The Powder Toy

The Powder Toy is a falling-sand game originally created by Stanislaw K. Skowronek (also known as Skylark). It is now developed and maintained by LBPHacker, Simon, jacob1 and other contributors on GitHub. The Powder Toy is free and open-source software licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.0.^[4] A total of 258 (as of February 2025) different in-game materials (or "elements"), each with custom behavior and interactions, are available in the game.^[5] In June 2024, The Powder Toy was released on Steam.^[6]

The Powder Toy
A user interacting with community-produced content.
Original author(s)	Stanislaw K. Skowronek
Developer(s)	jacob1, Simon, LBPHacker and various other GitHub contributors[1]
Initial release	2008[A]
Stable release	99.3 / 21 February 2025 / 2 February 2025; 6 months ago (2025-02-02)[3]
Repository	github.com/The-Powder-Toy/The-Powder-Toy
Platform	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
Type	Single-player falling-sand game
License	GPLv3
Website	powdertoy.co.uk

Gameplay

The Powder Toy, (abbreviated TPT), is a sandbox video game programmed primarily in C++ that allows users to create content in-game to share using its online level sharing system.

A public server for sharing in-game creations is provided as part of the game itself, allowing users to share anything that abides by the rules. Examples of player shared creations include functioning circulatory systems, nuclear power plants, nuclear bombs, and computers.^[5] Content is rated using upvotes and downvotes, and can be reported to the moderators if it breaks the on-site rules.

Modding

The Powder Toy allows users to add plugins and mods to the game with Lua scripting^[7] and change the mainly C++ code base. The source code is available on GitHub and can be compiled using Meson.^[8]

A mod manager can be installed using the built-in console using the tpt.installScriptManager()^[9] command.

Users have created many forks and mods. The most popular of which include:

• TPT Multiplayer (Lua)
• Crackers1000's Mod (Source code modification)
• Jacob1's Mod (Source code modification)

The former is a Lua script and the latter two are all forks of the source code.^[10]

April Fools

The Powder Toy features annual April fools update, most notably the 3D Mode update, alongside the addition of a fake currency called Powdercoins. The April Fools updates are usually removed shortly following April Fools. These updates remaining in the game is very rare.

Reception

edgalaxy.com called The Powder Toy a "great science game" for its potential use as a learning aid through its accurate portrayal of physics, chemical reactions and more.^[11]