The naming of your product can be crucial to its success.  For example, a car tyre with the word ‘skid’ somewhere in its name would probably not be a good idea, while on the other hand, slapping an ‘i’ in front of another word seems to work quite well!  But Toy Physics?  Toys are usually good, but for some, physics may bring back memories of stuffy classrooms and droning professors – not what one wants to be reminded of during a game.  Does this game have what it takes to banish that thought?

In Toy Physics (iTunes link), the goal is to get falling toys into a crate at the bottom of the screen, which you do by drawing a single line to help guide them in.  Their descent is interrupted by blocks, swings, ledges, see-saws and even pneumatic pumps, and as the crate below is invariably on a conveyor belt, getting them in can be something of a challenge.  You can miss and let the toy fall on the belt three times only, and there is a fixed number of toys to get into the boxes before you progress to the next level.

You can draw a single line anywhere on the screen and at any angle, but drawing a new one will cause any existing line to disappear.  The toys fall from different points along the top of the screen and all move and react according to their type, for example, big balls bounce and gather speed quickly, while building blocks do neither.  That’s not all either, as they react depending on the material they’re supposedly made out of too.  Rubber balls, wooden blocks and metal jacks move in uncannily realistic ways, as do the rag dolls with their flailing arms and floppy bodies.

This realism brings a whole new level of complexity to the game.  For example, one of the larger balls appears and you’ll know from experience that this is ‘made’ of rubber, therefore it bounces about pretty speedily.  You must then consider these things when you draw your line to guide it into the crate, as if you’re not spot on, it could bounce straight over and you’ll lose a life.  Speed comes into it as well, with the wooden blocks needing a steeper line to slide, and the lighter jacks lacking the momentum to fall into a crate if you slightly misjudge your line placement.

As you progress through the 40 levels, things get pretty frantic and only being able to use one line at a time becomes a big problem, as blocks and balls fall all the time and crates start to become more scarce.  It’s as much of a juggle as it is anything else!  But because everything moves in exactly the way you expect, you can predict and plan, so there is never any frustration or that awful feeling of a level being unfair.

The level design is creative and well thought out, and the later ones are fiendishly hard, especially if you play on any difficulty level other than Normal!  The graphics are great too, really giving the impression you’re playing a game set in a crazy toy factory, plus the quirky choice of music works well, even though I couldn’t get Waltzing Matilda out of my head until hours after stopping playing!

What makes Toy Physics work so well is the restriction to using a single line at a time.  This keeps level design simple and forces you to think about your moves, as those three lives can be lost in an instant!  It reminds me of other great puzzlers such as Geared and Peggle, not only for its single screen layout, but for the driving will to beat a level so you can see what’s next.  This does bring about the one negative point with the game; it’s a little too short at only 40 levels.  This isn’t to say you won’t want to play again once you’ve completed them – there are three difficulty levels after all – but the game is so good, you’ll be left wanting more!  Perhaps opening it up in the future for others to design levels would be a possibility, as this worked well for Labyrinth.

This tiny aspect aside though, Toy Physics is fantastic fun!  It’s great to look at, has truly exciting and challenging gameplay and a lovely style all of its own, but best of all, it really makes you think.  Thoughts of physics lessons gone-by disappear the moment you enter this, the most cunning toy shop you’ve ever seen, and it’s one you won’t want to leave in a hurry!  An absolute must-buy!

5/5

$1.99/£1.19.