This game is calming, super fun, & addictive all wrapped in one.
Falling sand games have been around for a long time (as early as 2005, according to the Wikipedia). They provide a canvas for artful exploration, creativity, and are just all-round relaxing fun.
SandSpiel by Max Bittker is no exception. It’s a fantastic sand simulation combining a lot of great elements from the originals, from the base sand and water, through to lava, wood, fungus, and ice.
The aim of the game is to create. Pouring water and seeds onto the ground will result in plants and flowers blooming. Drop some lava onto it and it all goes up into smoke.
People are really getting creative with this… it’s well worth your time to drop into the gallery and browse the creations!
Now, I’m a little late writing about this (it was released in late 2018), but it was too fun not to share. Max has also written up a great “making of” article, digging into the inspirations, aspirations, and more.
If you follow Max on Twitter, you’ll get to follow along with some of his other work… it doesn’t take much to see that it’s full of promise and wonder!
here’s a progress shot of the game i’m working on!
— max (@maxbittker) September 2, 2019
- day/night cycle 🌞
- graph of oxygen levels 📉
- a fast forward button! ⏩
the theme of this recent work are tools to help me to debug and understand the algae/daphnia dynamics as i try to balance them! 🦠 pic.twitter.com/EZrVnTBX89
From beautiful microclimate wonder orbs to recursive bubble wrap!
🅗🅨🅟🅔🅡 🅟🅞🅟https://t.co/ErYIWfTSGH
— max (@maxbittker) August 6, 2019
^ pop recursive bubble wrap discretely in your browser, today ^ pic.twitter.com/OneTr44RZj
All round, it’s always great to see someone creating purely for fun and joy. Sharing their story, their inspirations, and their goals! And on top of that, putting it all out there on GitHub!