Widget Workshop: The Mad Scientist’s Laboratory

Caution!!! Mad Scientist At Work!

A Review of Widget Workshop: The Mad Scientist’s Laboratory

Rich Cunningham

When I was growing up (not to date myself too much), our newspaper carried a

comic strip on Sundays by a man named Rube Goldberg. It was a drawing of a

machine accomplishing odd tasks with every day items arranged in very unusual

ways. Later in my childhood there was a board game called MouseTrap that was

based on this comic strip, in which the object was to build a 3-D mousetrap

and catch a mouse. My children have only recently discovered this game. In these

days of computers, it wouldn’t be long until someone created a game that

rivaled Mr. Goldberg’s machines. Maxis Software’s “Widget Workshop” is a

program that achieves the spirit of these comics of by-gone days, while incorporating

space age technology.

Picture, if you will, being put in a laboratory with a bare workbench, and

surrounded by high tech scientific odd and ends that can be put together in a

variety of ways. These scientific devices include light bulbs, switches,

counters, televisions, and some esoteric devices such as a heart and the

solar system! It is your privilege and pleasure to construct anything your heart

desires, and test it to see if it will work, just like a real scientist in a

laboratory. There are also several machines that already built, but aren’t

working very well, and you can try and fix them, and then tear them apart and

put them back together again. ( I used to do that with my grandfather’s old

watches … somehow I always had parts left over.) What does all this have to

do with education? It is Maxis’ goal to turn science from a dull, boring, too

hard subject into a fun, magical environment by looking at it from a mad

scientist’s point of view. In this goal, they have succeeded.

After installation, you are presented with a bare workspace. It is highly

recommended that you follow the Mad Scientist’s Guide and follow the 25 steps

to becoming a first-rate Mad Scientist Level 1. While 25 steps may seem too

hard, they are divided up into very short and simple task levels that actually

serve as an introduction to the mechanics of the game, and how to build items. The

first task involves turning on a light bulb. Simple, one switch and one bulb.

Then you are shown how to substitute a heart for the switch, and use the

heart to control the bulb. And not only can you use a human heart, they include a

gerbil heart and an elephant heart, among others. Through these simple types

of exercises, you learn how to manipulate the game.

After completing the 25 step course, you get your Mad Scientist Level 1

Certificate (included in the book), and you can continue on to the Activities

and Experiments Handbook. In this book you are led through several

experiments relating, but not limited, to weather, the human body, sound, light, speed,

time, and gravity. You will make a piano, build a person power calculator,

construct a nephoscope and many other activities. Some of these activities

are performed off-computer with some exploration tools that are included, and

some everyday household items. The included items include a spinning top, a

thermometer, a magnifier, and a compass, among others. These activities are

designed along the lines of the program’s concept that learning science can

be fun.

I turned the game over to my 8 year old son and 10 year old daughter to try

out. My son had some problems with the initial learning phases (he needed a lot of

help getting through the initial 25 steps), but once he got on to the

concept, he had a lot of fun. My daughter took to the game like a duck to water, but

right now her main interest in life is Jonathan Taylor Thomas, not science of

any kind. But she was able to comprehend and use the program, and actually

make some items that made sense. Both of them enjoyed the program, but rate it low

as a game to play for enjoyment. “Too much like school, dad”, was my daughter’s

comment. My son, the more mechanically inclined of the two, spent a lot of

time trying various combinations of devices, but some of the items were just

beyond him.

Overall, this is a very good educational program. It is one someone can have

fun with and learn at the same time. It is rated by Maxis for ages 8 and above. I

feel that is a little too young. Some of the concepts I had trouble

remembering (boolean algebra, and/or gates, etc.) I feel are a little too much for the

average child to comprehend at that age. There is also a heavy emphasis on

following the book to gain the initial concepts. For a product that is

released on a CD Rom, I think a more intuitive on-line tutorial would be more

appropriate. As far as the game itself, I again expected more from a CD Rom

product. Some background music, and voices throughout the game would greatly

improve the multimedia look and feel of the program.

Screen Shots

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