Normally, once a project is approved, the entire company will immediately begin to divide the work and cooperate.
One group was tasked with solving hardware issues, another with game design, and the remainder with software development.
However, this time Lin Lixin didn't bother with those messy things; instead, he found a bunch of junk.
A cardboard box used for storing documents, several bundles of cotton thread salvaged from who-knows-where, and a handful of razor-sharp thumbtacks—
The only thing that uses electricity here is probably Sam, because it's bioelectricity.
"When I was a kid, I didn't have hands—I mean, before we had handheld consoles—so I liked to tinker with all sorts of random things."
Lin Lixin had no idea he was messing with a bunch of junk; he was excitedly sitting on the stall assembling the things.
Back when smartphones weren't common, aside from occasionally tinkering with his family's computer that took a week to download Adventure Island, he often spent his free time playing games.
Of course, it's not about typing code and making video games on a computer, but about using paper and pen, or rubber bands and marbles—things that are readily available—to try and combine things.
Needless to say, drawing cards was a skill Lin Lixin acquired a complete set of self-made board game cards with well-defined rules, even though he hadn't won a single game.
Fortunately, my mother was quite open-minded back then, otherwise I probably would have time-traveled ten or twenty years earlier.
"What are you standing there for? Tear off a piece of tape for me."
"Huh? Oh, okay."
Sam then seemed to snap out of his daze and went over to help Lin Lixin pry open the roll of transparent tape, trying to find the end of the tape hidden in four-dimensional space.
"Aww!"
Suddenly, Sam let out a loud howl, startling even Lin Lixin.
"What's with that dog barking? It startled me."
Sam remained silent, limped to the side, then bent down and groped under his feet, pulling out a thumbtack.
"----My bad."
"You fucking... never mind."
Sam slumped to the ground, wearing a miserable expression, and continued to help Lin Lixin pull the tape.
He seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly laughed.
Lin Lixin waited for a long time without receiving anything, then looked up at Sam, who was grinning foolishly.
Is this causing the child to become mentally impaired?
"Hey, are you sick?"
No, no.
Sam calmed down a bit, scratching his face. "I just suddenly felt a little nostalgic, like going back to our rented apartment at University of Southern California."
For Sam, the past few years have felt like an unreal dream.
It was so Mew that it gave him an indescribable unease, an unspeakable lack of security.
It's like waking up one morning and realizing it was all just a dream.
I was still living through that half-dead summer in Atari.
Back then, the two of them lived in that small rented room, spending their days tinkering with wooden boards and C64, and those old, beat-up arcade machines.
I did some simple crafts, and an hour or so passed in the blink of an eye.
"All done? Want to play a bit?"
Lin Lixin carefully moved the tattered cardboard box covered in tape to the table, with the open side facing Sam.
Sam yawned, then put down his Switch and looked over.
At the bottom of the box was a paper cup that had been sawed in half, and above it were several ropes made of twisted white cotton thread, fixed to the side of the cardboard box with thumbtacks.
The ends of these ropes were all tied to a 50-cent coin.
"Uh... how do I play?"
This thing's appearance was just too green and awful, making Sam lose his appetite.
But seeing the expectant look in Lin Lixin's eyes, which were practically sparkling with anticipation, he couldn't very well refuse.
"Tell me which rope to cut, and I'll pull out the thumbtack to make the rope fall off. The winner is the one who manages to drop the coin into the paper cup."
"Oh, I see."
Sam nodded, then examined the entire structure again. "Then let's cut off the middle one."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Lixin acted quickly, pulling out the corresponding thumbtack, and the light cotton rope drooped down without support.
The coin was also swung around by the rope on the other side.
"Hey, now's the time! Cut off the one on the left!"
"Puff"
With a dull thud as a coin Tackle a paper cup, Sam excitedly pumped his fist.
"One-shot kill, that's the mark of a gaming legend, you get it?"
"Not bad, but this is just the beginning."
Lin Lixin chuckled and quickly rearranged the checkpoints.
He simply moved the thumbtack slightly, adjusted the tension of the thread and the position of the paper cup, and a completely new level was created.
"Eh? Let me think about it----"
The new level uses four lines to firmly hold the coin in mid-air, forming a cross shape.
At first glance, it's really impossible to figure out a solution just by intuition.
The two of them did absolutely nothing else all afternoon but this thing.
Lin Lixin designed new levels, Sam figured out how to solve them. An afternoon passed by in a flash, and they really had a lot of fun.
"How about I take on one of the levels? I have a brilliant idea!"
As the coin landed precisely in the paper cup, Sam cheered and reached out to snatch the cardboard box from Lin Lixin's hand.
But Lin Lixin simply hugged the cardboard box and dodged backward.
"No."
"Ha! You're afraid my design is too difficult for you to solve, aren't you?"
Sam then realized it was almost dusk, and reluctantly let go of the cardboard box.
"Okay, I have to admit it's really fun, fun in every sense of the word."
Sometimes Sam really wondered how Lin Lixin's head was structured.
They managed to create a fascinating game from a pile of junk that would normally be taken away and thrown away by the cleaning staff.
Hmm... perhaps describing it as a "toy" would be more appropriate.
This little gadget has already fully showcased the core charm of this game to him.
"Think about it, Sam, let's add something that only video games can do on this foundation."
Lin Lixin opened the glass display case next to him, casually placed the thing on it, and then continued, "For example—we can add some new mechanisms and systems."
"A coin can be trapped in Bubbles and start to float, an air pump can deflect the Bubbles, and a conveyor belt can move the coin along with it----"
"We can also design different themed levels, and each major level can have some unique mechanisms and designs."
Sam paused, then his eyes grew brighter.
Yes, that's right.
Something only video games can do!
A perfect blend of fantasy and reality!
Let's combine physics with those fascinating mechanisms!