Monday, July 13, 2009

Magneto-mouse



I've been slow to update the blog this month, as I've been busy working on comics and enjoying the sun (Summer has finally arrived in Boston), so I thought I'd dig up a game from the archives. Magneto-mouse is a Flash game I helped develop at FableVision for Scott Foresman. It's a "science game" in the same vein as Goldisocks, which I posted a few years ago. We decided up front to try to give it an 8-bit feel. We also had a fun time with the game instructions—where we were able to include a lot of the curriculum.


The science principles at work here are force and motion, with an emphasis on magnetism. Your objective is to guide Magneto-mouse through an obstacle course of friction patches and duck crossings, using a hovering magnet to repel or attract him. You can collect "turbo cheese" for boosts, too. If you make it to the end, there's a cute surprise. I think a few people have cracked the 1:00 mark, so I challenge you to see how fast you can do it.

Click the link below to play the game.

--> Play Magneto-mouse

Leave your best times in the comments, too.

Note: the preloader seems to be misbehaving,
so wait a few seconds and the game should appear.

6 comments:

Jason Curtis said...

Oh man, this is so great Bob! It reminds me of being a kid again, playing my Commodore 64. I love the 8-bit look.

It's an addictive game too! A perfect excuse to procrastinate even though I have a mountain of work to get through today.

Thanks for posting this.

Bob Flynn said...

Thanks, Jason! Chris told me he got a 1:13, folks—so beside my recent 1:03—that is the best reported time. Someone's gotta break the 1:00 mark.

It's been done before, but if you're playing let me know. Feel free to leave any best times as comments, too.

jaylac said...

1:03, best I can do. Remember when we first built this and it was so fast that the lines in the road looked like they were moving backwards!?! Fun stuff though

Bob Flynn said...

Yeah, designing this game was a blast. I'm pretty sure someone hit/broke 1:00 at some point...maybe I'm imagining it.

Anonymous said...

This game gives me so much nostalgia, I remember playing this on Pearson Success in 2nd grade, best part of school.

Anonymous said...

I managed to get to 0:59