App of the Week - Amazing Alex

By Sarah Combs

The creators of Angry Birds have developed another super slick, addictive app that is sure to kill a few hours of your week (maybe even your day). The game is called Amazing Alex, and it’s aptly named, as it has truly blown us away.

Simply put: It’s a game where you can make your very own Rube Goldberg machine. You know, those intriguing, overly complex devices that perform extremely simple tasks through a chain reaction of everyday objects that interact in unexpected ways. Like rolling a ball into a basket, but before that ball can reach the basket, it has to be forced into motion by a series of falling books, which set off a mouse trap, which wind up a spring, which launches a paper airplane, which hits an alarm clock, that releases a mouse who scurries on to a wheel of cheese that rolls down a ramp, finally colliding with the ball, which will roll into its desired location within the basket. Whew.

So, yes, you have a lot of fun in store for you! The app presents you with all kinds of predicaments that you have to solve in increasingly clever ways.

This may sound a bit complicated, but no worries. The game is extremely good about teaching you the mechanics of the app. It starts off very simply, clearly showing you how and where to place items. It gets progressively difficult, first taking away the hints of where to place things, and then giving you a ton of options for objects to place into the environment.

Whether or not Amazing Alex will have the traction that Angry Birds has reached (and by “traction” I mean the pop culture icon that it has become, complete with clothing lines and plush toys), we’ll just have to wait and see. But, although it’s clearly well-made and highly entertaining, it doesn’t have the pull and fling simplicity that makes Angry Birds so easy to pick up and waste a few minutes while passing mundane moments of the day.

Regardless, we truly enjoyed this well-crafted game and all of its potential for a bunch of different, super fun situations that you can make yourself and share with friends. As with so many things in life, the fun isn’t where you end up, it’s how you get there.

Amazing Alex is recommended for everyone, from Toddlers to Parents (Ages 1 to 100) for puzzling fun. Find screenshots, reviews, and family-friendly ratings for Amazing Alex and more of the best Android apps at Famigo.com.

Developer: Rovio Entertainment Ltd

Compatibility: Android 2.1, and iPad iOS 4.2 or later

App Category: Games

Price: $0.99

Famigo Family Rating: 5 out of 5 stars