Game: Crazy Machines: Elements

Platform: Xbox 360 (XBLA)

Publisher: DTP Entertainment

Developer: FAKT Software

ESRB: E

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

What's Hot: Tons of puzzles to solve; hits the sweet spot in terms of difficulty and satisfaction; physics are fun to play with

What's Not: Challenge mode is locked until the first 50 stages are cleared in Puzzle mode

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Review by: Danielle Riendeau

Your entire response to Crazy Machines: Elements depends on how you feel about the following sentence. Have you ever wanted to play The Incredible Machine sitting on your couch? If you answered yes, then congratulations, I’ve got the game for you.

What we have here is a very good, fun and competent Incredible Machine clone. You are tasked with solving hundreds of 2D, physics-based puzzles that take the form of wacky and increasingly elaborate Rube Goldberg devices made from everyday objects. Part Mousetrap, part maze, part physics experiment, and part brainteaser, the fun is all in figuring out how to put the various pieces together in just the right way.

There are two main modes and a very robust level editor. Puzzle mode tasks you with solving 100 stages, all with various parts and pieces at your disposal. The goals are simple – of the “using three pieces of string and a gear, get this tennis ball to fall onto this platform” ilk. Of course, as you traverse the levels, things get much more complicated, as elements can catch fire, conduct electricity and explode – and you need to figure out just how (and where and when) to trigger the correct reactions.

Challenge mode is even better – a freeform experience that gives you a sort of “budget” to draft any objects you’d like to solve its weirdo goals, and no set inventory with which to draw from. This is the game at its peak, with weird (but consistent) logic and your own creativity to thank for each successful solution.

The game’s only real flaw – and it’s a big one – is the fact that you need to clear the first 50 stages in Puzzle mode before you can try your hand at the more freeform (and creative) puzzles in Challenge mode. Worse, you can’t skip anything, so if you get stuck, you’re either going to have to go to YouTube (ruining the fun), or put down the game. It’s a very odd choice in a title that’s otherwise well designed and user friendly, particularly when the full playground of the level editor is unlocked from the get-go.

The look and feel is pleasantly cartoonish – all of the many objects (gears, ropes, pulleys, simple machines, blocks, balls, balloons, tubes, bombs, etc.) are rendered in bright primaries with cute, colorful, domestic-looking backgrounds. The effect is one of playing with toys in a garage or backyard, which the chilled out music serves to enhance.

There’s a ton of content here, and the various challenges are a blast to figure out. If you are the type of gamer who enjoys going through a game of this type puzzle by puzzle, Elements will engross you from start to finish. If you’re not patient enough to deal with a few clunkers (or solve at least 50 stages before getting to the real meat of the game), you’re better off elsewhere.

Danielle Riendeau is a regular contributor to GameShark and is the cohost of Jumping the Shark , GameShark.com's official podcast and is co-founder of the gaming blog No High Scores. She's also a serious workout warrior.

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