People Playground

People Playground is a 2D physics sandbox by mestiez. Instead of a classic campaign, the game provides a large experimentation space in which ragdolls, weapons, machines and everyday objects can be combined, damaged, electrified, heated or otherwise manipulated.

The appeal comes from physical interactions: objects have different properties such as weight, conductivity, heat resistance or material behavior. This creates both simple experiments and complex, self-built contraptions.

People Playground came out on Jul 23, 2019. The game has since been developed further as a PC sandbox and distributed via Steam.

The officially offered version of People Playground is available for Windows PC via Steam. No native version for consoles or mobile platforms is listed on the official store page.

People Playground simulates numerous material and object states. Many items conduct electricity or heat, can burn, break or be damaged by projectiles. Projectiles, explosives and machines react to the same physics simulation as the ragdolls and the environment.

Players can connect objects together and build their own creations, from simple mechanical experiments to more elaborate machines. The game sets no fixed goal and instead focuses on free, emergent experimentation.

The Steam page lists as minimum a 2 GHz processor, 4 GB RAM, a DirectX 10-capable graphics card and 350 MB of storage. Recommended are a 3 GHz processor, 8 GB RAM, DirectX 12 and 1 GB of free storage. Since large simulations can become very CPU-heavy, the developer explicitly notes that more powerful processors allow more simultaneous objects.

People Playground supports the Steam Workshop. It lets you get mods, add-ons and creations made by the community; you can also publish your own content. Modding is therefore a permanent expansion system of the game, not a separate DLC model.