Amazing Alex demo

I was a huge fan of The Incredible Machine (TIM) growing up.  Imagine my delight when I first played Amazing Alex.  I have not purchased the game (yet), but I played the free 16 levels on my Android tablet.  I have been waiting for an updated version of TIM for years.  I don't use Apple products, so I haven't tried the latest iOS version, but I think Amazing Alex is a great replacement.  Amazing Alex is based on Casey's Contraptions, a game I have never heard of.  For those of you not familiar with TIM, it is a puzzle game where you must rearrange a Rube-Goldberg machine to perform a task.  The task is usually something simple like popping a balloon, or putting a ball in a basket.

The Amazing Alex demo featured simple machines just to get you used to the concept (and get you addicted).  The first few levels actually told you where to put the missing pieces to solve the puzzle.  The level selection and post-level screens should look familiar to Angry Birds fans.  Amazing Alex features the 3-start concept that Angry Birds has, but instead of being point based, it is based on you hitting 3 starts that are floating around the machine.  So far, only baskets, balloons, scissors, boxes, shelves and books have featured in the first 16 levels.  TIM had some great odd devices, like gears, rope, rockets, trampolines and hamster wheels.  I can't wait to see devices we are in store for.

Rovio is famous for simple physics based games with excellent levels.  In fact, most of what Rovio has done has already been done before.  Rovio really shines in the level design.  It is hard to tell where they will go with Alex's levels, but I do have high hopes for the future of this new franchise.