Crayon Physics Deluxe Review

I finished Crayon Physics Deluxe a while ago, but due to a weekend in Las Vegas sans internet, I’m only writing up my final thoughts now.

Loved

• Draw Anything. My favorite thing about this game is how you can draw anything you want and have it instantly come to life. Some of the solutions I came up with involved me drawing absolutely ridiculous shapes and devices. To get all the stars, you have to solve the levels with a single shape. Most of the time, these shapes are absolutely crazy. It was just a lot of fun.
• Physics. Make a game with a strong physics influence and I’ll get it. CPD not only has physics, but it has good physics. Perhaps it’s my physics fetish, but good game physics instantly raise a game’s quality in my eyes.
• Multiple Solutions. There are just a ridiculously large number of ways to solve each level. On a lot of them, I would build a contraption to hold my ball, tether it to a cord, wrap the cord over another object, tether the other end to a large block and then let the block fall. My ball would then be whipped at rapid speed toward the star. It was VERY effective. In others, I basically found myself slowly moving my ball up by drawing blocks underneath it. There are just tons of options.

Hated

• Length. I understand the difficulty of making content for a game like this, but the game just wasn’t very long at all. I played through it in like 4 hours. I definitely got to the end of the game and wanted more. I will give bonus points for the availability of user content, but the core game could have used a bit more.
• Disparity between Levels. Some levels in this game were REALLY fun (see: any level with a rocket in it). Others just weren’t at all. I also felt that the game didn’t progress very well. After the island with the rockets, they barely appeared. It didn’t seem to build upon itself like it should.
• Forced Thinking. To obtain the bonus star on each level, the game forces you to solve the level without using pins (for ropes, etc.) and only using one object. Although I had fun figuring out some of the single object solutions (see: any level with a rocket in it), most of the others were pretty dull. Also, pins and ropes were hands down my favorite part of the game, so being forced to not use them was disappointing.

Let me sum it up for you: this game is a BLAST.

To prove my point, here is a video I recorded of myself while playing the game. I SWEAR that it is my actual reaction. And as you could probably guess, this level had a rocket in it.

If you can find it cheap, pick it up. You won’t regret it.

Indie Games Smorgasbord

As has been a recurring trend lately, I picked up some new games in the Steam weekend deal. This one is particularly good, containing 10 top quality indie games for a measly $30. Since most of them run $10-$20 EACH, the value is phenomenal. After a bit of deliberation, I decided to start with Crayon Physics Deluxe.

Crayon Physics Deluxe is based on (surprise!) Crayon Physics, which was a five-day rapid prototyping project released back in 2007. More a tech demo than a game, I could see that it definitely had potential; however, the drawing wasn't very good, as all shapes were translated into primitives (rectangles, etc). When I heard that the creator was creating a "Deluxe" version with proper physics and collision detection, I was definitely excited. I've been meaning to pick it up since the beginning of the year, but just never got around to it. As part of this super deal, I couldn't resist.

The game is pretty simple: push/guide a ball around various stages while trying to get it to collide with one or more stars. You accomplish this by using your mouse (this game would ROCK on a tablet PC) to draw various shapes. You can make simple platforms, ropes, pulleys, and all kinds of other shapes. Setup a path for your ball to follow and then either drop something on it to get it moving, push it by clicking on it, or use some sort of basket to catapult it to victory.

As you collect stars, you unlock additional islands and stages to play in. I haven’t even played half the stages, but so far I am very impressed. The level design is interesting and forces you to use a variety of tactics.

After you manage to collect the stars, you can go back and try to get both the “elegant” and the “old school” solutions. These involve using either a specific number of objects (elegant) or doing it without using strings and pulleys (old school). It adds even more variety to an already stellar game.

While playing this, I couldn’t help but compare it to World of Goo – especially as both are puzzle games where physics play a big role. While I LOVED the setting, art style, music, and even the gameplay of World of Goo, Crayon Physics has a charm and inventiveness to it that just isn’t matched. I’m definitely looking forward to playing the tail half. I’ll be sure to post any interesting stages or solutions I come upon.