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The Incredible Machine: Even More Contraptions

The Incredible Machine: Even More Contraptions

List Price: $29.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very addictive puzzle solving game that is often overlooked.
Review: Every once in a while, a company manages to release a simple puzzle solving or trivia based PC game that hooks a dedicated fan base everywhere. The Incredible Machine series is one of those titles. The Even More Contraptions edition comes with approximately two hundred puzzles arranged in order of difficulty and an editor that allows you to make your own contraptions.

If you're not familiar with the Incredible Machine series, it's a layman mechanical engineer's dream. If you've ever watched a movie with a stereotypical nutty professor that has a contraption set up involving ten to twenty devices all reacting to each other in a "domino chain" to complete one simple task you already have an idea what the puzzles are like. In other words, a can opener with a can of tuna causing a cat to move which pulls a string that starts a fan which blows a wind chime that somehow turns on the TV. :D

That's how the puzzles are set up but many of the key components are left out and provided to the gamer to figure out how to get the device to work and complete the goals listed. Many times your solution is completely different from the given solution and the game doesn't limit your creativity. Over a hundred different pieces are including various gears, fire starting devices, animals, platforms, floating mechanisms, etc. Only a few picked by the original programmer are included in each puzzle but if you make your own puzzles you can pick from any device in the game.

There are also various websites set up by fans that allow you to download different creations. A fun game that you can keep coming back to as you attempt to complete the many puzzles provided.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very addictive puzzle solving game that is often overlooked.
Review: Every once in a while, a company manages to release a simple puzzle solving or trivia based PC game that hooks a dedicated fan base everywhere. The Incredible Machine series is one of those titles. The Even More Contraptions edition comes with approximately two hundred puzzles arranged in order of difficulty and an editor that allows you to make your own contraptions.

If you're not familiar with the Incredible Machine series, it's a layman mechanical engineer's dream. If you've ever watched a movie with a stereotypical nutty professor that has a contraption set up involving ten to twenty devices all reacting to each other in a "domino chain" to complete one simple task you already have an idea what the puzzles are like. In other words, a can opener with a can of tuna causing a cat to move which pulls a string that starts a fan which blows a wind chime that somehow turns on the TV. :D

That's how the puzzles are set up but many of the key components are left out and provided to the gamer to figure out how to get the device to work and complete the goals listed. Many times your solution is completely different from the given solution and the game doesn't limit your creativity. Over a hundred different pieces are including various gears, fire starting devices, animals, platforms, floating mechanisms, etc. Only a few picked by the original programmer are included in each puzzle but if you make your own puzzles you can pick from any device in the game.

There are also various websites set up by fans that allow you to download different creations. A fun game that you can keep coming back to as you attempt to complete the many puzzles provided.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Save your money
Review: I chose this game as a Christmas gift for my 11 year old daughter, after reading the reviews on Amazon. This was the hottest gift in the household. My 19 year old son and 23 year old daughter and her husband all enjoyed the game. Everything about this game is well done. Good sound, graphics, variety, and appeal to various ages. It provided many hours of family entertainment and was a vehicle for building teamwork and self-esteem.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Parent of pre-teen and college kids
Review: I chose this game as a Christmas gift for my 11 year old daughter, after reading the reviews on Amazon. This was the hottest gift in the household. My 19 year old son and 23 year old daughter and her husband all enjoyed the game. Everything about this game is well done. Good sound, graphics, variety, and appeal to various ages. It provided many hours of family entertainment and was a vehicle for building teamwork and self-esteem.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Well, the demo is fun....
Review: I'm just wondering how the guy in Michigan was able to review this game, seeing as it won't be released for over a month yet. I figured I'd give it 5 stars based on potential. All the other versions of The Incredible Machine have been very fun and addictive, and the demo of this new version is fun, too. I plan on picking this one up when it comes out, but until then customer reviews are sort of pointless I guess.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: No brains, No Game
Review: If you are good at thinking, you'll be good at this game. The Incredible Machine contains lots of complicated puzzles for you to solve. Again, be prepared to think! Not only are these fun, but you learn at the same time. This game teaches you about science, electricity and much more! You probably wouldn't notice, but it's no lie. Also, The Incredible Machine is one of those games that you can't stop playing. Not for anything!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great program and runs on Mac!
Review: It's a very fun game for kids or adults. It allows you to build Rube Goldberg-like contraptions on your computer, and then watch them in action. You can also "solve" existing (partially built) contraptions by figuring out what pieces to put where to make it accomplish a specified goal. And you can build contraptions for other people to solve. Very cool!

There's little to criticize about it. The directions aren't as clear as they could be (typical: they describe how to do things instead of *showing* you) but you'll catch on quickly, since its very simple, and anyone who has used a computer will understand their cartoon-like interface (take normal computer widgets and make them big and cartoon-like and colorful: take a look at the screen shots to see what I mean). So if you have very young kids who haven't used the computer before, you might want to play it and let them watch: they'll catch on quickly. My first kid is still 4 weeks away, but I still can't wait to play this with him: we'll both enjoy it.

Another criticism is that you have a very small space in which to build the contraptions, so they can't be as big as your screen (unless I just didn't find this option). That is annoying and limiting, but it's still lots of fun.

The level of reality is cartoon-like, fitting the Rube Goldberg theme (many of Rube's contraptions wouldn't actually work because everything wouldn't fall perfectly into place) but that's good, of course.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great program and runs on Mac!
Review: It's a very fun game for kids or adults. It allows you to build Rube Goldberg-like contraptions on your computer, and then watch them in action. You can also "solve" existing (partially built) contraptions by figuring out what pieces to put where to make it accomplish a specified goal. And you can build contraptions for other people to solve. Very cool!

There's little to criticize about it. The directions aren't as clear as they could be (typical: they describe how to do things instead of *showing* you) but you'll catch on quickly, since its very simple, and anyone who has used a computer will understand their cartoon-like interface (take normal computer widgets and make them big and cartoon-like and colorful: take a look at the screen shots to see what I mean). So if you have very young kids who haven't used the computer before, you might want to play it and let them watch: they'll catch on quickly. My first kid is still 4 weeks away, but I still can't wait to play this with him: we'll both enjoy it.

Another criticism is that you have a very small space in which to build the contraptions, so they can't be as big as your screen (unless I just didn't find this option). That is annoying and limiting, but it's still lots of fun.

The level of reality is cartoon-like, fitting the Rube Goldberg theme (many of Rube's contraptions wouldn't actually work because everything wouldn't fall perfectly into place) but that's good, of course.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love it! It's a great thinking game!
Review: This game is soooooooo 3D!
You won't find silly cartoons stick poeple etc in this game!
I love making my own contraptions and letting my mom play!
If you want your kid to now a lot about physics then this is a great game!
It has a lot of new stuff like a monkey and a jack in the box.
It keeps all the old contraptions the same so don't worry about losing contraptions in the old game that you liked.
The gears are made easyer so you don't need to take them out then put them back to get them working unlike in the first game.
It is very compatiple with most computers I heard it works on Mac and I had a Windows me wich it worked on and now I have a XP and it works even better on that.
This game is not like most games that you complete in weeks, months, days, or even one day this game takes years!
But it's not too hard so you won't need to wory about not beeing able to complete one contraption.
The tutorial level is to get started and to learn the basics.
The easy level is to get you to understand the controls and to get your brain runing and any other stuff it also gets you better at reading the real hints and knowing those things that might trick you like extra parts.
This game is a great buy!
But there is some things like harming animals but what I do is say thay are just robots.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Save your money
Review: This game is very difficult (even the easy level.) It has a lot of bugs. Clicking Help on the main screen freezes my computer. The objects are difficult to manipulate when they overlap anything. Everything has to be in perfect alignment for the puzzle to be solved, which is very difficult to do. I am returning it to Sierra for a refund.


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