[HN Gopher] Sandboxels
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Sandboxels
Author : 2sf5
Score : 104 points
Date : 2026-02-09 15:31 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (neal.fun)
(TXT) w3m dump (neal.fun)
| bstsb wrote:
| for context, this game was first built in 2019 by R74N. it looks
| like neal.fun has taken over maintaining/hosting its web version,
| while the Steam version continues development
|
| https://sandboxels.r74n.com/new-home
| rgbrgb wrote:
| always enjoy neal's stuff. is he part of R74N?
| zem wrote:
| I've seen a lot of cellular sandbox simulations but this one
| really dials things up to eleven!
| bovermyer wrote:
| Minecraft introduced me to the idea of tuff. This gives me more
| ways to play with it.
|
| I still don't know what it is.
| wlesieutre wrote:
| It's a rock formed from volcanic ash.
|
| Sort of igneous, because it came out of a volcano, but sort of
| sedimentary, because it starts out as an accumulation of powder
| that becomes a solid piece.
| anon_cow1111 wrote:
| Wow, this is... kinda like the Noita engine but without the
| exploding yourself every 5 seconds. Probably going to spend the
| next several hours getting zero useful RL tasks done now, thanks
| again Neal.
| danw1979 wrote:
| Thanks Neal. Is fun.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| Awesome. Eagerly awaiting Line Rider.
| Lwrless wrote:
| See also: The Powder Toy (https://powdertoy.co.uk/)
| Trannosaur wrote:
| I feel like I've played multiple versions of this game, but I
| can't remember the names of any of them... powder... toy? Might
| be one?
| IvanKloss wrote:
| i remember playing one similiar a lot as a kid, the one i
| played at least is called dust by dan-ball [1]. It seems to be
| still playable
|
| [1]: https://dan-ball.jp/en/javagame/dust/
| halcdev wrote:
| Created by R74N, not Neal. Has been live on
| http://sandboxels.r74n.com as an independent project for several
| years. Just now hosted by Neal. Important distinction.
| SLWW wrote:
| I thought I remembered something about that
| hopfog wrote:
| As a fan of both Neal and R74n this was an unexpected
| collaboration!
|
| I can highly recommend building your own falling sand simulator.
| It's really fun to see how such simple rules create emergent
| behaviors. Sand pixels try to move down, then diagonally down.
| Water does the same, then tries sideways.
|
| Me messing around with it eventually resulted in a game I'm now
| working on full time (think Noita meets Factorio):
| https://store.steampowered.com/app/2764460/Sandustry/
| thih9 wrote:
| This is an old R74n project that has been moved, not a real
| collab.
| PoorRustDev wrote:
| how is working with hooded horse?
| Sharlin wrote:
| My geology classes certainly did not mention sedimentary layers
| consisting of glass, quicklime, ash, salt, gingerbread, melted
| butter, and toast, from bottom to top.
| spidrahedron wrote:
| this is cool.
| phailhaus wrote:
| Falling sand games bring back a lot of nostalgia. If you're
| interested, you should check out dan-ball's version which is one
| of the progenitors of the genre. Over the years he's added a ton
| of features, elements, and interactions, to the point where it
| now has a fluid mechanics simulation for air!
|
| https://dan-ball.jp/en/javagame/dust/
| bijection wrote:
| Ha55ii's powder game is perhaps the best of the genre, and the
| ease of sharing made for a pretty cool online community circa
| 15 years ago. I remember various calculators / computers
| created in powder game, along with a bunch of more artistic
| efforts.
| simonw wrote:
| Here's the official announcement about the move to neal.fun:
|
| https://sandboxels.r74n.com/new-home
|
| It doesn't explain _why_ though, which is the most obvious
| question.
| frizlab wrote:
| Note to self: Do not open neal.fun links anymore...
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(page generated 2026-02-09 23:00 UTC)