The Incredible Machine
Shares rank 40 of 45 puzzle games by recommenders
A Sierra sandbox puzzle game where you build Rube Goldberg contraptions; people remember it fondly and say its charm still holds up today.
A Sierra sandbox puzzle game where you build Rube Goldberg contraptions; people remember it fondly and say its charm still holds up today.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Favorite sandbox Rube Goldberg game
“What great games, probably my favorites over the early FPSs of the time”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “507 Mechanical Movements” “one of my favorite sandbox rube goldberg games from Sierra”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Build a wonky machine, a pixel-art physics puzzle” Fondly remembered, long played, still charming
“so many hours spent on TIM and TIM2 back in the day”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “507 Mechanical Movements” “its charm and personality still hold up today”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “The Power of Playtesting in the Classroom”
Other puzzle games people recommend
The four most recommended other puzzle games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outer Wilds | 65 | 7 | 90% | 9 | — | Approved |
| enclose.horse | 64 | 10 | 86% | 4 | — | Approved |
| The Witness | 60 | 19 | 76% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Braid | 36 | 5 | 88% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The Incredible MachineThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“one of my favorite sandbox rube goldberg games from Sierra”
“Incredible Machines to just name a few.”
“What great games, probably my favorites over the early FPSs of the time”
“so many hours spent on TIM and TIM2 back in the day”
“You might enjoy this writeup of the related "The Incredible Machine"”
“its charm and personality still hold up today”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.