[spiffytech]

There's an old game from the 90s I loved : The Incredible Machine.

It's all about devising elaborate Rube Goldberg machines to solve puzzles. The cat knocks a ball into the goldfish bowl, which tips over and fills a bucket that operates a pulley that flips a switch that opens a door. That kind of thing.

I remember it being very freeform and exploratory, teaching cause and effect and physics and thinking through complex interaction chains.

I was probably around 7 when I played it. Very age appropriate.

It's available on a web-based DOS emulator!

https://www.myabandonware.com/game/the-incredible-machine-1m...

Probably downloadable somewhere too.

[glitchc]

The Incredible Machine is available on GOG:

https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_incredible_machine_mega_pack

[kubik369]

In a similar vain, there is also Crayon Physics [0]

[0] https://store.steampowered.com/app/26900/Crayon_Physics_Delu...

[citeguised]

Another very similar recent game for iPad is Petterssons Inventions [0]

0: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/petterssons-erfindungen/id5246...

[vallanceroad]

> The Incredible Machine.

Oh wow. I forgot about this game for a long time, until just now.

Our elementary school didn't have enough buses to take everyone home at once. The bus departures were staggered so a few buses would take some kids home and return for the next groups.

You definitely wanted to be in that last group of kids to leave, which meant you got to sit in your classroom and play one of the three games we had on our two Macintosh SE machines: Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, and The Incredible Machine. Hours and hours spent waiting on the bus playing this wonderful game, usually with your friends sitting next to you quietly yelling suggestions at you. Thanks for the reminder!

[s5300]

Hmm… speaking of the 90’s, though it’s on the tail end of it:

Mia Mouse/Mia’s Big Adventure Collection was something I recall playing as a kid.

I definitely think I was much younger than 7 though, I’d been playing RuneScape for close to 3 years by the time I was 7. Mia’s is probably still appropriate & engaging enough for that age though.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mia%27s_Big_Adventure_Collec...

I think I’m specifically remembering Mia Math, but it looks like there’s Math/Science/Reading/Language, seems to be marketed for education.

[kdazzle]

Sounds awesome! Reminds me of Gizmos and Gadgets [1]. My kid is also 7, and part of me just wants to push all my fav 90s games like the aughts never existed.

[1] https://www.myabandonware.com/game/super-solvers-gizmos-gadg...

[hammyhavoc]

The '90s was great for edutainment.

[schwartzworld]

The Incredible Machine was amazing, as was the spiritual sequel "The Incredible Toon Machine"

[necmttn]

Sir i have been looking for this game for over a decade now, Thank you!