11 Most Entertaining Ragdoll Physics In Games

Ever since its initial mainstream conception in 1998’s Jurassic Park: Trespasser, the art of in-game ragdoll physics has undergone numerous major evolutions. The ability to make NPC’s react to impact and environmental changes has reshaped major elements in gaming, particularly in combat.

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Some games have even made overcoming slippery ragdoll physics the objective of the game, such as Gang Beasts. Other titles, however, take this commitment too far, with characters floppily hitting the deck at the slightest misstep over a curb or light tap from a vehicle. Regardless, advanced physics engines have revolutionized gaming with how we fall down hills, off buildings, and in fights, being an ever-giving source of entertainment.

Updated February 26, 2023 By Ben Jessey: Ragdoll physics are among the most satisfying things in gaming. There’s just something hilarious about a character taking a big hit that causes them to fly all over the place.

Unfortunately, these types of physics are becoming less common in the gaming world. Yet, they’re not completely extinct. After all, in recent times, we’ve seen several great games that have included ragdoll mechanics. This list highlights a few of the best ones. And now we’ve updated it to include even more.

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11

Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Usually, ragdoll physics are only on display when a character gets hit, dies, or explodes. However, in Octodad, the playable character is flailing all over the place all the time. In fact, it’s a major part of the game.

After all, you control an octopus that is pretending to be a human. And it turns out that walking on two legs and doing activities isn’t easy when you are a mollusk. So, your tentacles flop all over as you’re trying to move around and do things. Thus, in this game, you have to overcome the ragdoll physics to succeed, but that doesn’t make them any less funny.

10

Human: Fall Flat

In Human Fall Flat, your goal is to solve various physics-based puzzles. To do this, you take control of a little customizable person. At first, the creature seems like a regular human, despite being a bit strange-looking.

However, once you fall off of or get hit by something, you realize that the main character has ragdoll physics. This leads to some fun visuals. But it also can help with puzzles since the creature’s jelly-like body can squeeze through or clamber over all sorts of obstacles that a more rigid physics system wouldn’t allow.

9

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator

While there are a bunch of battle simulator games out there, none of them are as comical as Totally Accurate Battle Simulator. And it’s all down to the game’s wacky ragdoll physics. Like any battle sim, the game allows you to pick an army of combatants to go up against the opposing forces.

It’s all about strategy, as you have to work out what sort of troops will be able to counter the enemy threat. Your options have different weapons and looks, but they all flail around hilariously due to the physics engine. This makes for some enjoyable to watch skirmishes.

8

Goat Simulator

It’s easy to see why Goat Simulator was such a hit. Launched in 2014 when goats were at peak internet stardom, just at the right time to parody other Simulator games, Goat Simulator offered players a wholly unique gaming experience.

Set in open-world environments with an excess of objectives, Goat Simulator encouraged players to use and abuse the Unreal Engine 3-powered ragdoll mechanics, with headbutting, charging, and flying into the world’s many occupants the prime goal. The fact that players get to control a customizable goat is part of the needless explanation as to why this game deserves praise.

7

QWOP

Endlessly iconic, addictive, humiliating, and hilarious, flash game QWOP is one of the all-time greats when it comes to ragdoll physics. It’s a little more rigid-bodied than some of the more sophisticated, fluid, and realistic ragdoll games. Yet, QWOP stands the test of time when it comes to enticing gameplay with an awe-inspiring legacy of record-breakers, including an artificial intelligence bot that still couldn’t beat the record at the time.

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Players are tasked with traversing the screen as far as they can, controlling the legs of an athlete. Q and W control the thighs, whilst O and P control the calves. Sounds easy enough, right? Oh, so wrong.

6

GTA 4

Though there’s much debate surrounding the superiority between GTA 4 and 5, when it comes to ragdoll physics, 4 tends to win in the eyes of many.

Being the first game in the series to implement a realistic ragdoll system, players were amazed at protagonist Niko’s bounciness. The limits of the game’s engine were rigorously tested through head-on collisions through windscreens, parachute-less helicopter dives, and playing in traffic. Its success wasn’t just limited to GTA 4 though, seeing the ragdoll mechanic improve over the years in future Rockstar productions.

5

Skate 3

Of all the gaming sub-genres, what better field to test ragdoll physics on than one of the most chaotic sports around? The Skate series not only fully embraced the art of the slam but also encouraged it, especially Skate 3, which had a handy yet cringe-inducing skeleton setting that allowed players to see which bones they’d obliterated.

Inspired by the Thrasher magazine featurette, Hall of Meat mode became as fun as actually landing tricks. Hurtling through the air posing as planks, cannonballs, and flying karate kicks before breaking every bone upon landing made for unlimited fun when competing online.

4

Happy Wheels

Another legendary flash game, Happy Wheels was a trailblazer in enabling users to create and share their own levels online. Playing as an array of characters with disposable limbs, including a wheelchair-bound elderly man, a father, and son on a pushbike, and a man on a Segway, players were tasked with reaching the end of each side-scroller, platform-based, survival level in one piece.

The numerous hyperviolent traps designed to decapitate and destroy made the ragdoll physics extra entertaining, with arrow-impaled characters frantically pedaling towards the finish with stumps for legs and no arms. Is dark humor required? It helps.

3

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Some things in games will never cease to be satisfying. Nailing an opponent with a green shell in Mario Kart, resting your feet after a major delivery in Death Stranding, and the ultimate: the Fus Ro Dah. Over a decade later, sending soldiers, giants, bears, spiders, mudcrabs, and anything else that looks at you funny never fails to get old.

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The powerful, voice-activated weapon is made all the more dynamic by the game’s commitment to fully utilizing the ragdoll mechanic, turning imposing foes into limp-limbed dummies, hurtling through the air and off mountains.

2

L.A. Noire

Albeit not the most refined and state-of-the-art of the ragdoll engines out there, the physics in Rockstar’s detective classic are unendingly entertaining. Unlike in other Rockstar games where NPC’s generally react to impact, either by protecting their injured areas or shielding themselves as they try to stay on their feet, characters in L.A. Noire seem intent on being as unresponsive as possible.

Whether it’s a head-on collision with a pedestrian on foot or a slip from a misplaced step when navigating someplace sketchy, the way the characters seem to give up entirely is never short of being hilarious. Accompanied by Cole Phelps’ wailing as he plummets to the ground is a perfect serving of hilarity.

1

Just Cause 4

Though the entire series shares a similar ragdoll system, the sheer opportunities available in the fourth installment are what sets it apart. The harpoon-like grappling hook has become a staple, quintessential part of the series and allows for some of the most inventive and chaotic ragdoll animations put to screen.

Whether you’re attaching a rocket to a cow, a pedestrian to a fast-moving car, a car with a passenger to a helicopter, and then all of that to a missile, players are almost certain to capture some great ragdoll animations singular to this series.

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