If you were born in the early 2000's, you KNOW about the famous falling sand game. Originally starting in 2005, the Java Applet based "Falling Sand Game" became famous around 2005 to 2008, only to be forgotten, and now unusable, as Java Applets have been removed from almost every modern browser.
However, since Java functions on libraries and has applications, I have decided to port every one of these applets (that I could) that were included on the fallingsandgame.com website, which is now defunct. These are the results:
In order to play these, you click the title to download them, and you must have at LEAST a Java 5 runtime environment, (Come on, there is Java 8 now, the only reason you would need that is if you still run Windows 98, which I hope to god you don't) or Java 1.3 for Falling Sand. Java 6 and Higher will run ALL of the games perfectly. I even know Java 9 will work, in fact, it works perfectly!
Curious as to how many visitors there are? well, so far, 11509!
If you've played any sand game, this is where it came from. The classic falling sand game, with a Namekuji, Bare minimum of tools, cera, and of course, falling sand! In fact, it is so old, you can run it on has Java 1.3! (Windows 95, here I come!). Imagine all the hours of fun you can have by making different coloured sand do different things using different materials! The combinations are endless! I know that there are probably some older versions of it, but this is from the fallingsandgame.com website (called simply Falling Sand, but I know that is not true), the last place where I could find these until last year. |
If you've played any sand game, this game is a no brainer. X Falling Sand takes from previous sand games, and adds modernized features, such as a Combo Box, and even gives you the option to have an infinite flow of "???"! Who doesn't want that glitch happening over and over and over and over and over and o- you get the jist. Fully customisable streams and an interesting slug (what?) with many interactive features have you coming back for more! How can lines of pixles going down the screen seem fun you say? I don't know, but it sure is! The best part? No bugs! (yet...) This package comes with three versions, the small version, the regular version, and the maximised version Why did I create three? I could and I was bored. |
Hell of Sand
When you hear "Falling Sand Game" on youtube, chances are, they are about to play this one. This was the first version to really add something new to the Falling Sand Genre, including a Snig(Why does the name keep changing?) that can now be moved by HAND (no that is not a type of sand), editable spout sizes, salt water, and best of all, Zombies that get trapped in the snig as it rolls around making a mess on the screen! Also, don't worry! The game isn't THAT small, infact, there is two versions, this tiny one, and a massive one which wouldn't have fit onto the webpage! Why? because that is how the original developer created it. He also made the bigger one use applet parameters, and lets just say that Java Applet parameters and Java Application do not mix well. It took a larger class to fix that issue than the mess being made by that Snig! As a bonus, this version is ALSO compatible with Java 1.3! |
A first for any pyromaniac! This incredibly violent sand game was the first in the series created by XavierSoft. In fact, this game is so violent, it even destroys the menu with the amount of explosions! This doesn't render the menu unusable, it just temporarily covers it in red, untill it is moused over again. If you ever feel like setting your bosses house on fire or blowing your workplace up, why not do something even more explosive and play this! Pyro Sand is also compatible with Java 1.3, so you can be a pyromaniac on your Windows 95 PC (including setting it on fire from overheating) |
NEW Sand NEW Sand used to be really new, now it is just newer. It has unreliable tree growing, irriversibly tiny screen, NO FALLING SAND ( D: ), and the amasing Zombies! This version easy to get working, except I was an idiot and forgot to start the Applet (for at least three hours) and was freaking out about why it would not work. This game features growable trees, fire that smokes, zombies that get streched weirdly, trees that emit so much pollen that you will be surprised your allergies aren't attacking, and the earliest usage of radio buttons and regular buttons. Although, that did not mean much since they didn't actually change anything from the previous versions. Although it works NOW, there are still minor bugs, that existed even before it was ported from an applet. Sometimes, when you place too many trees at once, the applet stops itself. It doesn't freeze however, since you can still toy around with the options, but they won't do anything. The bugs are esentially nothing considering this was a free Java Applet game from 2004. This is part of the applet, and not something I can fix without the original source code. Yet another still compatible with Java 1.3! |
The second version of your favourite pyromaniacal sand game from Xaviersoft has arrived! This version features more elements, and instead of the classic click boxes, it uses scroll bars, radio buttons, and combo boxes. What more could you ask for! This was also one of the easiest applets to get working, and all the bugs have been entirely fixed!... I hope Unlike the first one however, you require Java 1.5 or higher to play it. Sorry Windows 95 users |
Etch-a-Sketch Sand
Now you can have all the fun with sand on an Etch-A-Sketch like board! This version is semi-resizable, and requires a keyboard that can hold down more than 5 keys at once(A good USB or an average PS/2). It is still severely buggy since the entire source pretty much had to be re-written for it to work, but thats why I can actually update this version! Hussah! Although this version IS compatible with Java 5, It's practically a disaster when turning on. It functions fine afterwards, but when first starting the application it throws thousands of errors in the background. Not noticable really, unless you're weird and run it from command line. Newer java versions (6 and up) have no issue running it, other than the ocasional not responding to any keypress issue. |
All of these are Java executable Jar files! This means that you NEED a Java Runtime Environment(If you don't have one, what hole have you been living in?), hence they can all run on Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, and a bunch more.
Unless otherwise stated, all of these games require Java 1.5 (Java 5) or higher. They have been guarenteed to work on Java 8 using Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 10, but I couldn't test Mac because I don't have one!
Games that include extended Java 3 support include: