Physics Games and Physics-Based Game Downloads

Wolfire Games, the developers behind the excellent Lugaru, have announced that the long-awaited Lugaru 2 has been renamed to Overgrowth. Wolfire recently transformed from the part-time efforts of David Rosen into a full-time team of five. You can follow their progress and read introductions for the team members over at their development blog.

A release date has not been announced, and other details are scant, but some promising concept pieces are available on the official Overgrowth website. This is definitely one to watch.

2D Boy has announced that World of the Goo, the IGF award-winning physics construction game, has announced that the PC version of the game has gone gold. The Wii version, with delightful co-operative multiplayer, is expected to be submitted to Nintendo for LotCheck later this month. Congrats, Kyle and Ron!

World of Goo Trailer 2 from 2D Boy on Vimeo.

Look for a Fun-Motion preview of World of Goo sometime soon. In the meantime, you can still pre-order the game for $19.95 directly from 2D Boy, which gives you immediate access to the first chapter of the game.

(Rate this game! 79 votes, average: 3.95 out of 5)

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The original RedLynx Trials game was one of the games that spurred me to create Fun-Motion. Here was a game completely based on physics, with its own learning curve and style of play. It was relatively obscure, though, as were many other physics games back then, so I decided to start a site dedicated to these unknown gems.

RedLynx is still at it, and launched Trials 2 Second Edition on Steam in late May. They’ve come a long way since that first Java-based trials game. The core play remains the same–the physics-based fun and frustration both–but the presentation has been given a humongous face lift, and new features abound. This is one beautiful game!

For New Players

Trials 2 SE does a good job of bringing new Trials players up to speed. The previous games relied on the player to learn how to manipulate the bike’s spring rig to jump forward, jump upwards, and generally clear obstacles. This time around, RedLynx has included tutorial levels that explicitly state how to accomplish these maneuvers.

Controls remain the same, simple scheme: Up and down control throttle, and left and right change rider stance and apply rotation to the rig. The sophistication comes from the physics simulation itself. This is a game where tapping acceleration 50ms later may mean the difference between clearing the hill climb or completely failing it.

New Physics Possibilities

The collision engine in the previous RedLynx games relied on one unbroken ground object for collision. This mean you couldn’t both go over and under something, just over it. Trials 2 SE removes any of those restrictions. They use this new flexibility in a sensible, fun way. There are pipes you have to go through in a crouched stance, which limit your options beforehand, and some great loop-like structures.

Physics interaction is 2D, despite the 3D appearance. There are actually a handful of levels where physics objects in the level are dynamic. I would love to see more levels like this, because it makes the game easier and more forgiving. The static levels have very definite solutions, where an optimal runs will look very similar. On the levels with free-moving obstacles, though, things are more fuzzy, which I like. These levels do have a strange disconnect in that physical objects, like a crate or barrel, can actually move in 3D, while your rider is still fixed in a 2D plane.

(Trials 2: Second Edition Game Screenshots)

Frustration Generator

As in the previous games, Trials 2 Second Edition provides a lot of frustration. It takes a certain player to bash their head against a seemingly impossible incline again, and again, and again. RedLynx is very good at level design at this late point in the series. They understand perfectly how to craft a particular combination of slopes, obstacles, and jumps into a death trap. I often find myself cursing that if some tire were just a tiny bit farther from a jump, this would be an easy line. It’s designed that way, of course, which is actually what motivates me. If I felt like the levels were hard because of random placement, I would give up. It’s a dangerous game to pit yourself against designers like this, though, and particularly against designers as savvy as the ones who built these levels.

On the plus side, the high scores for each level also have a recording available. If you’re stuck on a level, or simply baffled as to how someone beat it in literally half your time, you can watch their replay or download it as a ghost to race head-to-head. The replays even show keyboard input highlighted, to give you clues on a player’s technique.

Definitely Worth the $10

Trials 2 SE is a great upgrade for the series. The difficulty progression is smooth, there are new levels with goals like timed wheelies, flip counts, and the enhanced graphics will help lower the barrier to entry for average gamers. Trials tracks robust online integration, too, with individual and team rankings, Steam achievements, and the ability to download new levels in-game (here is my profile, for the curious).

Download Trials 2 SE Demo (123 MB) [or Steam demo link]

The full version costs $9.99 USD, and is available directly from RedLynx or through Steam.

Matthew Wegner is the founder and editor of Fun-Motion, this very site. He is unusually busy, but plans to spend more time on Fun-Motion soon!