Longplay: The Incredible Machine (1993) [MS-DOS]
Why Hacker News recommends it
Used as a nostalgic link to a beloved childhood game, and as an example of a tight failure-iteration learning loop.
What it is
A two-hour complete longplay of the 1993 MS-DOS puzzle game The Incredible Machine, in which players assemble Rube Goldberg contraptions to complete simple tasks.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2021 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec vunderba · 2024-07 · on “The Incredible Machine (1993)”
Absolutely adored this game as a child. The crazy variety of musical pieces in this game are also incredibly fitting for what amounts to a gigantic Rube Goldberg simulator. [this video]
Cites ethbr0 · 2021-07 · on “How You Wound Up Playing ‘The Oregon Trail’ in Computer Class (2016)”
The Learning Company stuff absolutely boosted my vocabulary (and ability to solve word puzzles). Treasure Mountain - [LINK] Treasure Cove - [LINK] And a few more random memories: The Incredible Machine - [this video] Pirates! Gold - [LINK] Battle Bugs - I guess what would now be RTS? But with a lot of tactical / positioning elements. So really typical 90s "trying to figure this new type of game out" - [LINK]
Cites ethbr0 · 2023-08 · on “Show HN: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs”
Snap Circuits looks awesome! LEGO + breadboarding To date myself, for me it was the computer game The Incredible Machine , which was a Rube Goldberg physics puzzle game... in 1993 on DOS. ;) Critically, the failure-iteration loop was tight, which really impressed "if at first you don't succeed, try try again" on my younger self. [this video]
Cites cassianoleal · 2024-10 · on “The Incredible Machine (1968) [video]”
I initially thought this was going to be about the awesome 90s game [0]. Was a bit puzzled by the date in brackets but I was wrong in my assumption. [0] [this video]