Launchball is a physics flash game where you solve puzzles by setting up a sequence of events to drive a ball into the goal area. The game also allows for level-construction by users as well as sharing your created levels with the player community.
This game is commissioned by the Museum of Science in London and is located on their website. All the elements in this game (e.g. batteries, fire source, water tank to generate steam, seesaws, etc.), have to be put together in a logical way such as to kick off the correct sequence of events. (Here’s an example: place a heat source by a water tank to generate steam and connect that to a steam-powered generator that produces electricity; place this generator adjacent to blocks of copper connected in a row that lead up to a fan which, once powered, will blow the stationary ball onto the goal area). The game in fact is somewhat reminiscent of the old “Incredible Machine” game which first appeared in 1992. Here are some more notes on this game.
- Playability: the game is highly playable, and very easy to learn and get into. The objective is to (a) solve the puzzles, but also (b) to get through the levels as quickly as possible. You can also request a hint for each level if you are stuck, and, if uncertain, you can get info on any object simply by hovering over it with the mouse.
- The production qualities: are in general very good even as they are kept simple. The graphics and sound are competent and deliver a very nice gaming experience.
- Play and create: this game is as much about creating and sharing your own custom levels as it is about solving the puzzles in the available levels.
- Available levels: the game has 30 pre-built levels for you to play through (aside from 6 levels intended to familiarize you with the game). There are also dozens of levels that have been created by other users that are of surprisingly high quality. The game also allows you to send/receive levels from your friends and to bookmark your favorite levels as well.
- Creating an account: you can easily create an account wihin the game by entering your email information. You will then receive an email with your own distinct code that you could enter into the game whenever you play it and retrieve your history of finished and/or created levels. Although this system works well enough, the game strangely takes a very long time to retrieve your account once you key in your code.
All in all a really nice game that I highly recommend. Check it out you will probably like it.
Go to the Launchball page to play.
