Fluidity: Spin Cycle
By Chad Sapieha,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Fun, downloadable 3DS puzzler lets kids play with physics.
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Fluidity: Spin Cycle
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What’s It About?
Available only as a download for 3DS, FLUIDITY: SPIN CYCLE puts players in control of a water spirit who needs to splish and splash its way through a variety of mazes in a storybook brought to life. His goal: rescue rainbow spirits that have been locked away by wicked black goop. Players control the water spirit's movements by tilting and spinning their 3DS, in effect pouring him up and down hills and through tight passages. They'll also get to combat the dark goop by washing over it, throw switches to open doors, alter gravity in limited ways, and search out collectibles, including a golden puzzle piece hidden in each level.
Is It Any Good?
This highly playable puzzler grabs hold quickly with its highly intuitive motion-based controls. Spinning a 3DS to control the flow of the game's water spirit just feels right, and the difficulty of the puzzles grows so gradually that kids are unlikely to become too frustrated. Plus, setting the action inside a book brought to life -- you'll actually pass by passages of prose in the background describing, say, the dinosaur bones you're washing over -- invites players to take interest in not just the action, but also the world. It's a little short, but lots of collectibles means there's plenty of reason to go back and replay each maze multiple times. A great pick to kill a few minutes on a bus or an hour while nestled on the couch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about gravity. How does gravity work? What would our world be like if there was no gravity? How is gravity used in other games?
Families can also discuss the physics of liquid. Do you think the fluid in the game accurately mimics the behavior of real-world liquids?
Game Details
- Platform: Nintendo 3DS
- Subjects: Science: gravity, physics, substance properties
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: deduction, logic, solving puzzles
- Available online?: Not available online
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release date: January 13, 2013
- Genre: Puzzle
- Topics: Dinosaurs, Fairy Tales
- ESRB rating: E for Comic Mischief, Mild Fantasy Violence
- Last updated: August 26, 2016
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