Professor Tim's Incredible Machine by Crucial

Description

Professor Tim's incredible Machine will provide hours of fun for the puzzle enthusiast. There are hundreds of mind-teasers to solve by constructing machines from wonderfully diverse elements such as snooker balls, lasers, explosives, flints and even a mouse and an alligator!

Each puzzle has a simple goal. Select components and drag them over to the puzzle, where they can be rotated or enlarged. The secret to solving the problems is to understand cause and effect and to construct mechanical sequences. So, if the goal is to fire a canon, placing a magnifying glass by the canon fuse and tilting it towards a light source such as a torch will ignite the fuse. However, there is also the problem of switching the torch on. Perhaps the force of gravity can help with the aid of a ball poised above the switch.

Although aimed at 6-12 year olds, really it is for all the family. The youngest will need plenty of advice, and for any parent fretting at the thought of flexing their scientific muscles, there are 40 Tutorial puzzles to solve before tackling the four levels of difficulty. There are plenty of hints in each individual problem (excluding the fourth Really Hard level), which helps stop the frustration levels rising too high.

To increase the tempo, two players can go “head to head” in a timed contest and for a completely different perspective; anyone can don the apprentice's hat and create new individual puzzles with goals, clues, assembled parts and music. There is even the facility to experiment by altering the gravity and air pressure.

Overall, the puzzles wear well because of the range of difficulty and because they are fun–in fact it is a surprisingly addictive pastime. Intellectually stimulating and educational, this CD-ROM is highly recommended, and at an unbelievably low price it is excellent value too. —Tracey Hogan

Platforms

Windows 95