Carl's Games
Carl's Games · Games
  • In the making
  • Puzzle game
  • Build it. Press START.

Chain Reaction

A puzzle game about building silly machines. Every puzzle tells you what it wants. "Pop both balloons. They know what they did." You finish the machine, press START, and watch.

Watch the dev logs Press START
Chain Reaction's title screen: a bowling ball, a ramp, a trampoline, a balloon and a seesaw under a smiling sun.
1.

Fill the gaps

A machine is already built across the screen, with a few parts missing. Drag the right ones in from the bin. Rotate them. Plug in the cords.

2.

Press START

Then let it run. Balls roll, fans blow, balloons pop. If it works, the goal happens. If it doesn't, the game says so.

3.

See where it broke

Every moving part leaves a dotted trail. So after a miss you can see exactly where the chain broke. Then you fix it.

Stuck? HINT gives you a nudge in words first. Press it again and it shows you one missing part at a time.

Try a tiny one

Press START

A bowling ball, a ramp, a trampoline and a bucket. That's the whole machine. Press START and see if it works.

Press STOP to put it back. The dotted trail stays, like in the game.

The puzzles

Every machine wants something

Each puzzle says what it's for, in one line. "Park the bowling ball in the bucket garage." "Pop both balloons. They know what they did."

The machine is already there, across the whole screen. A few parts are missing, and the bin has a few extra ones that look useful and aren't. Pick the right ones, put them in the right places, and press START.

A Chain Reaction puzzle: a machine of ramps, a seesaw, a fan and a balloon, with the parts bin on the right and a green START button.
The parts

What you build with

Twenty-seven of them so far. Some roll, some blow, some explode. One of them is a cat.

Bowling BallHeavy. Barely bounces. Like me on a Monday.
BasketballBouncy.
BaseballLight and fast.
BalloonFloats up. Pops on a tack, a candle flame or an explosion.
Brick WallSolid. Rotates.
InclineA wooden ramp. Rotates.
TrampolineA big bounce.
SeesawDrop something heavy on one end. The other end goes up.
ConveyorCarries things along when it has power. Runs either way.
FanBlows things away when it has power. Light things fly farther.
Light SwitchBump it and it clicks on. Then it passes power down its cord.
OutletAlways on.
TackPops balloons.
CandleLights fuses. Pops balloons.
DynamiteOnce it's lit: KA-BOOM. Pushes everything nearby and lights other dynamite.
BucketCatches things.
Light BulbLights up when it has power.
ScissorsSnip. Cuts every rope in reach.
Pulley LiftWeight on one pan lifts the other.
HookSomething to hang a rope from.
RopeTies two things together. Never stretches. Scissors cut it.
MotorNeeds power. Spins.
GearTurns when its neighbor turns. The other way round.
BeltLinks two wheels so they turn together.
Mouse WheelBump it and the mouse runs. No power needed.
CatAsleep until something bumps it. Then it chases the mouse.
MouseRuns from the cat. Always.
Where it stands

Still in the making

I'm making it one piece at a time and showing every piece in the dev logs. There's no release date yet.

Built so far

  • Dozens of puzzles, from easy to tricky.
  • The parts, and the machines they make.
  • START and STOP, the dotted trails, and the hints.

Coming

  • More puzzles.
  • A workshop where you build your own machines and save them.
  • Turning your machine into a puzzle, and sending it to a friend.
Dev logs

Watch it come together

Subscribe on YouTube

I've written code since I was twelve. Chain Reaction has none. It's all Myth Engine Logic.

mythengine.net