Sandspiel

About

Sandspiel is a falling-sand game that runs in your browser. You paint with elements such as sand, water, fire, lava, oil, plants, fungus and ice, and watch them flow, burn, grow and react with one another. It is a calm, endlessly fiddly toy for players of any age, a lovely way to lose half an hour, and a gentle introduction to how simple local rules can produce rich behavior. Sandspiel was made by Max Bittker, inspired by the classic Powder Game and the community that grew around sharing creations. Under the hood it is a cellular automaton written in Rust and compiled to WebAssembly, with WebGL rendering and a fluid simulation that lets wind push particles around, so it runs smoothly even in a browser tab. A big part of its appeal is social: you can upload your creations, browse what others have made, and remix their worlds. Bittker also wrote a detailed post about how he made the game. Highlights: • Around 20 interacting elements, including sand, water, fire, lava, oil, plant, fungus and ice • Wind and fluid simulation that pushes particles and smoke around • Upload, browse and remix creations shared by other players • Fast Rust and WebAssembly engine with WebGL rendering • Plays instantly in a browser tab, with nothing to install Sandspiel is free to play, and its source code is open under the MIT license on GitHub. It runs in modern web browsers on desktop and mobile, with no download or account needed to play.

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