The Line Rider Videos on YouTube Test the Laws of Physics

I ran across the Line Rider videos on YouTube by accident and they captured not only my attention, but inner child as well. It may have been because they reminded me of the children's story, "Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, or could it have been because it looked a lot like an animated Etch-A-Sketch®, further teasing my childhood memories. Either way, there was something captivating about these simple line drawings and a slider named "dude".

One of my favorite Line Rider videos, and a great introduction if you haven't seen one yet, is Make Believe, created by YouTube user, TechDawg. Showing what a lot of creativity and patience can create with this program. This is an awesome example of art, physics, and music combined to make an entertaining moment in the digital world.

These videos are created by many different artists and producers, and turns out, with a little bit of practice, most people could do it. By using Line Rider Desktop Edition that is a free downloadable program available at CNETs' Download.com, you can create your own line rider videos. The program is published by [Da]-Software's, originally designed to be a flash based game where you draw a track that a "line rider", graciously named "dude" by the program's designer, Bostjan Cadez. The "dude" is a guy on a sled that will slide on the track (lines) that you have created. The slider will react to your drawn lines within the laws of physics.

Through experimentation, many of these "track designers" have created elaborate tracks, incorporating amazing stunts and tricks. YouTube.com now has more than 11,000 Line Rider videos to choose from, and for good reason. They are popular! One of my favorite examples of a Line Rider Video is Line Rider - Urban Run, where our slider jumps and flips through an urban setting including a skate park, buildings, and railroad tracks. This video has more than 1 million views on YouTube, with more than 3500 "Favorited" and "Ratings" as of this writing.

It's not just a sled riding around on lines either. Line Rider - Discarded is a short story created by TechDawg, telling a story of a slider that has been thrown out with the trash. His story begins by being dumped out of the garbage truck. This video has great music associated with it, and the ending is brilliant! This particular video was added to YouTube on February 7, 2007 and as of this writing has more than 470,000 views!

This simple program has generated quite a following on the internet. With a total of more than 15 million viewers, inXile entertainment announced late last year that they had acquired the rights to Line RiderÔ and is anticipating Line Rider for the Nintendo DSÔ and Nintendo Wii to ship sometime in the Spring of 2007.

"Line Rider began it's life as a project I did for illustration class," commented Bostjan Cadez, the creator of Line Rider. "As much as people see it as a game, I think of it as a toy because there is no score and no one wins or loses while playing. I'm looking forward to working with inXile entertainment on the new Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii versions as they will bring added gameplay and features."

The creativity of these videos will keep you entertained for hours. With titles such as Line Rider - Deep Space Adventure, Jagged Peak Adventure, Helicopter Escape, andEaten by a Dinosaur, you are sure to find some amazing stunts that seem to defy physics! Tune your web browser into www.youtube.com, and search for line rider. You won't be disappointed! You may even find a new hobby...or following!

References:

Line Rider™ News. (2006). InXile entertainment acquires console rights to hit internet

game line rider ™. Retrieved on April 7, 2007 from http://www.official-linerider.com/news.html.