A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux

When you put in contact a hot thing with a cold thing, the latter gets hotter while the former gets colder. Temperature is energy: by randomly mixing and bumping into each other, the atoms that make them up naturally even out the differences, leading to this result. Could it possibly go any other way? Well, if things weren't so random, it could. Physicist James Clerk Maxwell suggested that if an intelligent creature - a "demon", so to say - could decide which atoms to allow to mix and pass through a gate separating two gases, he could discriminate which atoms to allow to pass and who not, thus letting the hotter gas get even hotter - by bumping back all colder atoms and forbidding them to enter. Such a "Maxwell demon" would make the impossible possible, by subverting randomness with his cunning.

(disclaimer: no, Maxwell did not believe literally in demons. It was just a thought experiment)

Be that demon! In "Max W. Hell, demon", you get control over the gate separating two compartments, one with a blue background, the other with a red one, with a lot of atoms bumping around. Try to accumulate the hotter atoms in the red compartment, and see how much difference you manage to accumulate. Hotter atoms are more red and fast, while colder ones are blue and slow. Blue and red blocks in the walls respectively cool down and heat up atoms that bump into them, while the rest of the walls can conduct and disperse heat around.

Press Space to open the gate and let the atoms pass!

This is just a prototype made for #godotjam. I don't know if I'll ever try making it into a full game with better balancing and proper victory condition; right now, take it more as a demo/proof of concept.

To learn more about Maxwell's demon:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon

Download

Download
MaxwHell source (executables inside /bin) 42 MB
Download
MaxwHell_win.zip 8.6 MB
Download
MaxwHell_linux.zip 9.7 MB
Download
MaxwHell_mac_os.zip 24 MB

Install instructions

Download the executable for your OS and run it.

Development log

Comments

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(+1)

Definitely a very interesting idea, couldn't come up with one like this myself! It's simple and seems well put-together. The difficulty is pretty steep, you need to be able to follow lots of things at the same time and quick reflexes - and just plain luck - to be successful.

We'd like to invite this game to our contest, the Game Development World Championship!

Hi, thanks! What is it about, would it mean I need to enter it as-is or would get to refine it a bit?

It's a yearly contest for finding out the best indie games of the year, with the main categories being Pro and Hobby for developers with different goals. Improving the game of course improves the chances of success, and there's still time, since entries close at the end of September.

Ok, thanks! I'll consider it :).

Alright, thanks!

(1 edit) (+1)

Not running on Linux either. Just one file, terminal reads "Error: Could not load game path '.'.". 

Also, I think you're also supposed to include your original godot project files for this jam.

(+1)

Sorry! Realised my mistake now, will fix it right away.

(+1)

Fixed!

(+1)

I confirm it runs fine on Linux :)

(+1)

It doesn't run on Win10 (maybe you forgot to include .pck file?)

Fixed!