An application state of a computer program is stored and associated with a physical object and can be subsequently retrieved when the physical object is detected adjacent to an interactive display surface. An identifying characteristic presented by the physical object, such as a reflective pattern applied to the object, is detected when the physical object is positioned on the interactive display surface. The user or the system can initiate a save of the application state. For example, the state of an electronic game using the interactive display surface can be saved. Attributes representative of the state are stored and associated with the identifying characteristic of the physical object. When the physical object is again placed on the interactive display surface, the physical object is detected based on its identifying characteristic, and the attributes representative of the state can be selectively retrieved and used to recreate the state of the application.