Patent ID: 8212820

Claim:
In a puzzle game played using a touchscreen display, said puzzle game of the type that displays a virtual world including at least one obstacle on said touchscreen display and allows a human player to use a stylus to interact with the puzzle game, the stylus having a tip, a method for permitting the human player to manipulate at least one virtual object on the touchscreen display to help a game character navigate through said virtual world and overcome the at least one obstacle, the method comprising: displaying at least one virtual object on the touchscreen display; allowing the human player to use the stylus to interact with the display and puzzle game including simulating a suction and expulsion function of the stylus at least in part via the display; deforming the shape of the at least one displayed virtual object based at least in part on the simulated suction functionality of the stylus so that as the human user moves the tip of the stylus over the at least one virtual object, the virtual object disappears in a way that creates an impression that the stylus is sucking the virtual object up into an internal cavity or reservoir within the stylus by deforming portions of the displayed virtual object closest to the stylus so that the object disappears from the display; and at least in part in response to the human user moving the stylus tip on the touchscreen, providing a further display on the touchscreen that makes it appear that the stylus is injecting the virtual object from the tip of the stylus into the virtual world, the injected virtual object providing a structure within the virtual world that allows the game character to overcome the at least one obstacle.