Coleco for its ColecoVision console in 1984. The player maneuvers blobs around the screen, trying to get them to merge or, alternatively, split apart. At times, lizards may chase the blobs around. A water bucket, when spilled, can cause the lizard to turn into a fish. If the fish remains there too long, however, it turns into a bird.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).

Game details

Platforms: ColecoVision
Developer: Nice Ideas
Publisher: Coleco
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Themes: Action

Details via IGDB.

Collector value & authenticity

ColecoVision · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-19

Loose

$14

Complete

$45

Sealed

—

How often it sells

Loose: about once a month
Complete: about 4 times a year
Sealed: about once a year

Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-19.

Price over time

Loose
Complete

A loose copy sold for about $10.00 in Jul 2009, $11.99 five years ago, and $13.73 as of Oct 2026.

Show as table

Month	Loose	Complete
Jan 2010	$10.00	—
Jan 2011	$8.99	—
Jan 2012	$10.79	—
Jan 2013	$7.00	—
Jan 2014	$7.99	$30
Jan 2015	$6.99	$56
Jan 2016	$10.95	$56
Jan 2017	$19.99	$56
Jan 2018	$12.36	$50
Jan 2019	$11.33	$33
Jan 2020	$11.78	$41
Jan 2021	$14.95	$56
Jan 2022	$12.00	$49
Jan 2023	$11.00	$52
Jan 2024	$6.96	$56
Jan 2025	$16.52	$55
Jan 2026	$14.00	$55
Oct 2026	$13.73	$45

Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.

Release record

Territory	Label
North America Coleco	End label: for ColecoVision and ADAM

Source: Model numbers, end-label variants and CBS numbers: the ColecoVision FAQ v4.1, each serial confirmed against Coleco's 1982 catalogue, the game's manual or its UPC; barcodes from PriceCharting, check digits verified

Region: NA
Released: 1985
Controller: Hand controller (control stick, side buttons, keypad)
Players: 1 or 2
Authenticity: Low

Modern re-releases are not tracked for the ColecoVisionLow counterfeit risk

ColecoVision prices, all games & how to spot a fake

A strange, little-remembered Coleco puzzle about merging and splitting blobs, made by Mattel's French design group.

Illusions is a surreal puzzle game published by Coleco for the ColecoVision. You maneuver blobs around the screen to merge them or split them apart while lizards chase them, and a spilled water bucket can turn a lizard into a fish that, left too long, becomes a bird.

Wikipedia says Nice Ideas, a Mattel division located between Cannes and Nice, created it, and it came out in March 1985. Computer Entertainer covered it in its issue 4-1, so it was a late, quirky Coleco puzzle noticed by the press of the time.

What the press said at the time

Computer Entertainer Vol. 4 No. 2

May 1985

Graphics ★★★½ · Play-Action ★★★

“is a real mind-bender of a game developed for Coleco by Nice Ideas, S.A. … this game is no pushover.”
— Computer Entertainer, May 1985

Computer Entertainer rated graphics first and play action second, from four symbols (excellent) to one (poor) — diamonds through early 1987, stars after — comparing each game only with other games for the same system.

Worth knowing

From the ColecoVision manual. The game screen can be paused from the controller keypad; the music keeps playing while paused.
From the ColecoVision manual. Touching a fish adds time to the clock and touching a bird costs you time; the game ends when the timer runs out.
From the ColecoVision manual. Skill 1 is the easiest level, suitable for beginners.