PAXAUS 2023: Squiggle Drop’s Simple Yet Addictive Physics

Friday morning, as queuing PAX crowds were entertained with inflatable beach balls and hoops, the Snickerdoodle Games developers waited unsure of what to expect for the weekend.

Their game, Squiggle Drop, is as charming as their studio’s name. Out now on Apple Arcade the gameplay is a simple yet addictive physics puzzler where you draw shapes to solve problems. It might be protecting a birthday cake from rain, balancing weight on scales, or any number of other shapely situations.

As people started to feed through the PAX Rising booths the developers half say to someone as they walk past, “would you like to try our game?" When that didn't work they turned back to me and explained they're not very used to attracting people to their booth. The developer's uncertainty for the first day of PAX, first thing in the morning, was endearing yet palpable. Squiggle Drop developer, Aaron Neugebauer, just laughed when I asked how he was feeling about the event.

“A bit nervous, but it’s going to be fun,” he said.

Beside him, Radha Neugebauer agreed saying she looked forward to it but was nervous.

“It’s our first time so we don’t know what to expect but hopefully there’ll be lots of good outcomes.”

Aaron began Squiggle Drop in 2021. That same year he submitted it to the NZ Games Fest where it was a finalist for Excellence in Design. He made the game to be family-friendly, something where people can solve puzzles together as a group or family activity. It’s designed to be something that is easy to pick up but difficult to put down.

“That feeling of one more try, one more try, and then you finally get it. It’s such a great feeling,” he said.

There are 250 levels right now with more always being added.

For those attending PAXAUS in person, you can meet Aaron and Radha at Booth 32 this weekend and try out two other small demos they’re showing off. One of those is a simple game made by a young developer in America where you bounce a ball into shapes. It's simple but it feels satisfying to do, and definitely worth a few minutes of your time.

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