🏗 Walkie Talkie Death Ray

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Hello Fellow Engineers!

This week, we investigate London’s Walkie Talkie building, which melted cars because architects forgot how sunlight works. We also review Tower Bridge, where engineers saved the day (again) after an architect insisted it needed a medieval cosplay. Plus, we’ve got engineering games, a bowling robot, and Paddy proving he’s better at keepie-uppies than you.

Oh, and if you’ve ever dreamed of spending $90 on digital Ninja Turtles, Call of Duty has some terrible news for your wallet.

Let’s dive into it 👇

This week, we’re giving away FOUR copies of Tiny Kingdom! 🏰👑

If you love building, managing, and defending your own tiny medieval empire, then this is your chance to rule the land (without pesky architects ruining the skyline).

And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for… 🥁

🏆 fiddlingmaniac🏆
🏆 lichtundnichts🏆
🏆 aquashieldaberdeen🏆
🏆 dbrendle116🏆

Check your email for your game key and get ready to build the mightiest (and most structurally sound) kingdom ever! ⚒️🔨

Missed out? Don’t worry—more giveaways are coming!

Want a shot at the next one? Vote for a bridge in the poll in this email! 🌉🔥

👷‍♂️ Truss Me, I’m an Engineer…

The Building That Fought Back

Ah, architects. Always pushing the limits of glass, steel, and, apparently, the laws of physics. Enter the infamous Walkie Talkie building in London (officially 20 Fenchurch Street, but who even calls it that?), designed with just enough architectural arrogance to accidentally become a death ray.

Back in 2013, engineers and pedestrians alike learned that the building’s concave glass façade wasn’t just for aesthetics—it was a solar cannon.

On particularly sunny days, it focused sunlight into an ultra-hot beam capable of frying eggs, blistering paint, and, most hilariously, melting parked cars. That’s right. One poor Jaguar owner returned to find parts of his car liquefied, proving once and for all that architects really do have it out for engineers... and, apparently, luxury vehicles.

But fear not, because engineering saved the day.

Once the problem was discovered (by, you know, people watching their belongings burst into flames), engineers stepped in and installed a series of shading fins to diffuse the light, preventing London from becoming the world's first city with a built-in urban magnifying glass.

The moral of the story? Architects dream, but engineers fix their dreams before they turn into a Bond villain’s weapon. Stay tuned for more feats of engineering wizardry—because someone has to keep the world from literally melting.

🎮 Your Engineering Brain Needs These Games!

Huge thanks to Rogue Duck Interactive for sponsoring this week’s newsletter!

Put down those hard hats for a minute because Rogue Duck Interactive just dropped THREE absolutely free demos that'll make your optimization-loving heart skip a beat. And don't worry - no architects were consulted in the making of these games, so everything actually works!

Each one scratches that specific engineer itch for optimization and clever system design. Did I mention they’re all FREE!

🎨 Color Factory: Remember when I spent WAY too many hours optimizing conveyor layouts in Shapez? Well, the devs were directly inspired by it! Color Factory takes that same satisfying factory automation and adds an artistic twist. Mix colors, automate production lines, and create art that's actually practical (take that, architects and your "conceptual" designs)!

➡️ Download Color Factory Demo - Perfect for my fellow factory optimization nerds!

🔫 Boogey Hunters: If you liked my deck-building videos, this one's for you! Build the most efficient deck of bullets to blast away nightmares. Yes, you read that correctly - it's like if engineering met monster hunting, and your Gantt chart was made of ammunition.

➡️ Download Boogey Hunters Demo - Ready to build some bullet combos?

🏰 Kingdom's Deck: For my city-planning enthusiasts - this turns fortress defense into a card game. Finally, a chance to build walls that won't immediately collapse when an architect looks at them funny! Perfect for anyone who enjoyed watching me create the ultimate defensive layouts.

➡️ Download Kingdom's Deck Demo - Time to show those siege engines who's boss!

🚀 All three demos are available RIGHT NOW during Steam Next Fest.

They're completely free to try, which means more time to perfect your definitely-not-overengineered base designs!

⚡ Cool Links

🎳 Engineering a Bowling Robot
Why did the robot become a bowling champion? Because it always had the perfect "spare" parts! Okay, okay, i’ll see myself out… For more on engineering a bowling bot, check out this Reddit thread.

🤔 Is this the MOST REALISTIC construction game ever made?
Mud, sweat, and low gear struggles—this game has it all. If you’ve ever wanted to actually build roads instead of just driving on them (or getting stuck in the mud like me), this one’s for you. Watch me battle fences and tree stumps above!

🤯 Black Ops 6 Ninja Turtles Crossover Will Cost Almost $100 To Unlock Everything
Activision are out here charging $90 for Ninja Turtles skins like we’re buying an actual sewer lair. Cowabunga? Not quite.

🐕‍🦺 Paddy’s Corner

Balloon keepie-uppies! (unbelievable skill)

Meet Paddy, the ultimate balloon keepie-uppie champion! 🎈⚽ Move over Messi and Ronaldo, there's a new GOAT in town (and he’s got four legs). Watch his pro skills below 👇

It’s time for a Bridge Review!

Ah, Tower Bridge. The pride of London, the selfie magnet for tourists, and yet another example of engineers carrying architects on their backs like a structurally sound Atlas.

Let’s start with the engineering feats, because, as always, they’re the real stars of the show. Completed in 1894, Tower Bridge is a bascule bridge, meaning it lifts up to let ships pass—a crucial feature when your city was built around a river that actually needed functioning transport. The two bascules (that’s fancy for “big moving road bits”) are counterweighted so they can open in just five minutes, proving that 19th-century engineers were more efficient than your WiFi connection.

The towers? Well, they look nice, but they’re hiding a proper steel framework beneath all that fancy stonework. That’s right—the gothic façade was purely for aesthetics, because someone (cough architects cough) insisted it had to “blend in” with the Tower of London. Never mind that London’s skyline is now 50% glass-covered nightmares melting cars (see: Walkie Talkie).

The walkway between the towers was originally supposed to help pedestrians cross when the bridge was open, but people just used it as a Victorian rooftop hangout instead. Classic. It was closed for decades before being reopened as an exhibition, which is really just an admission that engineers had the right idea all along.

Final Score: 9.1/10