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This month we take a look at a game that also has potential as a science teaching tool in comprehensive schools. Some time ago, I grabbed Humble Bundle 3, including Crayon Physics Deluxe - a thoroughly planned collection of physics puzzles you solve by drawing different shapes. As I’m also a student of physics, I was intrigued to test the realism of the game. It turned out to be pretty much what I expected – and more. Plus, it was created by the Finnish game developer Petri Purho of Kloonigames.
Installation & Overview
There was no trouble getting the game going, I just downloaded the .deb file and installed it with:
sudo dpkg -i package_name.deb
The minimum requirements, at 1 GHz, 512 MB RAM, and 128 MB graphics RAM, are easily met (if in doubt, you can download the demo at http://www.crayonphysics.com to test your specs). When you start Crayon, you are asked to register for additional features but this is not obligatory.
Because of the really calm music and bright-coloured graphics, my first impression was that this is probably a game for children or something. The levels seemed very easy, and I hacked through forty of them before realizing I had completely missed the point. Crayon is about elegance. Not only is it enough to find a solution to a problem: it must be “a good one”, i.e. meaning not to draw unnecessary objects. To complete each level perfectly, you have to come up with three different ones: elegant, old school, and awesome. The awesome solution is something you can choose freely among the ones you have developed to solve the problem.
Gameplay & Features
Basically, you control a pen with your mouse, and draw objects of various dimensions to create dynamical movement. In each problem, your goal is to move a ball in such a manner that it will collide with a star, or, in some cases, multiple stars in one run. You can cheat by clicking on the ball to give it a small initial movement boost; this is not allowed in proper solutions. Actually, you can go further and realize that by adding objects beneath the ball you increase the potential energy (the energy associated with “higher ground” that is readily transformable to movement) of the ball, thus having an “infinite” supply of energy (in practice, the energy is limited by the height of the screen). Once you notice this little trick, there is no point in finding just some solution: it has to be a reasonable one, using the properties of the laws of physics instead of “faking energy”. As for the gameplay itself, everything works as it should. Controls are introduced along the way so there is no need for a separate tutorial. Physics modelling is good. Only one slight problem occurs when you have multiple objects very close to one another. If you try to delete a specific one, another might accidentally disappear. This is not a real problem, though, if you play by the rules, in which case you need only a few objects for a good solution.
The rotating castle problem and its solution are presented. The huge green-colored “arm” drags the bridge down, and gives the ball a movement boost towards the star. Most solutions, like this one, are developed by making small adjustments to known solutions (of course, in the beginning there are no “known solutions”, so you have to create one).
The offline game alone has over 70 levels to provide tens of hours of excitement, if one commits to find all the elegant solutions without extra help. Registration gives access to extra content, and there is also a level editor for creating custom physics models of one’s own. Some of the levels towards the end are very, very difficult: I noticed that my physics background did not help me much. In one custom scenario, a rocket is used to guide the path of the ball. A rocket is one of the standard components of Crayon Physics.
Crayon Physics as a teaching and learning tool
I started my university studies to become a physics teacher, and, as far as my experience can tell, this game would be an awesome tool in comprehensive school. It makes Newton’s laws become real through meaningful experiences, not just some non-living graphs in textbooks (which, by definition, are boring: games aren’t). This is important, since the scientific research in physics education has shown students experience clear conceptual difficulties dealing with “real physics” (as opposed to problem-solving skills, which still could be excellent).
If I was to teach school physics now, I would contact the developer for a permission to use the game during lessons.
Where to get it
If you did not catch the Humble Bundle, Crayon Physics Deluxe can be bought at the Developer’s website http://www.crayonphysics.com. Although a bit pricey compared with the Bundle, it’s still a good choice. I’d recommend it to anyone into puzzles and physics!