Rube Goldberg Games
Genre: Rube Goldberg machine Group Description Puzzle games where the player is provided with a number of predefined elements, and the goal is to arrange them into a contraption that, thanks to the laws of physics and mechanics, will perform a specific goal. Rube Goldberg Machine for Wedding. This wedding was about good old fashioned FUN and a whole lot of games. One of the main events was having all the guests help build a Rube Goldberg machine (think the game of Mouse Trap).
GAMES PRODUCE MORE FUN WITH THE GOLDBERG DESIGN
Rube Goldberg machines have also been featured in games, as mentioned in passing in the Early Career section. This is not such a surprise because games usually make use of the concept of cause and effect. There are games in which the player’s early decisions affect his later ones. Also, Rube Goldberg was an engineer. Even his most ridiculous inventions have some basis in science no matter how flimsy. The only thing that prevents some of these inventions from being executed in real life is the inclusion of some unpredictable or even unreliable parts such as humans, animals and the weather.
I – Mouse Trap and Its Sequels
Mouse Trap is a board game that started getting distributed back in 1963. The game was designed for two or more players. The aim of the game is for the players to help each other build a mouse trap that is designed after a Rube Goldberg machine. Once this mousetrap has been built, the players will no longer cooperate with each other but will instead go against each other.
Mouse Trap was popular enough to spawn the sequels, Crazy Clock in 1964, and Fish Bait in 1965.
II – LittleBigPlanet
PlayStation players will be more familiar with LittleBigPlanet and its sequel, LittleBigPlanet2. The video game is a puzzle platformer. The puzzle component of the video game is inspired by Rube Goldberg machines. LittleBigPlanet2 is now even featured in Sony’s new handheld gaming device, the Vita.
III – IncrediBots
Interaction is one of the most important aspects of a Rube Goldberg machine. IncrediBots is a video game originally from Grubby Games but later bought by Big Fish Games. Objects that have been created in the game can be manipulated using basic click and drag. With simple manipulation and the use of physics simulation, objects can interact.
The videogame has spawned two installments, IncrediBots 2 and IncrediBots 3.
IV – MindWare’s Contraptions
This is not a video game. This is actually a game in a box that youngsters can get their hands on and get creative. The set is made up of fifty planks that children ages 7 and up can put together to create Rube Goldberg-like contraptions. The good thing about this game is that there is no need for the kids to use glue. They just need to put all of the pieces together in any way that they can and could think of. The planks can be use as ball tracks. So, the youngsters can discover how a ball can roll or run a certain flat surface or slide down an inclined plank. The game is also available in a 200 piece set called Structures.
Analysis
There are other video games that have been designed a la Rube Goldberg machine. Other titles include The Incredible Machine and Crazy Machines. Somehow, machines or physics are part of a Rube Goldberg-type of game. After all, Rube Goldberg designed his contraptions with physics in mind. Interaction is an important part of a Rube Goldberg machine. One part of the setup must be able to trigger the action of the next object in the sequence. In a Rube Goldberg machine, the initial trigger causes a chain of events or an unchangeable future. This makes for exciting gaming. It is also good to see some non-video games. Rube Goldberg machines should, after all, be explored in their physicality. However, if Rube Goldberg were to be given a chance to live in this century, he would have ended up as a video game designer. Continue to next page.
- More About Rube Goldberg
If you have visited Brain Power Boy before you know that we love Rube Goldberg machines and one of our favorite ways to play around with this concept is through Rube Goldberg Games.
Rube Goldberg Games Mouse Trap
We have played a lot of these chain reaction games for three reasons. First, they are a blast. Honestly, they are such fun to play. Second, you learn a lot while playing them. Third, they are a challenge. It is always great to challenge the brain!
We work together on them and figure out what to do. We each have different ideas and get to learn from our experiences together. Remember, there is more than one way to win at Rube Goldberg games!
For all of the Rube Goldberg articles we have so far, visit our Rube Goldberg Ideas page.
Rube Goldberg Games
For our first Rube Goldberg Machine™ game try Tinker Ball. It is a quick little game. However, you can make a lot of different versions with the one setup they give you using the tools you have (gears, tubes, springs, funnels, hammer, cans.)
Dish it Out a foodie Rube game. This is another rather simple game and might be fun for younger kids. What I like about it is that it allows you to continue if you don’t get it right the first time and there are a lot of little tweaks that can be made. You are working primarily with ramps in this game. The dog is a friendly cartoon character that will likely appeal to everyone as well. Cute!
Mechanical Madness is an interesting Rube Goldberg game. You have boxes that do specific functions. You have to put the green boxes in the right places in order to move the ball through the machine. A little tip on getting started is to just put the different green boxes next to the first pink box to see what they all do. That way you can try to logically decide where to place them.
Here is one kids are sure to like – especially if they are fans of Phineas and Ferb! Chain Reaction is a blast. The tool bar at the bottom has arrows on either side of it. Use that to get to more tools! The first time I played I had trouble getting the marble into the bucket but then realized there were better things to use – I just couldn’t see them at first.
Rube Goldberg Game App
We mentioned Dynamic Systems in our Play and Learn with Rube Goldberg Machines (link below.) I was excited to see that they made a follow-up game: Dynamic Systems 2. Getting the ball in the bucket isn’t always too hard at the beginning, but doing so while collecting the star can be a challenge. For younger kids, skip the stars if you wish. Highly Recommended.
Want more games? We have six more Rube Goldberg games, along with a lot of other fun Rube things in our Play and Learn with Rube Goldberg Machines article so be sure to stop by and play some more games and see what else there is to do (hint – a whole lot!)
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