It’s been a while since I played a game that made me feel hip and cool merely for the act of downloading the sucker (talking of hip and cool, check out my lingo!), but such was the case this past weekend when I found my way, via Steam, into the loving arms of Crayon Physics Deluxe.  A physics based puzzle game of sorts, Crayon Physics Deluxe mixes engaging mind-humps with a premise that’s beyond anything I would have ever thought up.  What would happen if everything you drew became a real object?

I’m only about a third of the way through the game, but already I can tell you that this independently-developed gem deserves a spot in the top ten games of the year.

The object of the game seems simple enough, as do the first two dozen puzzles that you are presented with in the demo.  Roll a red ball into contact with a yellow star.  Level complete.  Initially you can just push the ball or drop something on it (you decide what it is, you’re the artist) by  using your “crayon”. For example, you might simply draw a box over the ball to one side.  As soon as you stop drawing it, the box comes to life and falls on the ball forcing it to roll to one side or the other.  But what if your star and ball were separated by a chasm?  No biggie.  You just draw a line in between, then nudge the ball with a box and presto!  Level complete.

As the puzzles grow more and more complicate, you’re required to get inventive.  Sometimes you have to draw a catapult or a counterweight to move an object out of your way.  Unlike other puzzles, however, there is no set way to solve each one.  While I am sure the designer had a solution in mind, this game leaves you completely in the driver’s seat, while enjoying music that you might hear in a coffee shop if Enya owned it.

On top of this total physics freedom, you’re also free to design your own Crayon Physics Deluxe levels, using an extremely simple editor and your imagination.

If you’re one of the few folks out there who owns a tablet PC, someone finally designed a game with you in mind.  Rather than using the mouse, you can draw your solutions directly onto the screen for an even more immersive feeling.  If you, like me, think tablet PC’s are gimmicky and only made for art nerds like MightyMutt, you’ll also find a version of the game now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but I haven’t tried that one.

Crayon Physics Deluxe, in my opinion is a perfect example of a game that could never work on a console.  Sure, you could use your thumbsticks to attempt to scrawl out some of the simpler controls, but eventually trying to do this on your 360, short of some sort of custom user interface, would be like the Jolly Green Giant trying to pick up an egg.

While I have a long way to go, I already feel like I’ve scored my 20 bucks-worth of entertainment from Crayon Physics Deluxe.  You don’t have to drop an Andy Jack to see for yourself — the demo is on Steam, free of course.  I’m warning you, however, there’s a reason that this game won the Independent Games Festival award for 2008.  It’s pretty B.A.

Look for a full ItsNotAReview coming soon, and unless they’ve tried to weave Oprah or Fergie into the storyline, expect it to be glowing.

Link: Crayon Physics Deluxe

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