The kids and I :) love this game, but it freezes for 8-10 seconds at least once a minute on my 1.6 GHz P4 running Windows XP. My computer greatly exceeds the system requirements printed on the box. This really detracts from the game and the kids are not as patient as myself.

This software is fantastic. Runs well on older systems too. My son was 4 when he started playing this and could not read, but was still able to create many amazing projects. Can't go wrong with this software!!!

I had great expectation from this software for my boy, but apparently the product came defective. I tried to load it onto my two PCs, but it would not load onto either of them due to errors. I emailed the manufacturer about the problem, but received no response after two weeks. So, I had to send it back to Amazon.

My kids really enjoy this game. It is a good way to introduce them to Rube Goldberg machines. There is a free design mode as well as a series of puzzles where you have to link up a machine to make it work. Ages 8+

I teach computer classes at an elementary and a Jr. High school. All grades from Kindergarten through 8th grade play Crazy Machines when I give them game time. Not only do I enjoy this games myself, my engineer husband enjoys it, too. This version comes with two games: an easier game for the younger kids and a harder version for the older kids and adults. Even when the children finally tire of the puzzles, they are willing to spend many more hours on building their own experiments. I love how the game encourages the children to think logically and stretch their minds in a new way.

Good game, alot of fun and educational. Installed it on an XP home PC with no problems. My son loves to play it (sometimes with a little help from dad) I gave it 4 stars because the directions are not very good. I think it would really improve if either the directions were better or it provided better online hints. I had to search the internet to find out how to complete level 4 and it won't let you continue until you finish a task.

I bought this for my 12 year-old son hoping it would engage him and stimulate his problem-solving abilities. Surprise! It has. I didn't have too much hope, because he generally prefers the shooter games on his PlayStation and I was worried he wouldn't think this was "cool". But once I got him started, he liked it (especially once we figured out how to turn off the annoying "Professor") and returns to it without being prompted.
Only downside: if you play it for a while, you can expect a crash, at least that's been our experience on our new iMac with the Leopard OS. Otherwise, I'd rate it 5 stars.

I am a member of Mensa and I've been searching for years for software that would help teach my kids' problems-solving skills in an entertaining package. Crazy Machines is it. I ran across the game at random while searching through Amazon and bought it on a whim. I received it about a week ago and my kids, especially my 6-year old, have been bugging me ever since because we all want to play it.

Don't get me wrong, the game isn't perfect but I've scored it a 5 out of 5 because the entertainment and educational value far overshadow any minor shortcomings.

This game rocks. The learning curve is very short - within minutes we were solving puzzles. The puzzles vary from super simple (some virtually solve themselves) to very involved. One took me over an hour to solve - others just a minute or two. After a week of playing we have solved about a third of the total levels so playing time should is not an issue.

My 6-year old can solve some of these by himself, maybe a quarter, but those he can't figure out by himself serve as an opportunity for me to teach him problem-solving skills. I give him clues that walk him toward the solutions but he is working it out for himself.

Another interesting feature that he has already latched onto is the ability to build your own puzzles in the in-game lab called the "Sandbox". You can play with all of the game elements: fire, steam pipes, electrical, levers and catapults, balls and boxes and various gravity options. It's harder than it would seem to come up with an interesting puzzle that is challenging yet solvable.

The graphics are superb - very sharp and pleasing. I am running this game on a new 22" monitor and it looks amazing. The background music is fine - you stop noticing it pretty quickly.

Actually, the physics engine that drives this program is impressive. The items interact with each other in a manner that is very realistic and the game is supersensitive to even very minor movements and angle changes.

A couple of cons...

You can't skip a level. If you get stuck you can't move to any other level until you solve the puzzle. That is fine for me but it is a pain when the kids are playing.

Of the 103 levels in the game there is no pattern of difficulty. You would expect there to be a general progression from easier to harder but it doesn't play out that way. Except that the first couple are easy, the difficulty from there on is random with some hardest levels coming relatively early. I wish the levels were ranked as to difficulty so you could sort by harder or easier levels at will. It is a pain when the kids get stuck.

The "Professor" pops in every time you start a new level with some tired platitude like "this one was hard for even me to solve". The problem is that he only has two or three things to say and it gets old. If he said something different every time or if his statements bore some relationship to the actual difficulty of the level it wouldn't be so bad but it gets very annoying very quickly.

Finally, unless there is something I've missed, the developers have missed a huge Web 2.0 opportunity when it comes to creating and sharinglevels. When you create a level in the Sandbox you can name and save it but there is no mechanism, within the game or at their web site, to upload, download or otherwise share levels. I can imagine this being bigger than the original game. Too bad.

Overall, this game is great fun and a bargain at the price they are charging. Now if I could just find someone to trade levels with I'd really be happy.

Bought this for my iMac core duo machine so my granddaughter could play it. It will start up, but then does nothing. Loaded it to another iMac with same results. CHecked their website for support and find there is none. No discussion groups. No FAQs covering issues. THen noticed that this software is several years old. No recent updates or bug fixes. All the publisher wants you to do is send them an email.

Looks to be a real cute fun piece of software, but not for more modern machines and OS's.

Look for something else.

The concept of this game is good, but we found there is no help, clues, tips, or anything to get you started. My eight year old played four rounds before he got stuck. He isn't sure what to move on the game and there is nowhere he can get help. He hasn't played it since. It's a good game, but would be better if there were some type of instructions included.

Gave this to my 12 year old nephew - he plays it for hours at a time. The independent lab feature is his favorite. He can create his own crazy machines and watch them work.

First of all, I have to say I've never played a game like this before. I enjoy puzzle games like Sodoku, so this was my first attempt at a game like this. Overall I like the progression of the game. There are parts that completely challenge you and the puzzles have similar feels without feeling the same. The more I got used to playing the better I got at solving the puzzles. I liked it.

Ok, I admit I purchased this for my 6 year old, but we both enjoyed sitting there together and working to solve the tasks they presented. Before we knew it, many hours had passed by and we weren't bored.

This is a great game to share with the family. I enjoyed watching my daughter try to figure out the solutions and it was great knowing that she was learning a little something in the process.

For young and old, I highly recommend this software.

I bought this game for my son who loves to play on the computer, with video games and watch TV. I wanted to give him an option that felt like a fun computer game but would challenge his mind. He loves this game and I am so pleased at how much it makes you think. He is 8 and can solve many of the various experiments on his own. But for others the whole family gets involved offering suggestions to try to get the contraptions to work. You need to use virtual electricity, gravity, springs, cranks and other parts to get a contraption to move an object or blow something up or turn on a light. Some, even the adults have to play with for a while to come up with a solution that works.

Overall, this is a great game for kids interested in building and science and who like challenges.

My boys are 7 and 10. They received multiple computer games for Christmas. They thought Crazy Machines was fun, but spent much more time with "Amazon Trail" and "Clue Finders" educational games.

I could understand it if I got an error or something, but I don't. I'm a computer professional, so this isn't a "is it plugged in" type error. I click the icon and....nothing. I run it from the Terminal....nothing. No output (except a useless log file), no messages, no errors. Just....nothing.

Even if the problem is my hardware, only the poorest quality of software leaves the user this much in the dark.

I was very worried that it was lame game but you have to learn to go on to the next level you learn all the while your playing the game I bought it for my self. My Wife plays it I play it we learn all about what if you do this to do this. children will go nut with this game mother and children . father and children learn together!!!!!!!!

I bought this for my 9 year old son, who wants to be an inventor. He's already made all the robot kits we could find, and it's time for him to widen his thoughts on cause and effect. This game is a big hit, and he loves playing it. There are pre-programmed levels of cause and effect inventions you have to put your mind to and come up with the solutions. Then you can just invent your own as well, which came in handy when the difficulty of the pre-programmed levels started to frustrate him. This game is doing exactly what I wanted - giving him things to stretch his mind and also feed his love of inventing.

This game is a lot of fun for ages 8 to 98. It has over 100 levels to keep you interested. It gives you a chance to complete your contraption, then it tells you how they would have done it. It is a great way to learn physics, and to have fun without even knowing that you are learning.

I bought this for my 9 yr old son who loves computer games. He complained at first that he couldn't figure it out. But soon after he was happy and creating many things. Happy with purchase.

If your child is good at science this game will certainly challenge him/her. It will also challenge parents if they are equally involved in stuff like this. As a whole it could be parent(s) spending time together with their kids & challenging themselves at the same time. It also provides solution to compare it to what solution you might find. Have given it to one of niece, she found quite challenging, considering she is smart gal. Can also create your experiment as mentioned in the description etc. Fyi, did not have any installation issues. Graphics are good. I would recommend buying it if your child is really interested in this kind of game.

This was a game we'd never heard of and took a chance on it. It paid off! This is the most played game of Christmas this year! It is challenging, entertaining and addicting. There are so many combinations and possibilites. I don't see our kids getting bored with it any time soon. Love it!

Our 10 year old son came home from a friend's house insisting that they'd just played the "world's coolest computer game ever"--and he nearly begged us to buy it for him. After a couple minutes research on my part (to confirm it wasn't a first-person-shooter game), we ordered it. GREAT decision!

My 10 year old loves it, and unexpectedly, our 8 year old daughter enjoys it a lot herself. (I'm especially gratified that they actually work together to brainstorm solutions to the puzzles.)

Kids 10 and younger trying to tackle the more advanced levels will likely need a hint or two from mom or dad. By the way, my son's friend who first inspired us to buy the game is 14, and he still enjoys the challenges.

Altogether a great product!

My kids love this game, and I love that it makes them think while they are having fun.

There is no help or hints from within the game, which can be frustrating. However, it does install a solution manual if you look for it. Look in C:\Program Files\Crazy Machines\docs . "CM Inventor's Workshop solution guide.pdf" has the solutions which can help you help your kids.

This would easily be 5 stars if there were basic hints available from with the game.

This is a great game to play with the kids. It will help them with learning in a fun way about cause and effect. It has great puzzles to solve. There is also a choice in the game to make your own. This choice has given my children hours of fun and they dont even realize how its helping them to develop skills.

Our son and his friend love to invent contraptions from found objects. We got both boys a copy of Crazy Machines and they have spent countless hours on it. Being able to "blow stuff up" with no mess to clean up is a real perk! You can't help but get a feel for physics by playing. I enjoy turning off the clues when I play myself. It takes longer, but I like the challenge. The game freezes occasionally and we have to exit the game via the Task Manager (Windows XP) but at least we don't have to reboot the whole system. Tiny inconvenience for the fun you get. We highly recommend it.

The whole familly loves this software. My son spend all his computer time on it!
I believe this software enhance reasoning and logic.

Highly recommanded!

If you have any interest in Rube Goldberg type machines then you'll surely have an interest in this game. You'll learn science and physics principles without even realizing it while playing. My 9 year old daughters and I play this game together and we just can't get enough. This game holds my interest every bit as much as it holds my children's interest. Very highly recommended for both fun and "how things work" learning. We all love it!

A brilliant game that can be extremely frustrating due to the touchiness of the pieces. Even when you know where the pieces are supposed to go and how they should interact (and thanks to the answer guide included on the CD, you always know or can find out), it can be maddeningly difficult to get them in EXACTLY the right position to have the desired effect.

All the same, it's perfect for would-be engineers who don't have the room or equipment to build real Goldbergian machines. Go nuts!

This was a gift for my six year old son. He was skeptical because he hadn't asked for it, but found that he loves it. I like the creativity and the sense of experimentation. It isn't the kind of experience that other computer games offer, which is a plus to me. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because he doesn't choose to play it as often as I would like. If you are deciding between this and another game, I would recommend this for the creative thinking skills it fosters and its uniqueness.

This game is SUCH a rare exception to the other meaningless PC games on the market that it should be separated into its own category. FINALLY there is something on the market that forces our kids and us to THINK, LEARN, and EXPLORE. I loved it, and for me the word "love" is a very strong word never used before for PC game. My 11 years old son was suspicious at the beginning but he played for 2 hours straight and needed to be pulled out of computer. My sincere thanks to the creators of the game and to all other folks who participated in creation of this beauty.

Hours of enjoyment will surely come with you and your family working together to solve the puzzles. My son impressed me with his willingness to persevere. Great choice!!

Purchased this for my 12yo son. He got his 9 yo brother hooked. I decided to take a look and see what it was all about and spent the next day at work yawning 'cause I stayed up WAY TOO late just doing one more puzzle... and then just one more.... My husband is the only one who hasn't gotten hooked on it yet - due to our warnings and lack of access to the computer to play!

Some of the puzzles get a little frustrating but there is a "cheat file" with screenshots of solutions to resort to. It is often a matter of just a very fine difference between solution and failure, and hard to see, but so far we haven't come across one we couldn't figure out. The boys love being able to set up a screen full of explosions and just letting it go in their own "free form" designs.

I bought this game for my grandson's 9th birthday. He thinks it is the greatest--so does his Dad.

This is a great puzzle game. If you like shooting a cannon to turn on a switch to start a fan to blow a blimb to... You get the idea. Fun fun fun!