Crazy Machines is Viva Media’s version of The Incredible Machine series of games. It’s a puzzle game where you are supposed to build a contraption that works using all sorts of available “gadgets, gizmos and watchamacallits”.
Sounds easy enough, right? Well, just so you know, this is a game that will get you thinking. A lot.
The game has two labs that represent your game modes: New From the Lab and Inventor’s Training Camp, each containing about 100 puzzles. The Training Camp is your tutorial, where you will learn how the machines work, get acquainted with the simple interface and find out which gadget does what.
New From the Lab has a series of puzzles to tease your brain. Once you get the hang of how things work in The Training Camp, launch this mode for a whole new set of challenges.
You can also build your own machines and experiment with them in “My Lab”.
Each puzzle has a specific goal to achieve, for example, have an object (or objects) end up at a particular spot, cook a hot dog, grow a flower, firing a cannon… The objectives are varied and so are the ways of accomplishing them. How exactly do you cook a hot dog using a light bulb? How can you use a ball to fire a cannon? How can you use a cannon to turn a lightbulb on?
Browsing the element bar will reveal a limited number of pieces that you are allowed to use in the current puzzle. There will be all sorts of objects to be used as gadgets: dominoes, pipes, balls, crates, rope, dynamite, candles, rockets, wooden boards, balloons, gears, buckets, rubber bands, bellows… you can even use wind, steam and electricity to activate some of the objects.
You can drag and rotate the pieces to anywhere on to the contraption and then flip the gravity switch to see how it all works. Usually there are multiple solutions for a puzzle and you receive bonus points for completing it quickly and for not using all the pieces that are given to you.
Graphically, Crazy Machines plays on somewhat bland 2D backgrounds but with nicely 3D-rendered objects. Soundwise, the music is pleasant and every object has a distinct sound effect. Not too bad at first, but a little annoying after a while is the scientist helper, but you can adjust the frequency of his comments.
The physics are the greatest feature in the game. It’s fun to see how different objects perform on the puzzle field, and the slightest movement can change the end result. However, sometimes precision is key, since certain things won’t work at all unless they are lined up perfectly. If you really get stuck, the game even comes with its own illustrated walkthrough for each lab in PDF form.
But precision aside, from firing catapults to pulling levers and flipping switches, Crazy Machines 1.5 is a fun way to stimulate your creativity and put your logic and problem-solving skills to the test while you attempt to make some of the craziest contraptions work.
Special thanks to John DeFeo and Ting Lam at Viva Media for providing a copy of this title.