Crayon Physics Deluxe and the Art of NOT Being Embarrassed by Childish Things

I know this is going to sound very nerdy . . . . . over the last two weeks as I have finished transitioning my projects on to other colleagues I have found myself with some free-time.  I was thinking about how much fun Lego and those Meccano / Erector sets were when I was a kid so I started searching for similar games / toys I could play on my computer.  I quickly found a piece of software that Lego released but unfortunately it isn’t as fun online as it is in real life. 

 

So that got me thinking . . . what is it about these “engineering” and “construction” toys that I like.  So, as a natural electrical or mechanical engineer (which I'm not which is why this is so nerdy), I started doing searches for PC games with good “physics engines.”  As expected, Line Rider, a game we have all seen at one point (I hope!) came up fairly high on the search rankings.  Two great games, though, also came up.  The World of Goo and Crayon Physics Deluxe.  They are absolutely stunning games and are even more phenomenal when played on a tablet PC.

 

The World of Goo is like a Meccano set where you have to build structures made of “goo” across bridges and fire-pits, etc to get them to the other side, as it were.  There are a lot of twists and turns a long the way that change the properties of the “goo balls” which make it fun, also the graphics are quite good.  If you play this game at work and nobody knows what it is, people will definitely think you are doing something NSFW just due to the name. 

 

Crayon physics deluxe basically makes you draw structures (lines, levers, pulleys, etc) that help in moving one crayon drawn ball towards a crayon drawn star.  You win each level by hitting the star with the ball.  The items you draw follow the laws of gravity and that is what makes the game fun.  The word “crayon” in the name of the name of the game should serve as a warning that the game looks like a piece of construction paper with crayon drawings on it.  It is basic, it looks childish, but it is amazing.

 

Waiting in the Mumbai airport waiting to go to Dubai for an NSR offsite, I whipped out my tablet laptop and told my colleagues to check out CPD (what I call Crayon Physics Deluxe – I know, don’t say it).  Now at first they were extremely skeptical  and chided me on my childishness and nerdiness (when I explained how I found the game).  Since they couldn’t go anywhere I had them watch me play a level.  They were a bit skeptical but still saw how I could find it fun.  When I put the tablet pen in their hands and told them to play they were absolutely addicted!  It was so funny to see three grown men fighting and whining over who got to play the next level.  I’ve beaten the entire game and the entire Analyst / Associate pool is not far behind me. 

 

So that brings me to the moral of this story.  Childishness is good?  Well, I'm not sure what the moral is but hey, once you figure it out, tell me!