For Christmas 2016: A Video Game to Explore the Physics of Architecture

Couldn't find what the perfect gift for the plannerd in your life? There's always next year.

1 minute read

December 25, 2015, 7:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Aarian Marshall reports about the development of a new video game called Manifold Garden that parlays architectural design and influence from Frank Lloyd Wright and Tadao Ando into a "metaphor for the last 400 years of physics."

Chicago-based video game designer William Chyr designed the game as a "world governed by a consistent bizarro-physics, where a player can walk up walls and ceilings and gravity is partially governed by colors," explains Marshall.

The article quotes Chyr to explain the premise: "You start learning about gravity, and you expand into learning about the shape of the universe."

"This is innovative stuff, but Chyr says he hopes anyone who knows how to operate a joystick or keyboard can enjoy his game," writes Marshall. "Manifold Garden hits a PC or Playstation 4 near you sometime in 2016."

Tuesday, December 22, 2015 in CityLab

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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