# The-Powder-Toy/The-Powder-Toy

Written in C++ and using SDL, The Powder Toy is a desktop version of the classic 'falling sand' physics sandbox, it simulates air pressure and velocity as well as heat.

Repository: https://github.com/The-Powder-Toy/The-Powder-Toy
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/the-powder-toy
Homepage: http://powdertoy.co.uk
Language: C++
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: simulation, game, powder, powder-toy, cellular-automata, sandbox
Last push: 2026-08-21T21:14:36+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 94/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 84, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5883, "days_push": 12, "days_rel": 25, "gap_med": 31, "n_releases_24m": 8}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5281, forks 895 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:14.160372+00:00)

## What it is
The Powder Toy is a free, open-source falling-sand physics sandbox game written in C++ with SDL, simulating air pressure, velocity, heat, and gravity across many interacting substances. It includes a Lua API for automation and plugins, plus community save sharing.

## Use cases
- play a falling sand physics sandbox game
- simulate explosions, heat, and pressure interactions
- build virtual machines and circuits with electronic components
- script game automation or plugins with Lua
- download and share community-created saves
- learn physics through interactive simulation

## When to choose
- you want a free, actively maintained physics sandbox with a large community
- you need a Lua API to extend or automate the simulation
- you want cross-platform desktop physics simulation with heat and pressure modeling

## When to avoid
- you need realistic 3D physics or high-fidelity engineering simulation
- you want a mobile or web-based sandbox
- you need a general-purpose physics engine to embed in your own project

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: simulation, game-engine, graphics, plugin-system
- domain: simulation, entertainment, education
- platform: windows, cpp, cross-platform
- tags: falling-sand, physics-sandbox, cellular-automata, sdl, lua-scripting, open-source-game, game-development, physics, macos, linux

## Member repositories
- The-Powder-Toy/The-Powder-Toy (main) score 94

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:14.160372+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:59:17.038339+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/The-Powder-Toy/The-Powder-Toy (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:14.160372+00:00, sha f3a178b085cb)
  - homepage: http://powdertoy.co.uk (fetched 2026-08-29T08:54:08.096185+00:00, sha 788b54f81df1)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.