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The Powder Toy

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The Powder Toy
Original author(s)Stanislaw K. Skowronek
Developer(s)jacob1, Simon, LBPHacker and various other GitHub contributors[1]
Initial release2008[A]
Stable release
99.3 / 21 February 2025 / 2 February 2025; 3 months ago (2025-02-02)[3]
Repository
PlatformWindows, macOS, Linux, Android
TypeSingle-player falling-sand game
LicenseGPLv3
Websitepowdertoy.co.uk

The Powder Toy is a falling-sand game originally created by Stanislaw K. Skowronek (also known as Skylark). It is now developed and maintained by LBPHacker, Simon, jacob1 and other contributors on GitHub. The Powder Toy is free and open-source software licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.0.[4] A total of 258 (as of February 2025) different in-game materials (or "elements"), each with custom behavior and interactions, are available in the game.[5] In June 2024, The Powder Toy was released on Steam.[6]

Gameplay

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The Powder Toy, (abbreviated TPT), is a sandbox video game programmed primarily in C++ that allows users to create content in-game to share using its online level sharing system.

A public server for sharing in-game creations is provided as part of the game itself, allowing users to share anything that abides by the rules. Examples of player shared creations include functioning circulatory systems, nuclear power plants, nuclear bombs, and computers.[5] Content is rated using upvotes and downvotes, and can be reported to the moderators if it breaks the on-site rules.

Modding

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The Powder Toy allows users to add plugins and mods to the game with Lua scripting[7] and change the mainly C++ code base. The source code is available on GitHub and can be compiled using Meson.[8]

A mod manager can be installed using the built-in console using the tpt.installScriptManager()[9] command.

Users have created many forks and mods. The most popular of which include:

The former is a Lua script and the latter two are all forks of the source code.[10]

April Fools

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The Powder Toy features annual April fools update, most notably the 3D Mode update, alongside the addition of a fake currency called Powdercoins. The April Fools updates are usually removed shortly following April Fools. These updates remaining in the game is very rare.

Reception

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edgalaxy.com called The Powder Toy a "great science game" for its potential use as a learning aid through its accurate portrayal of physics, chemical reactions and more.[11]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Powder Toy.
  1. ^ Splash screen in the binary releases available on the original Powder Toy website has the following copyright notice: "(c) 2008-9 Stanislaw K Skowronek"[2]
  1. ^ "ThePowderToy: Readme". GitHub. Archived from the original on 2018-03-29. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  2. ^ "The Powder Toy". Unaligned. Archived from the original on 2009-03-03. Retrieved 18 February 2024. Copyright date in the binaries on the original website says 2008-9
  3. ^ "Releases". Github. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  4. ^ "ThePowderToy: License". GitHub. Archived from the original on 2018-03-29. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  5. ^ a b Cox, Matt (2019-10-10). "From falling sand to Falling Everything: the simulation games that inspired Noita". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 2019-11-15. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  6. ^ "Classic free physics sandbox game The Powder Toy is now on Steam". GamingOnLinux. 2024-06-17. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  7. ^ "Powder Toy Lua API". The Official Powder Toy Wiki, Retrieved 10/28/2024.
  8. ^ "Building TPT with Meson". The Official Powder Toy Wiki, Retrieved 10/28/2024.
  9. ^ "Running Lua Scripts". The Official Powder Toy Wiki, Retrieved 10/28/2024.
  10. ^ "Mod Collection". The Official Powder Toy Wiki, Retrieved 10/28/2024.
  11. ^ Explosive fun for students with THE POWDER TOY a great science game Archived 2012-04-17 at the Wayback Machine on edgalaxy.com (2010-09-03)
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