December 1, 2023

Two quick things to share. Three? Two quick ones, one long one? Okay, a long poorly edted intro, followed by two quick things and one medium thing. Great! I’m good at blogging.

Daily Higgs

I’ve been posting some Higgs levels each day – resetting at midnight eastern time (US). I know it’s been a while waiting for the *full* game, so I figure why not post a level each day. Why not indeed. Go try it out! The same URL works each day. (Pictured here is the level for December 1st… which may or may not be today anymore?)

Feel Bad Friday

The weekly video series has returned. I mean, the every-four-years video series has returned! Listen, I got another subscription to one of those video recording programs… so I’m hoping I’ll use it for more than just the one video – but no promises. That all said, this week I played a level in The Electric Shocktopus: Choose Your Own Adventure, created and shared by player “1235” in the Discord server.

You can see how I do here.

And to try this level yourself, you can follow this link.

Agent Higgs 2

Were you expecting a game? So was I! With something like a September 2023 release – which let me check the clock – I don’t think is going to happen.

Two things have happened – one, life’s been, as always, extra busy so things are going slower than I’d like. And two, there’s more to do than I expected. I put the game in for a round of playtesting, and came away from it not with the specific, detailed bits of feedback I had hoped for… but rather ideas for how to change things in broader ways. Rearranging the chapters, changing how fast the new physics is introduced, etc.

The quick description is that the game was originally envisioned a bit like Candy Crush, where you just have a thousand levels you can play somewhat endlessly.

But what I’m coming around on is that if this is an educational game, or at least used for folks more interested in the physics than the puzzles, I don’t want to gate the science behind extra puzzles. Some folks may just want to play a few dozen levels and feel like they’ve learned something.

Which means, I’m trying to rearrange things right now to make it easier to branch in different directions. If you want to play challenge levels – they’ll be there. But they’ll be fewer required levels to get you through each chapter. At least that’s my thought.

And with the daily levels that I’m releasing, I’m hoping to make the mechanics in the game *mostly* approachable enough that someone can understand them without doing a lot of training in the game. If you see quarks, maybe their behavior is clear and sensible, even if I tend to hold those levels until later in the game.

That’s a long (medium?) way of saying the game is still very much in development. If you’d like to see behind-the-scenes, you’re always welcome in the TestTubeGames Discord server, linked somewhere at the top of the page here.

Thanks for reading, thanks for playing, and thanks for your support!

-Andy

July 10, 2023

Work continues on Agent Higgs 2 — my upcoming particle physics game that will take you into a world of mystery, drama, and physics-based puzzles.

If you’ve played the original game – and if you’re reading this, that seems likely – here’s some new stuff you can look forward to:

Protons + Neutrons

Move ’em, slide ’em, and stick ’em into a nucleus.

Holes and Broken Boxes

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the supercollider, along come new tiles and new puzzles.

Bigger Booms

The size of explosions is now mass-dependent, given that whole E=mc² thing that everybody is talking about.

Drama and Intrigue

Will Higgs escape? Who’s that mysterious character? What are the scientists up to? We’ll find out soon enough.

Ah yes, soon enough… The release date is yet to be nailed down, but if you’d like to know the latest, feel free to join me/us in the Discord!

-Andy

May 3, 2023

Agent Higgs is back – and with more particles than ever. Protons, neutrons, quarks – and more – join Higgs as he tries to escape from the Standard Model.

The game will be available on phones, as with the first one, but also PC/Mac/Web. The release date isn’t set quite yet – but it’s pretty deep in development. So keep your eyes tuned here for more info. Or if you want to be the most up-to-date possible – and possibly playtest? – join us in the Discord.

-Andy

June 30, 2013

First, a quick apology for the late ‘Wednesday Update’ this week.  I’m actually traveling around the country for a couple weeks, so I spent the past week or so feverishly tying up some loose ends of projects.  And all that time I spent *not* writing blog posts was spent making new content for you all.  So I’ve got a few new things up my sleeve in the upcoming weeks.  One of those being…

Agent Higgs Shared Levels

The flash version of Agent Higgs has had a level editor for a while now.  It’s pretty straightforward to use and make whatever levels you can think of.  In fact, you can find an ever-increasing list of cool levels in the forums.

But they are no longer just in the forums!  Player-generated levels are now attached right to the game.  It’s still a system in beta mode, with room for improvement, but if you scroll over to the far right in the menus, you’ll find a playable list of user-creations.  Play them.  Rate them.  Get a new ‘best’ score.  And, if you’re so inclined, make some yourself!

Perfect is 1 move? I can beat that…

The reason I added this in?  Well, I got curious to see if there was an easier way to share levels.  I had the level editor there, but to play someone else’s level, you needed to copy and paste a level code from them.  Not terribly smooth.  And with the Electric Shocktopus having a level editor, too, I figured the time was right to test out a ‘better’ method.

The shared levels just appear in Chapter 1 for now, but there’s nothing to stop me from adding them into Chapter 2, as well.  And, who knows, maybe the same system can be put in place if I ever do make that Velocity Raptor level editor…

-Andy

February 28, 2013

I’m back with another TestTubeGames update –

A Quick Trip

And I do mean ‘back,’ because I just returned from a trip to London.  We got to visit friends, family, and some interesting science-attractions.  There was, of course, Newton’s grave in Westminster Abbey.  The tombstone(?) towers higher than I would have expected, and he wasn’t alone, either.  Darwin is there – though I didn’t get to chat with him.  The place is littered with memorials to physicists, including Kelvin and the infamous Green.  (Yes, of Green’s functions — a topic I’ve learned many times and not at all.)  But there was also the tiny Fleming museum, set in the lab where Alexander Fleming first discovered penicillin.  *And* the visually stunning ‘King George III Collection’ of science demonstrations in the Science Museum.  A whole bunch of beautifully crafted brass and glass physics experiments straight out of the era when people used to have parties and zap their guests with newly discovered ‘electricity.’

The Solar System on a turntable. (http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/stories/~/media/5FF62C757FB14E1EB94E26A337807056.ashx)

Agent Higgs updates

But even if I’ve been traveling, there are a couple things to report.  First, I’ve been tweaking Agent Higgs Chapter 2.  I’m getting a lot of nice feedback, and am trying to get everything running as smoothly as possible with the game before I release it other places.  I added in Keyboard functionality (to save the fingers of folks using a track pad), and beefed up the instructions a bit.  You can see all the changes in action here.

I also revamped Chapter 1 while I was at it.  I just released that update today, so feel free to check it out.  It should (a) run smoother than before, with easier interfaces and controls.  And (b) it now has a Level Editor, too!  So if you were pining to make some levels with electrons, you’ve got your wish.

Is that Higgs? In a prettier ‘Chapter 1’ icon? Yes, I suppose it is.

Nicely, the Level Editors from Chapters 1 and 2 are compatible, so if you share a level with your friends, they can load it up in either game.

-Andy

February 14, 2013

I just uploaded Agent Higgs: Chapter 2!  And yes, it is subtitled Revenge of the Neutrinos.  Click on the picture below to give it a play.

He’s right behind you! Argh, that sigma is helpless.

This is the continuation of Chapter 1, of course, and it includes a new set of levels.  Modeled after the ‘Neutrinos’ section of the iPhone game, this game also includes a level editor.  As always, if you make cool levels, I’d love to know.  Here’s the rundown…

Agent Higgs is on the run, again. The problem is — physicists now *know* he exists! After the discovery of the Higgs boson last summer, our Agent is going to have to hide better than ever. And he needs help, which is why he is turning to the Neutrinos. These ghost-like particles are the masters of hiding, being very difficult to detect. But will their help be enough to save Higgs this time?

In Chapter 2, Higgs must use all the neutrinos (and antineutrinos) to solve increasingly challenging puzzles. There are three different types of neutrinos, but they’ve been known to spontaneously change, so beware! Can you outwit the scientists *again* and hide Agent Higgs?

For those of you who don’t own an iPhone, here is your chance to play through some more levels with different physics.  And for those of you who already own the App, try out the Level Editor of this new game.  Easy to use, and easy to share levels with your friends.  If you ever get in a dispute about what a level’s true ‘perfect’ is, I may be able to plug it into the EPAHPS (a.k.a. Ethan’s Patented Agent Higgs Perfect Solver) to settle it for you.

Enjoy the game, and if you find any bugs/problems/suggestions/gold doubloons, feel free to email them my way.

-Andy

February 13, 2013

This just in!  The second installment of the Agent Higgs flash series is on its way.  Keep your eyes peeled for Agent Higgs: Chapter 2, you’ll find it on this site *tomorrow*!

Extra, Extra!

Just as Chapter 1 took some levels from the first section of Agent Higgs (the iPhone version) and put them into a flash game, this one will include the second set of levels.  The topic: Neutrinos.  Get ready to deal with three generations of matter, antimatter, and a bit of neutrino oscillation.

I’ve made plenty of modifications along the way.  One big thing this game includes is a nice Level Editor system.  It is easy to use, and as importantly, easy to share levels with other people.

Find him!  Also, Frank, check out this cool level I made…

The game will, as usual, be free and easy to play online.  And why now?  Well, I’d been meaning to release it, and with the influx of visitors on this site in the past few weeks, I figured that Higgs needed a bit more of a web presence.  Namely, he’s well developed in the iPhone app, but his flash incarnation has remained fairly sparse.  So I spent a couple weeks bringing Chapter 2 to life.

Now off to make the proverbial last-minute changes…

-Andy

February 10, 2013

It has been a fun week over here at TestTubeGames headquarters, and a big welcome to everyone who is visiting the site for the first time. In the last update, I mentioned that my first game, Velocity Raptor, won a NSF competition for science visualization. Well, the news popped up in a few fun places, which I thought I’d share.

SciVis News

The news about the competition jumped around to a bunch of websites. For a small sampling, check out: Wired.com, Guardian.co.uk, NBC news

On top of that, Velocity Raptor was featured in a recent episode of SciShow.  Check out the video below.  The description of my game is wonderful…

Higgs Returns

Throughout the past week – in addition to watching that SciShow episode ad nauseum, I was working on the next flash installment of Agent Higgs.  When the iPhone game came out, I released some of the levels online in Agent Higgs: Chapter 1.  And I’d always meant to find time to release Chapter 2.  And the time is very soon.

Agent Higgs: Chapter 2 will deal with all three types of neutrinos.  The puzzles involve matter, antimatter, and even neutrino oscillation — as well as a fair bit of spatial reasoning.  I’ve also added in a Level Editor.  Which means you can try to make levels even better than mine.  Or just spell your name.

Well, part of my name…

You’ll be able to play through your new creations and share them with friends.  I’m excited to see what creativity gets unleashed.  Stay tuned for this release, it will be coming soon.

-Andy

October 26, 2012

The fixed version of Agent Higgs is out (and has been for over a week, now). If you are still having trouble, update to the latest version and all your woes should be gone. Yes, all of them.

For your troubles, though, you will notice the latest addition to Agent Higgs: a Level Editor. Right there on the menu screen, next to ‘Subatomic’, ‘Neutrinos’, etc, there is a new category where you can make your own levels. (It is all the way to the LEFT.)

The editor is just a beta version, but it works. By touching the screen, you can place particles on a level, then you can go play that very same level. There are forty slots to fill, and the game will even remember you best score on any given level. Can you find the perfect score even when no definite perfect score exists? Whoa.

The level editor is unlocked once you reach the Higgs stage (when you’ve beaten the charged levels). If you make a particularly cool level, send it along to me. I’d be happy to check your supposed perfect score, and perhaps even add the level to the game.

Happy building!

-Andy

October 12, 2012

Turns out the latest version of Agent Higgs (2.2) crashes on devices running less than iOS 6.0. So, if you’re in that situation, I’d suggest NOT updating yet. I have a new version (2.3) that I’ve submitted, and hopefully it will be out in the next few days.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

-Andy