Kloonigames

I’ve been browsing through the reviews of Crayon Physics Deluxe. So far it’s all been positive, but I’ve noticed that some of reviewers and players are playing the game strictly as a standard puzzle game and they don’t like the sandboxiness and open ended nature of the puzzles. They don’t like that you can solve the levels any way you like. Which is really a shame, because coming up with creative solutions is what the game is really about. It’s not about finding just any solution or brute forcing it, the game is actually about finding the awesomest solution possible! That’s the reason why there are no limitations or restrictions in the game.

The puzzles in the game don’t have “right solutions” to them, there is no solution that the “designer intended you to take”, anything is possible and hopefully you’ll come up with the best one by yourself. The levels in the game are there to inspire you to be creative (and to teach you how to build up stuff). But it’s all my fault, because I didn’t communicate well enough what the game is really about.

Luckily a lot of the reviewers played the game as it should be played 🙂

Here’s some of the reviews that I read:

Crayon Physics Deluxe Review (PC) | UGO.com

The concept of risk/reward-based play is absent here; creativity proves to be its own reward. I challenge any one of you not to bellow (or squeal, if that’s more your thing) with glee after constructing a particularly elaborate solve out of crayon lines and curves. That’s really the game’s greatest triumph, allowing players to dictate the course of play using a simple yet powerful set of creation tools.

Score: A-

Tech Olive | Review: Crayon Physics Deluxe

Many would have overlooked this game, marked it as just a simple, casual game for the casual gamers in the world. The truth is that this game is for anyone. It’s as complex and intelligent as you want to make it. Most of the levels can be beaten within a few minutes after you get the grasp of the situation and get the right angle. However, if you want to spend an hour or more building some Rube Goldberg-type contraption to get to the objective, then that is what you can do. I’m sure there are many people that just don’t understand the point of that.

Score: 9 / 10

Review: Crayon Physics brings out inner (physics-loving) child | ars technica

What makes Crayon Physics so entertaining is that there are a number of different ways to solve each level, thanks to the fact that no one is going to draw the same things in exactly the same way. It requires players to be creative and solve each puzzle through whatever means they can conceive, as opposed to only having one convoluted method as the only solution.

Verdict: Buy

Crayon Physics Deluxe; The Review | The Reticule

Crayon Physics works the same way; the obvious route is the least rewarding. It’s just the route to take if you want to complete the level. Instead, if you decide you’re rather create a triple pulley system that allows you to erect an elevated bridge throughout the level, allowing you to glide down it to the star, you’ll be grinning with satisfaction as it all comes to fruition.

Verdict: An excellent game. Buy it.

Crayon Physics Deluxe: Drawing Up Something New | Technologizer

In any case, don’t let my musings on endless possibility give you the wrong impression; Crayon Physics Deluxe is a must-play. It’s the kind of game I get excited about, because the concept is just so much cooler than the stuff we see every day in gaming.

Wot I Think: Crayon Physics Deluxe | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

How about this: Rock, Paper, Shotgun called Crayon Physics Deluxe “Magical”, and said that it was “the first work of independent gaming genius in 2009.” Something like that.

Crayon Physics Deluxe Review | Eurogamer

Having your drawings come to life is just wonderful, and when you choose to do something inventive and imaginative, you’ll have a fantastic time.

Score: 7 / 10

Destructoid Review: Crayon Physics Deluxe

Crayon Physics Deluxe is a game full of charm and imagination (you can doodle on the world map!) the likes of which you’ve never, ever seen before.

Score: 8.5 / 10

SavyGamer: Crayon Physics Deluxe, PC – Review

It looks, feels and sounds like something a 5 year old digipen graduate might come up with, and that is entirely meant as a compliment.

Crayon Physics Deluxe | Binary Joy

All in all Crayon Physics is a lovingly put together example of what indie gaming is all about and I would recommend it to pretty much anyone.

Score: 4 / 5

Game reviewer: Crayon Physics Deluxe

This game has endless replayability due to, 1: Endless ways to beat each level, 2: Create your own levels and upload them online, and 3: Download user levels to play for yourself.

Score: 10 / 10

I have to end with this awesome review, in which the other person totally gets what the game is about and the other one doesn’t.

If you know of other reviews, post them in the comments!

Yesterday the full version of Crayon Physics Deluxe was released for the PC with a bit of cryptic blog post. So I thought I’d answer some of your burning questions by providing a demo and a FAQ.

So yes, Crayon Physics Deluxe is finally here. You can go and buy it for 20$ from here. Or you can download the demo and give it a test.

There’s been a lot of questions going around about the game so I though this would be a good place to go through some of them. It’s sorta like a quick FAQ about the game.

FAQ

What are the system requirements of the game

Windows XP / Vista
1 GHZ or faster CPU,
512 MB or more RAM,
DirectX 9.0
3D card with 128 MB of texture memory

When in doubt, you can try the demo to see if it runs on your system.

Is there a Mac / Linux port

Unfortunately not at this moment. I’m planning of doing these as soon as I’m done with the PC version of the game, but I can’t promise anything at this point.

I bought the game but I didn’t get my download link

Check your spam and if you can’t find anything try this tool: http://www.crayonphysics.com/resend_secretkey.php. If that doesn’t work email me at crayonphysics@gmail.com and I’ll get back to you with your lost email.

READ THE REST OF THE FAQ

The quickest way to get help is to go the forums. You can also email crayonphysics@gmail.com and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

All items have been checked off. Crayon Physics Deluxe is now available!

Also the Playground (which hosts user generated levels) is now open for the public.

The demo will be posted in couple of hours.

Day 6 of our 7 day journey to the release of Crayon Physics Deluxe for the PC. The full version of Crayon Physics Deluxe will be released tomorrow!

Here’s the final trailer for the game:

Day 5 of 7 day journey to the release of Crayon Physics Deluxe for the PC. It’s trivia day 🙂

Did you know that:

• Crayon Physics (the prototype) lacked a bunch of features, because I locked myself out of my apartment and lost two days of development. I couldn’t get access to the computer that had the source code until June 1st (the release date).
• Originally I started working on a bigger version of Pluto Strikes Back. It wasn’t until the second week of development that I decided to start working on Crayon Physics Deluxe. Reason for the swap was that I thought I could do Crayon Physics Deluxe during the summer. Oh boy was I wrong.
• The only reason I started working on Crayon Physics Deluxe was to get a free pass to the Game Developers Conference. I figured that I could do something that I could submit to the Independent Games Festival and get in to the finals, because if you’re an IGF finalist you get a free GDC pass.
• I changed the physics engine of the game, one week before the IGF deadline.
• Crayon Physics Deluxe destroyed my education. When the summer of 2007 ended I took a 6 months break from school to finish the game. When the game made it to the IGF finals, I decided to take another 6 months break. After the summer of 2008 the game wasn’t still finished so I had to take another 6 months break and eventually another one this January. I doubt that they will allow me to finish my degree.
• The name “Crayon Physics Deluxe” was picked when I was filling out the IGF submission form and it had an input field for the name of the game. I had to modify the title screen after submitting the game.
• I was disappointed when Crayon Physics Deluxe won the grand prize at the IGF. I wanted World of Goo to win, because I think it’s a better game and because Kyle Gabler is my idol.
• During GDC we stayed in the same hostel room with Phil Fish and Renaud Bédard, the developers of Fez
• My mother wasn’t too impressed with Crayon Physics Deluxe, she told me that the game looked like a five year old made it. And I should have used a paper that wasn’t all wrinkled and I could have used a ruler to draw the lines so they would have been straight.