Pontifex II

Pontifex II ( http://www.pontifex2.com/ ) by Chronologic ( http://www.chroniclogic.com/ ) is a bridge building emulator. You construct bridges using 5 types of materials. Complex physics of the game allows for many different types of bridges to be built.

Your aim is to design a durable bridge and do not exceed a budget.

So, you’ve completed a bridge that looks stable. The next stage is a field testing: let’s run trains or cars across it. The vehicles will either pass over safely or plummet into the river below depending on your design. Making bridges that collapse is very exciting. Unfortunately it will not help you to pass a level.

The game has many levels (many bridges to build) varying in difficulty from simple to complex.

The 3D graphics engine allows you to view your bridge from any angle including a first-person train view.

Some people found Pontifex II very difficult. Well, building bridges is not a rocket science. I’ll give you two hints: complete a tutorial before playing a game and the main rule to follow is: «Triangles are your friends».

The manual ( http://www.pontifex2.com/pontifex2/pfx2manual/ ) of the game says: «For the bridge to be stable, it has to basically consist of triangles. Any other shape with more sides will tend to bend and collapse. That’s the reason all bridge links have crossbeams in Pontifex II. So you should stick to triangle „nets“ as the basic elements of your bridges for all small and medium sized structures».

It is really so. For example, a square under pressure can be easily turned into rhombus. But you can’t turn a triangle into anything without destroying it first. So, triangles are «stable» and other figures are not.

For more info on bridge building games and addition levels visit www.bridgebuilder-game.com ( http://www.bridgebuilder-game.com/ )

I give Pontifex II 4 eyes award. I think it’s a bit overrateed. $29.95 for this game is too much.