How to play the Egg Drop Challenge
The egg drop challenge is a favourite science-class experiment: protect a raw egg so it survives a fall. In this drawing game version your pen is the only material. The egg hangs from a crane, and you sketch a contraption around it: legs to land on, struts to hold things together and wide lines that work like a parachute. Then you let go and hope for the best.
- Look at the drop height, the ground and any spikes or wind arrows.
- Draw lines inside the blue box around the egg. Every line joins the same contraption.
- Watch the ink bar: each level gives you a limited amount.
- Press Drop! and watch the fall, the speed and the height.
- Win when the egg comes to rest in one piece and away from the spikes.
Tips from the egg engineers
- Legs buy stopping distance. The egg sits on springy supports inside your contraption. Legs that reach well below the egg let it sink gently instead of hitting the ground.
- Wide lines on top slow the fall. Air pushes hardest on lines that face it, so a broad curve above the egg is a great parachute. Vertical lines barely slow you down.
- Keep the parachute high. Drag above the egg keeps the whole thing upright as it falls, like a shuttlecock. Drag below can flip it over.
- Splay the legs. Legs angled outwards make a wide, stable stance and stop the egg from rolling on slopes.
- Use the wind. On windy levels a big parachute drifts further. Spikes right below you? Let the breeze carry the egg to safe ground.
- Spend ink where it counts. Low drops only need short legs. Save the big parachutes for the high drops so you keep the three-star ink score.
The twelve drops
You start with a gentle four-metre drop where a pair of short legs is enough. The crane then climbs higher, and by level three you will want lines that catch the air. Next come a slope that sets the egg rolling, a tiny safe patch surrounded by spikes, and windy drops where the spikes are directly underneath and only a drifting parachute can save you. The later levels push the crane to fourteen metres with very little ink, put spikes at the bottom of a slope, and finish with a high, windy drop onto a narrow safe patch.
The science behind it
Two ideas save eggs in real life and in this game. First, air resistance: the faster something falls and the larger the area facing the air, the stronger the drag, which is why parachutes work. Second, impulse: the change in speed on landing is the same whatever you do, but spreading it over a longer time makes the force much smaller. Long legs and springy supports do exactly that. After the drop the game shows the hardest jolt in g, so you can see how much your design helped and improve the next one.
Great for classrooms and curious minds
The real egg drop project takes an afternoon and a box of eggs. This version takes seconds per attempt and costs nothing, so it is a handy warm-up before building the real thing, or a way to test ideas such as "do longer legs help more than a bigger parachute?" Students can compare designs, note the jolt in g for each one and discuss why some shapes work better than others.
More physics drawing games
Build a tower from your own blocks in Doodle Tower, balance a seesaw with a drawing in Draw the Counterweight, or build a crossing inDraw the Bridge.
Egg Drop Draw FAQ
How does the online egg drop challenge work?
Draw lines in the blue box around the egg: legs, struts, a parachute or anything you like. All your lines join into one contraption that holds the egg on springy supports. Press Drop and watch it fall. If the egg lands without too hard a jolt and avoids the spikes, you win.
What makes the egg crack?
Every frame the game measures how hard the egg is being slowed down. A sudden stop, such as the egg hitting the ground directly, cracks it. Legs give the egg room to slow down gently, and lines that catch the air make it fall more slowly in the first place.
How does the parachute work?
Every line you draw feels air resistance, and lines that face the wind feel the most. A wide, flat line above the egg slows the fall the most, and on windy levels it also makes your contraption drift sideways.
How do I earn three stars?
Stars depend on ink. Save the egg using 45% of the ink bar or less for three stars, up to 75% for two stars, and any safe landing earns one star.
Can I play the egg drop game on a phone?
Yes. Draw with your finger and tap Drop. It also works with a mouse, it is free and nothing needs to be installed.
Is this like the school egg drop project?
It is inspired by it. In class you build a protective device from straws, paper and tape, and here you draw it. The same ideas apply: slow the fall down and spread out the stopping force.