The Physics of Line Rider

Normally, thinking critically about a game isn't high on your to do list, especially one like Line Rider, but one university professor couldn't help but analyze the physics of the addictive Flash game.

Where a virtual world like Second Life takes an inconsistent approach to how objects behave, in Line Rider you can pretty much tell how a rider is going to move along a track, which makes it possible to tease out what's going on behind the scenes.


So what are the physics of Line Rider?

1. Based on the length of the sled, the line rider is apparently a 5 year old boy (3.7 feet tall).
2. There is no air resistance in this world.
3. There is no friction on horizontal surfaces, and on inclined surfaces, friction behaves inconsistently.

For the fun details on the software and equations used to deduce these facts, click through to read the full report.

Or just play the game.