LineRider is Riding to Internet Glory

LineRider is a weird phenomenon. A little man on a sled flies down slopes and up ramps and does loops and jumps in a little flash game. If you haven't experienced this latest Internet craze you can find it at www.linerider.org, it's totally free to play and download.

At first glance, not only does the game seem very simple, it seems boring too, most beginners have a hard time just keeping the little guy on his sled, much less having him jump and flip over the path you draw for him. However, if you stick with it for a little while and learn how to use the tools (in the newest version they have added boost lines and zoom, as well as many other interesting gadgets) you may find that you can get quite skilled at it.

These fun features don't explain the large user base for this game though. What then, could be causing so many people to be addicted to this game? It's really quite simple; it's the same concept that causes people to become addicted to such games as the SimCity or Roller Coaster Tycoon, people gain a fundamental enjoyment from creating an environment and watching how things interact with it. Why else would we love aquariums and ant farms? It's like creating our own simple little universe. All there is is a man with a red scarf and the lines you tell him to ride.

The odd thing about LineRider is that it can't seem to die. The original creator, Boštjan Cadež, stopped updating the game shortly after finishing the original, yet the already large fan base has continued to update and create and add and rework. The last several updates have been completely unofficial with the creator, known as FSK, being totally uninvolved. Whether this little game will continue to grow in popularity and adaptability or whether it will become just a silly game with a cult following like so many other online games is as yet unknown.

Even if it does fade, I am a believer, and a follower. As I type this a little man wearing a red scarf flies down a slope in a window opened next to my word processor. Sad as it is, I couldn't even stop playing long enough to write about it. I'm starting to get annoyed because he is going to fast to make him hit this ramp without crashing when he starts going upwards. Maybe if I just increase the amount of time he is going flat he'll slow down just enough to make it....