A lunch hour quickie

No way am I going to get sucked into this little physics-based game, Assembler. I know a black hole of time when I see one.

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PZ, are you saying that stacking green crates is more intersting than your day job?

By Richard Harris (not verified) on 11 Nov 2008 #permalink

Agh! ADDICTIVE!

personally I like the one where you build truss bridges.

You play WoW and you call this "a black hole of time"?

By Spidergrackle (not verified) on 11 Nov 2008 #permalink

Yeah. Total time suck!

I got up to the barrels level. Had to stop there.

Damnit.

Note to self: do NOT start this game before stats class.

Also, try it with a real mouse. Trying it with the laptop track pad thing is tough, but that may just be that my manual dexterity sucks.

Good find.

Or bad, depending . . .

Thanks!

No kings,

Robert

By Desert Son (not verified) on 11 Nov 2008 #permalink

[sarcasm] You are one evil bastard. [/sarcasm]

The simulation of buoyancy is incorrect. It assumes that the sum of the buoyant forces act through the center of gravity.

Oh no. I'm going back to World of Warcraft.

the barrels are killing me

Had to go back to work at level 15, how many are there?

The water stuff doesn't seem proper.

beat it, it starts back over after 18

You are trying to get me fired... how could you?

The barrels are a bitch, but remember their is a simple solution using them all. I am embarrassed to admit I know that...

Enjoy.

Barells, PWNED!

O
/\
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Why it's good to working in the software business: http://xkcd.com/303/

By the way, when are you biologists gonna start coming up with some good Flash games? I realize physicists need something to do while they wait for the LHC but come on!

Oh great, Vegas has updated their odds, now 70/30 on if I'll starve to death while playing this game. Just one more attempt on this level, then I'll stop and get some lunch. Promise.

Not as bad a time suck as I thought it would be. It stops after 18 levels, and having solved each level, I don't feel the need to play it again.

By cactusren (not verified) on 11 Nov 2008 #permalink

@Zombie but they have a game, Conway's Game of Life and ofc Spore (hihi)

It's fun and pretty easy PZ. If you need to play it for more than an hour without beating it you've taken far too long.

It's a great way to look busy in front of your computer if you need to waste some time. Makes being on hold a bit more interesting.

If you really want a couple of black holes to get sucked into try these:

http://www.addictinggames.com/magicpen.html
interesting physics game, beats assembler by far

http://www.addictinggames.com/theimpossiblequiz.html
this one will make you laugh but your brain angry

By IceFarmer (not verified) on 11 Nov 2008 #permalink

Nothing beats The Incredible Machine!

By Missus Gumby (not verified) on 11 Nov 2008 #permalink

I will not clickie on the linkie.
I will not click on the linkeiie.
I will NOT click on the FECKING link.
I. Will. Not. Click. On. The. Link.
I am in controoooollll...
No link.
Click no.
NO, no, No, no!!!11!111!
No...links clicks!!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!
(pauses to wipe spittle off the screen.)
That click you just heard was Preview. Not link.
Nosiree, no link clicking hereeeeeie...

The Incredible Machine! That's the one game

It (rather disappointingly) just wraps around to the start when you finish the last level. Having burned 20 minutes or so, I've no desire to improve my times (I sat there reading the instructions not realising I was against the clock at first) particularly when 0.55s is the best time for the first level.

Repeats after level 18, and each level usually takes less than a minute, so it's not a big time suck. (Though the last one took me a few minutes, but I was using a track pad)

I'm glad it ended. I liked figuring out the puzzles, but moving the pieces around was mostly just annoying.

I hope whatever was in those crates was sturdy.

By Sengkelat (not verified) on 11 Nov 2008 #permalink

Conway's life is math/CS, and I thought we decided Spore leaned too much to ID...

Actually I do remember a Flash game that was sort of swimming about in water eating stuff but I suspect I won't be able to find it...

And yeah, this game is really short... looks more like a demo.

Physics work perfect and the feel of grabbing and moving around things is just perfect.

Now, what kind of sentence is that? Bleh.

I am a happily married woman. I have no business clicking on a link titled "Lunch Time Quickie." But I did.

And I was quite disappointed to realize it was just a game. Now I feel guilty for nothing.

I should have written "Lunch Hour Quickie." You can see I'm a bit flustered.

Fun little time waister, if a little short.
The physics are a bit off, and moving the things around can be a bit frustrating when the screen is full of other stuff that's in the way, or when ou have to cram a box into a hole that's under a pile of other stuff, but it's a nice attempt at amature game making.

You know you've been playing too long when you feel the need to move windows around your desktop with the pointer centered, so they don't tilt over.

I liked the barrel level... reminded me of close packing of spheres: crystal structures and canon ball stacks, but only one layer.

No way am I going to get sucked

But the whole point of a lunch hour quickie is hjdi%!@bi!...

[CONTENT MONITOR TRIGGERED - USER BOUNCED - NO CARRIER]

By Quiet_Desperation (not verified) on 11 Nov 2008 #permalink

Oops... I meant the other kind. The cannon that launches a projectile, not the canon that warps minds.

I got stuck on the Magic Pen on the first course to require pins and hinges.

I have a sneaking suspicion, though, that this might be a good game for learning to use a tablet.

Assembler is not addictive at all. I should know --I've been playing for 28 hours straight, and I can stop any time.

By Thomas Allen (not verified) on 11 Nov 2008 #permalink

Didn't care much for Assembler, but I did end up trying one of the other recommended games: Zilch.

Now THAT is addictive.

Armadillo Run is the best physics game out there.

http://www.armadillorun.com/

Make sure to check out the screenshots on their web site and check out some of the videos of the game on Youtube for the full scope of how awesome it is!

I'm also recommending fantastic contraption. Now THAT'S a time sink.

By Marc Abian (not verified) on 11 Nov 2008 #permalink

Damnit, well, it just got a freakin' 25 mins from me!

Eh. Having done the first few levels, I can't imagine finding that fun enough to play beyond there... At least The Incredible Machine had moving parts.

By Interrobang (not verified) on 11 Nov 2008 #permalink

Fortunately there are only 18 levels, so it's only about ~30 minutes of time sink max.

Reminds me of an oil drilling simulator I once saw called "Seismic Duck" -- if you can find it, it mostly runs on old Mac hardware. Essentially the idea is to map out the underground topography of an oil field, though you can create some pretty psychedelic effects with the shockwaves. (The fun part is that there's money involved in the game -- dry holes can make you bankrupt quickly.)

"I'm going back to World of Warcraft."

What do you mean "going back"? We actually live in a world of warcraft!

I would like this better if one could actually BREAK these damned boxes...like during those rare times that the game frustrates me.

Which is not very often at all, cuz I be so well adjusted.

Dontcha know.

By BobbyEarle (not verified) on 12 Nov 2008 #permalink