If you are stuck on a tricky platforming sequence in Mad About Pandas' latest puzzle-platformer, you are likely wondering exactly how to copy and paste physics Yerba Buena style to get past it. Released in May 2026, this mind-bending adventure drops you into the shoes of Barb, an NPC trapped in an abandoned 1970s San Francisco gameworld that is actively collapsing due to a phenomenon known as the Glitch. To save the city from a biker gang leader named Bear and a mysterious overarching threat, you must master the Oscillator—a technomagical device that manipulates reality itself.
Unlike traditional puzzle games that ask you to move blocks or press switches, this title demands that you edit the fundamental laws of nature. By pointing your device at a glitching object, you can extract its kinetic energy, elasticity, or permeability, and reapply those traits to entirely different environmental assets. It is a profound shift from spatial manipulation to ontological manipulation. This comprehensive guide will break down the exact methods, controls, and advanced tactics you need to dominate the gameworld.
The Core Mechanic: How to Copy and Paste Physics Yerba Buena Edition
At the heart of the game's puzzle design is the Oscillator. You acquire this tool shortly after the introductory sequence, and it serves as your primary method of interacting with the broken reality of San Francisco. The game does not hold your hand, so understanding the exact sequence of operations is critical for progression.
To understand the device, you have to break down its anatomy. The primary lens scans glitching objects to identify kinetic or elastic properties. Once identified, the capture node stores the extracted physics data in a temporary buffer. From there, the projection emitter fires the stored property at a new target, permanently altering its state. If you make a mistake, the reset toggle instantly strips applied physics back to default state.
Annotated Diagram: Anatomy of the Oscillator device and its capture nodes
The visual language of the game is your best friend here. Objects that are suffering from the Glitch will visually stutter, emitting a faint neon outline and screen-tearing artifacts. These are your "source" objects. Static, un-glitched objects with a matte finish are typically your "target" objects.
Hardware Controls for Reality Editing
Whether you are playing on a console or a PC, the input mapping is designed to feel intuitive, mimicking the standard aim-and-shoot mechanics of a first-person shooter, but with a cerebral twist.
| Action | PS5 Controller | Xbox Controller | PC (Mouse & Keyboard) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aim / Scan | L2 | LT | Right Click |
| Capture / Paste | R2 | RT | Left Click |
| Reset Object | Triangle | Y | R Key |
| Jump | X | A | Spacebar |
The standard gameplay loop follows a strict four-step rhythm: Aim at the source, Capture the property (which fills your Oscillator's temporary buffer with a glowing energy vector), Aim at the target, and Paste the property.
Understanding Property Types in the Glitch
Not all physics are created equal. As you explore the stylized, psychedelic streets of 1970s San Francisco, you will encounter different flavors of reality corruption. Recognizing which property you are holding in your Oscillator's buffer is the key to solving the game's increasingly complex environmental riddles.
There are three primary categories of manipulation you will rely on, often referred to as The Three Pillars of Reality Manipulation. First is Kinetic Transfer, where you take the momentum of a moving car and apply it to a static dumpster. Second is Elastic Transfer, which allows you to siphon the springy nature of a bouncy castle and apply it to solid concrete. Finally, there is Permeable Transfer, where broken pipe gas is used to turn a solid wall into traversable air.
Infographic: A visual guide on how to copy and paste physics Yerba Buena mechanics, showing the transfer of bounciness from a trampoline to a concrete block.
1. Kinetic Transfer (Movement and Momentum)
Kinetic properties are the most common in the early hours of the campaign. You will frequently find objects moving in fixed loops—a hotel sign bobbing up and down, a ceiling fan spinning rapidly, or a cable car sliding along a track. Copying a kinetic property stores its specific directional vector. If you paste a "left-to-right" vector onto a housing block, that entire building will tear itself from its foundation and slide across the street.
2. Elastic Transfer (Bounciness and Springs)
Platforming in a first-person perspective can be notoriously difficult, but Elastic Transfer solves this by allowing you to create your own jump pads. By scanning trampolines, awnings, or bouncy castles, you capture elasticity. Pasting this onto the hood of a car or a flat stretch of concrete transforms that surface into a high-powered trampoline, allowing Barb to reach fire escapes and rooftops that are otherwise inaccessible.
3. Permeable Transfer (Phasing and Gas)
Introduced in the mid-game, Permeable Transfer plays with the state of matter. By scanning gas leaking from a broken pipe or steam rising from a subway grate, you can paste that gaseous state onto solid objects. A brick wall blocking your path can instantly be turned into a cloud of thin air, allowing you to walk right through it.
Walkthrough: Applying the Mechanic in Early San Francisco Levels
Reading about the mechanics is one thing, but seeing how they apply to the game's bespoke puzzle encounters is another. The opening hours of the campaign serve as a masterclass in teaching the player without relying on intrusive text boxes.
The game wastes no time throwing you into the deep end. The narrative kicks off when a biker gang leader named Bear kidnaps your friend right out of a vintage taxi. As he speeds off, he leaves behind a locked metal briefcase. Inside is the Oscillator. Your first real test requires you to extract momentum from a glitching car and apply it to a heavy green dumpster blocking an alleyway, prompting Barb to remark, "Path cleared." It is a brilliant piece of tutorializing.
Comic Grid: Step-by-step sequence solving the alleyway dumpster puzzle
Shortly after the alleyway, you encounter the Bouncy Car Puzzle. A bridge is out, and the gap is too wide to jump. Below you is a traffic jam of static cars, and to your right is a children's park featuring a glitching bouncy castle. By extracting the Elastic Transfer from the castle and pasting it onto the roof of a stalled sedan, you create a makeshift springboard that launches Barb safely across the broken bridge. It is this exact kind of lateral thinking that the game rewards.
Advanced Tactics: How to Copy and Paste Physics Yerba Buena Speedrunners Use
While casual players will use the Oscillator exactly as the developers intended, the game's physics engine is remarkably robust, allowing for emergent gameplay that breaks the conventional boundaries of the map. If you want to master the game, you need to think outside the linear puzzle solutions.
Once you understand the basics, you can move on to ADVANCED STACKING TACTICS. Speedrunners have already figured out how combining physics can break the game's intended boundaries. By establishing a Kinetic Base (applying a left-to-right vector) and immediately adding an Elastic Layer (a trampoline bounce), you create objects that both move and spring. In competitive routing, players aim for a sweet spot of Momentum 60% / Bounciness 40% to launch Barb across entire city blocks, completely bypassing the intended puzzle solutions.
Analysis Report Poster: Advanced stacking tactics for momentum and bounciness
The Mid-Air Reset
Another high-level tactic involves abusing the reset toggle. Because resetting an object strips its applied physics instantly, you can use this to kill momentum on a dime. If you paste a kinetic vector onto a platform you are currently riding, and realize it is about to carry you into a hazard, hitting the reset button (Triangle on PS5, R on PC) will immediately halt the platform in mid-air. This allows for precise, micro-adjustments during complex platforming sequences.
Chain Phasing
When dealing with Permeable Transfers, speedrunners use a technique called Chain Phasing. Instead of turning one wall to gas and walking through it, they will copy the gas property, paste it on wall A, walk halfway through, turn around, extract the gas property back out of wall A (turning it solid again), and paste it onto wall B ahead of them. This allows players to carry a single permeable charge through massive, multi-room complexes without needing to find a new source of broken pipe gas.
Why This Mechanic Outshines Traditional Puzzle Shooters
It is impossible to discuss a first-person physics puzzle game without invoking Valve's legendary titles, Portal and Half-Life 2. However, where the Gravity Gun manipulates mass and velocity, and the Portal Gun manipulates spatial geometry, the Oscillator does something entirely different: it manipulates object ontology.
When you use the Oscillator, you are not just moving a block; you are fundamentally changing what that block is. A block of concrete ceases to be concrete and becomes a trampoline. A brick wall ceases to be solid and becomes atmospheric gas. This ties beautifully into the game's narrative. Barb is an NPC who has achieved self-awareness in a broken digital world. By editing the physics of her environment, she is literally rewriting the code of her own reality, rebelling against the constraints of her programmed existence.
FAQ: Everything About How to Copy and Paste Physics Yerba Buena Players Ask
Can you hold multiple properties in the Oscillator at once? No. The temporary buffer inside the Oscillator only holds one extracted property at a time. If you scan a bouncing object, and then immediately scan a moving object, the kinetic property will overwrite the elastic one. You must paste or reset your current charge before acquiring a new one.
Does the Oscillator run out of ammo or energy? There is no ammo counter or energy meter in the game. The developers actively encourage infinite experimentation, meaning you can copy, paste, and reset environmental physics as many times as you want without any penalty.
What happens if you paste physics onto an NPC or an enemy? The game's physics engine strictly limits reality manipulation to environmental objects and architecture. Aiming the Oscillator at NPCs—even hostile ones like Bear's biker gang—will simply yield an "Invalid Target" prompt on your UI. You must defeat enemies by manipulating the environment around them, not the enemies themselves.
Can you copy the Glitch itself? No. The Glitch is the overarching phenomenon that causes objects to lose their physical anchoring, enabling the transfer process. It is not a property itself. You are copying the effects of the Glitch, not the root cause.