by John Gaudiosi

German game development studio FAKT Software has created a sequel to its 2005 award-winning casual PC game, Crazy Machines. For those who didn’t play the first game or Crazy Machines 1.5, this franchise blends real physics with brain-challenging puzzles to offer an endless array of interactive fun.

There were brain benders before Crazy Machines that challenged players to create Rube Goldberg-style machinery, but none incorporated physics into the gameplay so creatively. What this franchise lacked in eye-popping visuals, it made up for with its never-ending list of working parts like balloons, gears, catapults, pipes, steam pistons, cannons, blimps and conveyor belts.

Crazy Machines 2 offers over 200 new levels, 10 new elements to toy with, including water and gravity from the Earth, moon and sun, and over 200 items from electrical wiring to lasers to play with. Puzzles will start simple but become extremely complicated over time. Some of the challenges include figuring out how to fill a Zeppelin with air using a hand vacuum or discovering how a cannon shot impacts gravity. With multiple solutions to many puzzles, a new feature allows players to use the Enlightenment Key to reveal the level designer’s own solution after they’ve solved a puzzle.

According to Bodo Pfeifer, project manager for Crazy Machines 2 at FAKT Software, this sequel wouldn’t have been possible without NVIDIA’s PhysX technology.

“PhysX is an integral part of the gameplay,” said Pfeifer. “Nearly every aspect is physics related. One could say the player has to operate the physics engine via a fun game. By the using the hardware accelerated fluid particles, the player has a whole new gaming experience through the introduction of water into the puzzles. They can also play around with water, gravity and the other elements within the editor.”

PC gamers who purchase Crazy Machines 2 will experience a completely new game, according to Pfeifer.

“Visually, we were able to create a nice water effect with refraction and dispersion to improve and support the realism,” said Pfeifer. “As far as we know, no other game has this level of detailed, good-looking fluids that also feature authentic physics. And it’s not just decoration, these fluids are an essential gameplay element.”

Pfeifer said that working with Nvidia has been a very smooth process, allowing the team to get immediate feedback, and support throughout the development process. As a result, the game pushes the latest PhysX features of NVIDIA’s cards, opening up new challenges for puzzle aficionados.

“The player learns a lot about the different types of energy like force, electricity, wind, fire, heat, water, and gravity,” said Pfeifer. “Physics (and PhysX) are an integral part of the game. Everything behaves and interacts as realistic as possible, so a lot of the things seen on screen will also work in real life. With the editor the player can create his own experiments and play with all the different puzzle parts, affording them endless possibilities of experimentation.”

There’s even an element of physics education that players may absorb as they seek to solve the game’s many puzzles. Pfeifer said that although this is a game, there’s an element of edutainment layered in.

“Crazy Machines 2 features some parts that are unrealistic, but fun and mind-twisting like the gravity machine and the teleporter,” said Pfeifer. “The game recreates a lot of real-world physics and requires the player to think outside of the box, so there’s definitely an educational value to this title.”

The team at FAKT Software wanted to create a much brighter and more engaging sequel. There are 15 environments in the game, including Greek, Egyptian, Caribbean, the arctic and an old university. Each environment delivers its own specific decoration parts. For example, there are Chinese lamps and figures in the Chinese environment. Pfeifer said it was important to have more physical areas simulated and better and more stable rigid body solvers in this game, as well.

User-generated content remains a focal point of this franchise. Players can create their own puzzles, define goals, write descriptions and tasks and publish these for other players to experience from within the game’s download section. In addition to being able to download new parts and laboratories from FAKT, players can play and rate user-generated content to help others weed through the bad levels.

“For puzzle customization the player has a lot of options, including choosing the right theme, creating the puzzle, and using decoration parts,” said Pfeifer. “Some parts, like the graffiti or the picture, allow the user to paint and give the puzzle an even more personalized look.”

FAKT has also included an online news ticker in the main menu to keep fans updated on new downloads and news about this game. Crazy Machines 2 is now available for PC and it’s a great way to put your NVIDIA card’s PhysX features to work.