Crayon Physics is one of those games that captured the interest of the Opposable Thumbs staff early on. Ever since the initial game was developed in the summer of 2007, it has managed to garner much press and acclaim, especially since developer Petri Purho revealed that he was working on a deluxe version of the game that would include improved physics and more levels. Now Crayon Physics Deluxe has finally been released, and it turns out that the game is just about everything we'd hoped for.

The basic idea behind Crayon Physics is that gamers have to get a ball to a point that is marked by a star. This is accomplished by drawing a number of different items that can act in a variety of ways to help get the ball from Point A to Point B. On a basic level, the drawings act as ramps or barriers, while more advanced implementation accomplishes a number of feats like creating weights and levers, as well as malleable platforms that can be affected by other creations. It's sort of like The Incredible Machine, but what that game would be like if a creative kid with a set of crayons was solving the puzzle instead of relying on the set items provided by the game.

What makes Crayon Physics so entertaining is that there are a number of different ways to solve each level, thanks to the fact that no one is going to draw the same things in exactly the same way. It requires players to be creative and solve each puzzle through whatever means they can conceive, as opposed to only having one convoluted method as the only solution.

However, the most powerful thing about the game is its charm. The visual presentation is meant to look like a folded up piece of paper that a child has been doodling on with crayons. Not only that, but the soundtrack is extremely unobtrusive and soothing. These combined factors actually make playing the game feel fairly relaxing, even as the puzzles become increasingly maddening: I never felt frustrated, even when I found myself stuck in certain areas while I worked through the first fifty levels. I only felt curious about what I could create that would allow me to progress further.

Despite its appeal, there are a couple of glitches with Crayon Physics, the chief complaint being that I couldn't get my Wacom tablet to work with the game. Most of the time, the game didn't recognize the mouse input from my tablet, and it would only work in the most basic ways; even though I had the pen calibrated so that one of the buttons was set to act as the right click on a mouse, it just wouldn't work. It's really a shame, because this could have made the game a lot more appealing for digital artists. The other problem I occasionally encountered was that when I would delete items that were located close together, the wrong drawing would go away and I'd have to reset the level.

Overall, Crayon Physics Deluxe is one of those games that is a rarity, thanks to the charm and delight it provides. If you're a fan of puzzle games, or even just a creative type who enjoys doodling random shapes, then it's probably a safe bet that you'll love it.

An iPhone/iPod touch version of the title has also been released.

Verdict: Buy

Developer: Petri Purho

Publisher: Kloonigames

Platform: PC

Price: $19.95

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