{"id":44207,"date":"2018-02-10T03:09:41","date_gmt":"2018-02-10T10:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2018\/02\/how-soap-bubbles-inspired-the-unique-puzzle-game-mechanic-in-tiny-bubbles\/"},"modified":"2018-02-10T03:09:41","modified_gmt":"2018-02-10T10:09:41","slug":"how-soap-bubbles-inspired-the-unique-puzzle-game-mechanic-in-tiny-bubbles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2018\/02\/how-soap-bubbles-inspired-the-unique-puzzle-game-mechanic-in-tiny-bubbles\/","title":{"rendered":"How soap bubbles inspired the unique puzzle game mechanic in Tiny Bubbles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stuart Denman\u2019s grandfather was a metallurgist for the Manhattan Project. While looking at molten metals under a microscope, he noticed their structure was similar to soap bubble foams. He became fascinated with the strange properties of soap bubbles, which he shared with Denman.<\/p>\n

Years later Denman founded his latest independent game studio\u2014Seattle-based Pine Street Codeworks\u2014and came back to his grandfather\u2019s soap bubbles for inspiration. The result is Tiny Bubbles<\/em><\/a>, a unique, clever, and challenging puzzle game coming soon for iOS, Android, PC and Mac.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

As he was searching for inspiration to create his own independent game, Denman thought about his grandfather\u2019s obsession and realized that the \u201cstrange physics\u201d of soap bubbles could be the basis for a unique puzzle game mechanic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI discovered this new mechanic, now let\u2019s explore where it can go,\u201d said Denman<\/a>, an experienced game designer who has worked at WB Games, and Strange Loop Games. \u201cFind the branches of the tree of exploration that are fun, and the ones that are not fun, and keep everything that\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The beginning state of a puzzle in the game Tiny Bubbles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To build the first prototype of Tiny Bubbles<\/em>, Denman dug into serious academic research on soap bubbles, and eventually he \u201cended up having to implement this guy\u2019s PhD thesis.\u201d Unfortunately that version occasionally failed spectacularly, and he had to go back to the drawing board. \u201cI figured out how to simulate the actual molecules\u2014what they were doing, how the pressure was working, pushing out\u2026 the surface tension.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, a bubble simulator isn\u2019t an interesting game by itself. The big breakthrough for Tiny Bubbles<\/em> came when he added color matching and mixing to the bubble physics. \u201cI had this irrational \u2018holy grail\u2019 of game design,\u201d explained Denman. \u201cI wanted to come up with a game that was totally unique. A new mechanic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Stuart
Stuart Denman and his wife Paulette Denman, who is also part of the team building Tiny Bubbles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Having played through most of the beta build, my personal assessment is that Denman has largely succeeded on that front. Tiny Bubbles plays like no other puzzle game I\u2019ve previously encountered. The puzzles are clever, the physics engine is nearly flawless, and the bubbles move exactly like I would expect them to in real life (if real life were two-dimensional, of course).<\/p>\n

\"An
An in-progress puzzle in the game Tiny Bubbles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tiny Bubbles<\/em> won a coveted spot in the PAX 10 showcase at PAX West 2017 and was in GeekWire\u2019s \u201cmost exciting and surprising indie games\u201d roundup<\/a>. Having played the game on both a PC at PAX and on my Android phone, I can attest that the experience works well across both form factors.<\/p>\n

Tiny Bubbles<\/em> It will be released soon for iOS, Android, PC, and Mac. It was nominated for Best Mobile Game at SXSW Gaming Expo 2017, and is also up for the Gamer\u2019s Voice Award at the upcoming 2018 SXSW Gaming Expo. You can see a brief demonstration of a level (sans sound effects) below.<\/p>\n

Beta Test<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re interested in getting a jump start on Tiny Bubbles and providing feedback to the developer, a limited beta test on PC and Mac is starting soon. Players who are interested in testing the game on Steam and providing feedback can sign up on the Pine Street Codeworks website<\/a>. Click the \u201cSIGN UP\u201d tab, enter your email in the form, and select Windows or Mac.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Stuart Denman\u2019s grandfather was a metallurgist for the Manhattan Project. While looking at molten metals under a microscope, he noticed their structure was similar to soap bubble foams. He became fascinated with the strange properties of soap bubbles, which he shared with Denman. Years later Denman founded his latest independent game studio\u2014Seattle-based Pine Street Codeworks\u2014and… Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":44208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[174,377],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games-media","category-gaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t