Play a Little with “Crayon Physics Deluxe”
Crayon Physics Deluxe
Not everyone can be an automoton, working constantly with no play. Plus, there’s a limit on how much time you can spend playing “Solitaire” (four hours, but don’t tell anyone). Here’s a fun program that’s been making the rounds online. Crayon Physics Deluxe.
A little history: It was at last year’s Independent Games Festival that “Crayon Physics” started turning heads in a big way. Those who got a look at the demo version of the game cooed with delight at the way its childish visual style housed game design as thoughtful as anything out there. And despite competing against the likes of the superb “World of Goo,” it managed to walk away with the festival’s Seumas McNally Grand Prize (and the $20,000 check that goes with it).
Created by 25-year-old Petri Purho, “Crayon Physics Deluxe” got its start as a game the computer science student from Helsinki whipped together in a mere five days. And now that the full game has finally launched, it is proving to be every bit as wonderful and whimsical as the early buzz made it out to be.
The thrust of the game is this: There is a ball over here and there is a star over there. You must move the ball to the star by using (virtual) crayons to draw the physical objects that make it possible to transport the ball to its goal. (In the iPhone version of the game you draw by touching finger to screen, and in the PC version you use the mouse to draw with your crayons.)
Crayon Physics Deluxe sounds like a wonderful game that would incite anyone to childlike behavior. But in a good way. I can imagine world leaders at the next G8 summit playing this game before heady talks.
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