The Incredible Machine

You may have heard of something called a Rube Goldberg machine: a device where a single action sets of a chain of sequential actions in motion. The end result is usually something simple like turning on a switch. The Incredible Machine replicates such a machine on your own PC and turns it into a puzzle game.

Each level gives you a limited amount of parts and a goal. On-screen there are usually fixed items already present and using the extra parts you’re to create a Rube Goldberg machine to complete the goal. The goal can be pushing a ball off the screen, letting a mouse nibble at the cheese and so on.

The devices you can build use parts such as mixers, conveyor belts, balloons, all kinds of balls, flashlights, candles, magnifying glass, boxing gloves and much much more. The large variety means levels can have more than one solution, especially the later ones where it’s less obvious what needs to be done.

For the time, this game uses a remarkable physics engine which makes this game a joy to play. Well worth a look.

TRIVIA

WALKTHROUGH

DOCUMENTS

• The game has 80 levels to complete. Its “sequel” (really a stand-alone level pack) featured a whopping 160!
• The game was originally supposed to be developed for the Commodore 64.
• Outside of the TIM series, there was also Sid & Al’s Incredible Toons which had a very similar premise.

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Sollution – copyright Stu

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Longplay – copyright Dosgamert