Crayon Physics Deluxe
by Chris Thomas on Sunday 29th Mar 2009

It's as fun as it is adorable.

Buy Crayon Physics Deluxe, buy it now. There. I just helped you make the best decision of your week. I might as well just spend the next 500 words telling you about my day because there isn’t much else you need to know. This is everything a portable game should be and more.

Despite this, I’m not actually going to tell you about my day, instead let me explain the hyperbole fuelled statement above and the large score at the bottom of this page. Crayon Physics Deluxe is a game in which you must get a small circle to touch a small star. Since you don’t have direct control of the circle you must do this by drawing shapes with your finger, these shapes will then “come to life” and are affected by, well, physics. Draw a ramp then draw a big circle above the ramp; the instant your finger leaves the touch screen the circle will drop, land on the ramp and roll off no doubt to have it’s own off-screen adventures. This is a game in which gravity, mass, kinetic energy and momentum are both your friends and your playthings.

As an example I was able to complete an early level by drawing a small circle on a cloud, this acted as a pivot for a huge hammer I drew around it. The hammer swung down thanks to our old pal gravity, smashed into the circle that then launched off the ramp I had drawn earlier eventually bouncing off a wall and colliding with the star. Mission complete. It took two to three minutes of careful planning, staring at the screen in silence constructing in my mind all kinds of strange possibilities. It culminated in maybe 3 seconds of on screen action. That is what makes this game not only so incredibly innovative but also immensely satisfying in a way very few games have been before.

Some reviewers have criticised Crayon Physics Deluxe because occasionally you will solve the puzzle by accident or by not doing what the developer had intended. For me these moments are the high points. If a level has two pivots already drawn in I know I’m supposed to use them. But, maybe there’s another way… Maybe I can create a rudimentary catapult and launch the circle over that barrier instead! Sure enough I’ll draw a triangle and then a line across the top. With the circle on the left hand lowered side all that remains is to draw a huge weight onto the raised side. I do this and the circle sails through the air. It worked, and I didn’t even need your stupid pivots! Take that Mr Game Developer man. I out-smarted you.

There are 50 levels included and by the time you get halfway through them your brain will have been thoroughly tested. It’s the second half of the game that will leave you broken in a puddle of your own tears. They get agonizingly difficult but when you do solve them you are a noble king in your own universe for the briefest of moments. You’ll see what I mean. Alongside this ample offering there is also a robust level editor with which you can craft your own devious challenges for friends to try and solve. When they fail you can laugh at them as they weep in their own tear puddle. That alone is surely worth the money.

With the exception of a very minor bug (in which occasionally the ball will hover a millimetre or two above the line you have drawn) and the fact there is no way to share user generated levels, I can think of nothing bad to say about this game. Everything from the charming graphics to the lovely music that plays in the background fit perfectly together and result in one of the best portable gaming experiences since Tetris. Buy Crayon Physics Deluxe, buy it now. There. I just helped you make the best decision of your week.