Armadillo Run

Armadillo Run is the title of a transport puzzle video game created by Peter Stock. The game is currently in version 1.0.7, and is only legally available from the Armadillo Run website.

Objective

The aim of the game is to get Armadillo, a yellow basketball-like object (a stylized representation of a rolled-up armadillo) to the blue goal (a "Portal") by creating a structure using various materials that, when activated, will get Armadillo to the goal while keeping within a sometimes strict budget. The gameplay can be described as a mix of Bridge Builder and The Incredible Machine, and is certainly inspired by Rube Goldberg. Its creator, Peter Stock, cites Bridge Builder and Stair Dismount for the construction and dynamic natures of the game, respectively.

Gameplay

The main game has 50 "normal" levels to complete, and several bonus levels if the player has enough money to unlock them.

Every level begins with the Armadillo, the goal, various nodes and, most of the time, some pieces which cannot be moved. The larger nodes are fixed in place; these are indestructible, and are used as mounting points. The player has access to rope, metal bars, metal sheets, cloth, rubber, elastic and rockets as machine building materials. The player can also change the tension of most of the components, as well as setting a timer for some of the components to break. In some levels, certain features or materials are not available. It is up to the player to ensure the structure gets the Armadillo to the goal within the budget for that level, and holds it there for five seconds.

Armadillo

Armadillos are New World placental mammals with a leathery armour shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo means "little armoured one" in Spanish. The Aztecs called them āyōtōchtli [aːjoːˈtoːt͡ʃt͡ɬi], Nahuatl for "turtle-rabbit": āyōtl [ˈaːjoːt͡ɬ] (turtle) and tōchtli [ˈtoːt͡ʃt͡ɬi] (rabbit).

About 10 extant genera and 20 extant species of armadillo have been described, some of which are distinguished by the number of bands on their armour. Their average length is about 75 cm (30 in), including tail. The giant armadillo grows up to 150 cm (59 in) and weighs up to 54 kg (119 lb), while the pink fairy armadillo is a diminutive species, with an overall length of 13–15 cm (5–6 in). All species are native to the Americas, where they inhabit a variety of environments.

Like all of the Xenarthra lineages, armadillos originated in South America. Due to the continent's former isolation, they were confined there for most of the Cenozoic. The recent formation of the Isthmus of Panama allowed a few members of the family to migrate northward into southern North America by the early Pleistocene, as part of the Great American Interchange. (Some of their much larger cingulate relatives, the pampatheres and glyptodonts, made the same journey.)