Appletell reviews Toy Physics for iPhone, iPod Touch

Category: Games
Seller: Athos
Requirements: iPhone OS 3.0 or later
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
File Size: 14.2MB
Version Reviewed: 1.0.1
Price: $1.99 (free lite version available)
Age Rating: 4+

In terms of physics-based games, this one is in some ways unlike many of them I have seen, but is familiar in other ways. In short, Toy Physics involves toys falling from the top of your screen, hitting random obstacles on their way down, and then attempting to fall into a toy box that moves along the bottom of the screen. While most physics games are extremely fun and addicting if done right, I’d say this one is entertaining enough to be near the top.

When you start, you see the screen in the image above. Obviously, you can choose to resume an existing game, start a new one, play a tutorial, or change some options (music and sound effects volume). When you choose to start a new game, you can select easy, medium, or hard, as with most games.

Gameplay consists of an image much like the one below. While each of the 40 levels is unique, the goal is the same. Along the bottom, a toy bin (or many) will slide on a conveyor across the screen (in some levels the bin is stationary). As toys form and drop from random areas along the top of the screen, you must funnel them into the toy box. This is done by drawing a line that serves as a new object on the level. The line, which can be seen as green below, doesn’t allow toys to pass through it and is basically an object on the map the user can create in any place he or she wants. Only one line can be made at once, and either beginning a new line or a tap of the screen gets rid of the current line.

As you can see in the top middle of the image above, a certain amount of toys must drop into the bin each round. However, you can only miss three toys each level, otherwise you must start over. These are tallied in the top left of the screen using boxes with Xs in them. Once you complete the level, you move on to the next. Each level has different objects on it, whether they be platforms, propellers, pistons, levers, or any other sort of object you can imagine. Furthermore, there is a variety of toys on each level, from monkeys to letter blocks.

I said earlier that this game is among the top of physics games I’ve played on the iPhone, and I meant it. The physics engine is superb, with objects clearly weighing different amounts based on their size as well as reacting very realistically when interacting with other objects on the screen. Furthermore, the gameplay never once glitched or crashed on me, which can sometimes occur with physics games such as this.

However, what may be most important is that Toy Physics is extremely fun. Each level is unique and presents a different tactic that you must use. Learning how to place the lines, when to move them, and which toys to let fall is different in each level, breaking up any possible monotony. I was so addicted that I beat 30 or so of the 40 levels within two days of having the application. Toy Physics is almost a steal for under two dollars, and I highly recommend you try it out.

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