# The Incredible Machine

5 Hacker News commenters recommended The Incredible Machine and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A Sierra sandbox puzzle game where you build Rube Goldberg contraptions; people remember it fondly and say its charm still holds up today.

## Why people recommend it

- Favorite sandbox Rube Goldberg game (2 comments): "What great games, probably my favorites over the early FPSs of the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49467320)) "one of my favorite sandbox rube goldberg games from Sierra" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50214812))
- Fondly remembered, long played, still charming (2 comments): "so many hours spent on TIM and TIM2 back in the day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49466457)) "its charm and personality still hold up today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47413799))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Outer Wilds](https://hackerapproved.com/p/outer-wilds.md): 65 recommend
- [enclose.horse](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enclose-horse.md): 64 recommend
- [The Witness](https://hackerapproved.com/p/witness.md): 60 recommend
- [Braid](https://hackerapproved.com/p/braid.md): 36 recommend
- [Blue Prince](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blue-prince.md): 30 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Incredible Machine", https://hackerapproved.com/p/incredible-machine/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).