Death By Hinge

Death By Hinge is one of those physics games that felt right at home in the Flash era. You would find it on a site like Newgrounds, a simple concept built for a quick laugh between classes or during a slow afternoon. It came out in 2006, made by a developer known as Tom Fulp.

You control a small, blocky man attached to a hinge at the top of the screen. Your only tool is the mouse. You click and drag to swing the hinge, building up momentum before releasing to send the character flying. The goal is to launch him as far as possible across a flat, empty plane. The mechanics are purely about timing and force; a poor release sends him tumbling a short distance, while a well-angled swing can catapult him into the distance. The game moves quickly from attempt to attempt, with each launch taking only a few seconds, but getting a truly great distance requires a feel for the physics. It feels like a silly, abrupt experiment in cause and effect.