You know, sometimes the simplest idea can create the most engrossing game and this is certainly true of Crazy Machines. On paper this must have looked like such a thin idea. Essentially it’s a puzzle game where you have to construct various machines to perform a preset task. Simple you may think, that is until you try to do it...

Crazy Machines challenges you to create numerous, over engineered, ‘Rube Goldberg’ machines, I was going to discuss the tasks, but to be honest the solutions are nowhere near as much fun as creating the machines themselves. As far as I can tell, with a little deference to imagination and fun, the created machines adhere to real physics, but not so much as to make the game seem like a school lesson. That said, it’s a fun way to learn about various steam and electrical properties.

You get to play with over seventy different elements, from cog wheels to canons in over two hundred puzzles. The screen is presented in 3D, but what I really liked about the game is the flexibility to solve the puzzles in more than a single way. Okay I peeked at a solution site and was pleasantly surprised to discover that although I had solved the puzzles, my solution was different, leading to a world of solutions, an impressive flexibility for any game.

If you get a bit stuck there is the professor on hand to... well, frankly, irritate you. I have a feeling this colourful character was designed with children in mind and not frustrated and irritated adults. Need a bit of practice, no problem you have a lab in which you can tinker with bits and pieces. One of the nice things about the game is its interface which lets you dive straight in and play with stuff, and don’t we all like playing with stuff.

So what’s not to like about Crazy Machines, a nice friendly interface, more puzzles than you can shake a fish at and hours of scratching your head.

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Charles Packer