What is Gryphon Bricks?

You’d think we’d pass a toy like this on to the Brisbane Elementary School and let the kids have at it. Wrong. We kept it to ourselves, and tore open the box as soon the developers left the building.

Bricks is exactly what it sounds like: a virtual set of building blocks. The interface is a piece of cake to learn — just pick the desired shape and color brick from the tool palette, and place it in the main window.

You’ll run out of imagination before Bricks runs out of bricks. There are 18 sets of bricks ranging from basic rectangles and plates, to doors and windows, to figures and vehicles — adding up to well over 300 different shapes that can be made any color in the X-color palette. The sets are stored in suitcases, so whenever Gryphon creates more sets, you can drop them right in.

There’s a knack to placing bricks in the proper spot and it takes a while to develop the skill. Fortunately, a multiview option shows the model from the top, front, and side. Be sure you’ve grabbed the right brick, though; if you work too quickly, you may easily move the wrong brick.

In addition to being a brilliant toy, Bricks is also a wonderful Mac program. Every appropriate Mac technology, from AppleScript to Program Linking, is exploited, enhancing the program’s functionality. You can print your model as a picture, a parts list, or as layer-by-layer instructions. With the network tool, you can share your models with others.

Gryphon Bricks takes advantage of AppleScript — there’s your chance to learn it and still have a lot of fun. Simply record your actions in Gryphon Bricks with Apple’s Script Editor, and create a sample script that can be dissected to see how it works. Also, all automation, from building figures to making QuickTime movies, is done with AppleScript. Yes, we said, QuickTime. Make stop-motion movies by moving pieces and recording their places with AppleScript. Woo-hoo! Look out Web, here we come!

The CD-ROM also includes a kids’ version that uses a slimmed-down. [sic] Like Gryphon’s Colorforms, KidBricks uses voices to guide children through dialogs. The interface is all up front, so kids don’t have to scroll through lists of parts. There are funny — if potentially annoying — sounds with the various buttons.

This is not to say that Bricks is all rose and no thorn. In fact, sometimes the very simplicity of the interface gets in the way. Some shortcut keys are overloaded — the same key vill do a different thing depending upon whether a brick is selected. Perhaps it would make more sense to have a modify key?

There are also a few drawing glitches. When you switch quickly between the Select and Place modes, the cursor leaves an outline of the current shape. You can force the program to redraw the win-dow by dragging the command palette over the mis-drawn outline, then moving the palette back.

Barring the feel of working with real building blocks, Bricks is a stupendous toy. It could use some polish (but so could every 1.0 release) and we’re not going to punish an innovative product for not being perfect.

Tafel, Kathy. (October 1996). Gryphon Bricks. MacAddict. (pg. 65).

Download Gryphon Bricks for Mac

Architecture

68K + PPC (FAT)

System Requirements

From Mac OS 7.1 up to Mac OS 9.2

Compatibility notes

Minimum Requirements

• 640 x 480 color display
• 4 MB RAM
• CD-ROM drive
• System 7.1

Emulating this? It could probably run under: Basilisk II