Crazy Machines 1.5 | An ingenious and addictive game

Crazy Machines 1.5 | Great addition to 1.0: kid's can't wait until 2.0

software:

Crazy Machines 1.5

	Crazy Machines 1.5 Windows \| Viva Media, 2007 average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

An ingenious and addictive game

Crazy machines 1.5 is a thinking game that kids (as well as adults) will enjoy. It challenges a person to use a variety of common everyday items (such as boards, ropes, balls, candles, gears, pipes, etc.)to accomplish a given task set before him. My son, age 8, is totally addicted to this game. We first started with the previous version called "wacky contraptions" and both my son and I were hooked. We have almost solved all the challenges within the "wacky contraptions" version and were delighted to discover the 1.5 game. It is a great learning tool teaching problem solving techniques. What's fun about the game is how each item reacts within a given puzzle. For example, a motor drives a pulley system that rotates an electric generator that powers an array of devices that will get an item from point "A" to point "B" thereby solving the puzzle.
The training section consists of simple challenges meant to teach how each tool works. My son rifled through this only because he was a veteran of the "wacky contraption" version (I think he went through most all the 100 training puzzles within roughly an hour).
The "new from the lab" section offers more challenging puzzles. My son now finds himself spending a lot more time per puzzle in an effort to solve them.
Oh, did I say that this is a very addictive game? We have two computers and my son and I are locked in competition to see who solves the next puzzle first My wife shutters when the signiture theme song begins to play (my favorite theme choice is a peppy one supplied as an option within the control panel).
This is a great gift and a fun game that the whole family can enjoy.
P.S. I found out that another version of this game is set to come out in the fall of 2007.

for more information click here

Great addition to 1.0: kid's can't wait until 2.0

My 7 & 9 yr olds loved 1.0. They get a kick out of some of the new things in 1.5 (a mouse & frog, among other things, I've been told).

Anyway- easily a well-spent ~$15. I anticipate hrs of creative use.

Excellent educational software

If you have a child that you are interested in learning physics and problem solving skills, this is a good program. My 8-year old daughter enjoys the puzzles.

crazy program

I bought for my grand daughter and shee has spent endless hours building the crazy machines.

It crashes but it's fun

My 8 and 9 yr. old kids did the first 25 of 101 puzzles in about one hour. The puzzles do get more interesting as they progress.

2 issues: on an XP computer, the games does not seem to want to run unless someone is logged in as an Administrator. With regular accounts, the kids got some error that Microsoft wanted to see. After I allowed them to use my account, the game crashed anyway but that happened after about one hour.

Also, there is some annoying guy's head that pops up and says useless and annoying things. I suspect there's a way to turn it off but it's not obvious because there is no manual. Which begs the question: why need a huge, thick plastic box for one CD and 2 pages?

for more information click here

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, page 6, 7

products you might be interested in