In recent years, it has become quite obvious that the majority
of the creativity in the videogame industry comes from small,
independent developers. Some of the best games in 2008 were of
this innovative, home-grown variety, and already in 2009 Crayon
Physics Deluxe is continuing the trend. Designed entirely by
Petri Purho, under the label of Kloonigames, CPD explores what
it might be like if one’s every stroke on a piece of paper were
to become actual objects in a two-dimensional environment,
subject to all the laws of physics. The object of the game is
simple: guide a small crayon-drawn ball to the star(s) in each
of the game’s 75+ single-screen levels. The catch, however, is
that the ball can only be nudged slightly left or right; any
other locomotion must be provided by drawing various objects on
the paper to force the circle along, most often employing
gravity to help accomplish that goal. The simplest example of
this indirect prodding is introduced in the first level, where
players are asked to draw a b