![[OLD FALL 2017] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice](wp-content/uploads/2020/08/stop-banner.png)
What you’re seeing now is a Corvette LT3 made by someone on an online flash physics game called Incredibots. In this game, it offers you various types of geometric shapes and allows you to edit these shapes and put them together using parts called “joints”. With various types of joints, you can allow your creation to rotate, expand and contract, bounce, and even fly. When you are finished, you can put your creation into a “simulation” and see it function and interact with the environment and/or other creations you made. The best part of the game was that you can (not anymore) share your creation to an online community; allowing other creators to see what you made and share/respond to it similarly to YouTube. The game was first developed in 2008 by a team of 4-5 developers: two people as the original developers, one person that did the art, one person that develops the game now, and one person that did the technical writing. The game ran on an already existing engine called “Box2D”, a physics engine that powered most physics games of the late 2000s (most popularly Angry Birds).
This game inspires me because it allows you to make your creations, that only existed in your head, become a reality. The best part to me was that you could share what you made to the world and allow the audience to interact with it. This game has played a large role in my childhood and inspired me to learn programming and computer game making in the first place. I always loved it when people play a game or creation I made and either leave a comment, share it, or make a video on it.
What makes this game awesome is the idea that inspired me in the past to do what I love to do now. It allows players to finally build their crazy or innovative ideas and make them come to life in such a fun way. The online community it once had would have also allowed these players to become inspired and work harder to come up with much more innovative and more functional creations to impress not only themselves, but also the community. Soon these players might grow and move on to make better and cooler things. This game is great for children who are limited to only pen and paper and want to make something even more amazing and visually animated with their ideas. They can also share what they made to a much broader audience rather than only their parents. Incredibots, in my opinion, is a game all children should play at least once. It’s a game that doesn’t mindlessly teach children simple ABC’s and 123’s like many child teaching games out there on the app store. This is a game that allows children to not only be creative, but also explore and make their own solutions for problems and to think of ways for their creations to look and function the way they want it to. This is a game that encourages players to think artistically and technically.
