Professor Heinz Wolff's Gravity
© 2009 Deep Silver, Inc.
Our rather jaded game testers don't usually go for "educational" titles. So we were a bit surprised when they refused to stop playing this one-player puzzle game, featuring 100 "incredible" machine-like puzzles for the Wii and DS. Your goal is drag and drop objects onto the screen, to set up chain reactions that solve problems -- such as to pop a balloon or to get a ball into a basket. Each puzzle has more than one way to solve it. You roll balls, stack bricks, and try to transport glassy eyeballs across the screen on wheeled carts as you play with the real physics behind each movement. The mechanical toolkit includes building blocks, levers, conduits and pulleys, and success requires plenty of trial and error. The DS version ($20) is easier in ways because you use the stylus instead of the Wii Remote, which can cause your arms to get tired. Both versions have sandbox modes (for free experimentation), plus hints. Progress is saved automatically. Created by Extra Mile Studios for Deep Silver.
$20, Nintendo DS, Wii"
Teaches: problem solving, creativity, deductive reasoning, physics
CTR Rating: 94%