What is Widget Workshop - A Mad Scientist's Laboratory?

Widget Workshop is similar to The Incredible Machine except it has a science theme to it.  It offered numerous physical, mathematical, eletrical, chemical, etc... puzzles to solve and much like the other game of the same genre, a sandbox environment for you to create your own puzzles and experiments.  Widget Workshop was one of the least known Maxis game titles and was designed by Lauren Elliot, the same who did Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego.

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“I can honestly say this program is one of the coolest pieces of software I have ever used.”

“Totally awesome!”

Normally our handpicked crew of software testers reserves this kind of praise for games. But they're talking here about Widget Workshop, a fiendishly clever science-simulation kit from Maxis. Educational software that’s fun — now that's cool.

Widget Workshop is a mad scientist’s laboratory that allows you to build Rube Goldberg-style widgets out of tools like switches, light bulbs, metronomes, counters, speakers, and hearts. Hearts? No, this isn’t Mortal Kombat III. The hearts are strictly clinical and mercifully bloodless; they’re included so you can, for example, compare the heart rates of different species. The widget-building process is simple: you use the pointer to drag tools from the tool tray onto the work area and link them so each tool’s output connectors are connected to the input connectors of other tools. When everything is connected, you test your creation by clicking on the Go button.

Double-clicking on a tool brings up a dialog box that briefly describes the tool’s function, suggests possible uses, and offers options for customization. For example, the gravity chamber allows you to control not just the type of object you drop, but the amount of gravity.

When you first enter the workshop you’ll need some help figuring out what the iconlike tools do and how you put them together. An entertaining Mad Scientist's Guide (one of two excellent manuals) leads you through a series of projects to familiarize you with the program. It quickly moves from simple experiments to complex simulations involving Boolean algebra and computer logic gates — perhaps a bit too fast for some users. Even though the package recommends Widget Workshop for ages 8 and above, users at the young end of that scale may need help with many activities.

The package includes several puzzles — not-quite-finished widgets that serve as brainteasers — and a bag of plastic tools and toys for experiments that combine the physical world with the widget world. Still, users may eventually wish for more — more work space, more tools, more options for each tool. Widget Workshop encourages imagination and exploration, and that inevitably leads into corners that the programmers didn’t anticipate.

The Last Word Widget Workshop is so good that it’s worth the minor disappointment that results from running up against the workshop walls. Perhaps future versions will be enhanced and extended; maybe they’ll even allow plug-in additions. In the meantime, hang the Do Not Disturb sign on the laboratory. We’ve got work to do.

Beekman, George; Beekman, Ben. (April 1995). Widget Workshop. Macworld. (pg. 89).

Download Widget Workshop - A Mad Scientist's Laboratory for Mac

Architecture

Motorola 68K

System Requirements

From Mac OS 7.5 up to Mac OS 9.2

Compatibility notes

• 68030 25 Mhz
• 8 MB RAM
• System 7.5
• 256-color display
• 20 MB free hard disk space

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver