Flashtastic Phun

Okay, it's not Phun, and it's not Crayon Physics, and it's not even Armadillo Run , but it is free and you can play it over the internet without having to download anything (except maybe Flash if you do not already have it). It is called Magic Pen and it is an excellent way to kill your lunch hour. Oh, and the kiddies might like it too!

related posts: Free (but phun) science software and Phun creations


(via Kottke.org)

Mario Composer

Mario is fast becoming (or is he already?) a cultural icon, for better or worse. He seems to show up in lots of strange places in addition to the myriad console games they are characters in, although you don't hear or see as much of his more reticent brother Luigi, why is that?

Mario Composer is a downloadable software program that allows you to compose your own songs using the music from the original Nintendo console game. You can watch Mario run along and jump from note to note on the score to the music you composed. It is an interesting combination of nostalgic video game and a music composition program. The sound put out by the program is not the exciting part (it sounds like the old Nintendo game), the excitement comes from figuring out how to compose a new song or score together familiar songs that sound pretty cool in spite of the low sound quality. If you have a kid that is already interested in music, this might put him into the Mozart category (just kidding). Even if your kid is only mildly interested in music this game might enhance his music appreciation and creativity. At the very least it is a fun toy to play with for a while. Here are a couple of youtube examples:

Link to Mario Composer

(via Metafilter)

Lots of Mario Brothers kitsch at Cole's Amazon Store

Phun creations

I ran across these and had to share them. Let them spark some ideas of your own:








related post: Free (but Phun) science software

Free (but phun) Science software

Phun is a free software tool written by that lets you experiment with gravity, construction, destruction, you name it. You can view the trailer below. Free download of the software is available here.



An online toy/tool in the same vein (although probably not quite as cool) called Soda Constructor

"Sodaconstructor is a construction kit for interactive creations using masses and springs. By altering physical properties like gravity, friction, and speed, curiously anthropomorphic models can be made to walk, climb, wriggle, jiggle, or collapse into a writhing heap"

Want more? Crayon Physics Deluxe has only a prototype version available, but it looks pretty similar to Phun, but uses a touchpad and is more of a puzzle game than a free form world.



But wait, there's more! Armadillo Run is a construction/puzzle game, and is already released (for about $20) the game demo is available here



Credit: all of these were found at badscience.net

Feel like playing programmer?

Igor Kholodov developed a game called C-Jump to demonstrate to his son the basics of computer proramming. The object of the game is to get a skier down a mountain by rolling a die and finding the fastest path down the mountain. The paths are labeled with basic math and logic symbols, the working tools of computer programming. There are not many educational toys out there that fall into this category. It's worth looking at for that reason alone.

More details here including some good pictures of the game and more background.