Say that the player controls a box or a hand at the bottom of the screen and there is a very long narrow stick or a stack of plates balanced on the box. The stick begins to lean and the player has to move left or right with the mouse to correct it so that it doesn't fall. If you've ever held a broom upside down and tried to balance it in your palm it would be the same idea.
I started off trying to use physics but I kept getting out of control bouncing or very unpredictable interactions. I would rather be able to do it with physics rather than coding everything manually (every tick, add 1 to stick speed, adjust angle X pixels, etc, unless player moves Y pixels, then adjust stick by Z pixels, etc), but even knowing the basic idea I have no idea where to start, as all my events so far have no produced anything useful.