Everybody remember The Incredible Machine series? Way back in the early to mid 90s, a series of puzzle games was released that essentially let you build your own Rube Goldberg devices. You know, the ones that involve mallets hitting marbles that roll down ramps to wake up a chicken whose flapping wings hit a lever that drops a bag of flour on top of a scale that tips and turns the light switch off. That sort of thing. The team behind those classic games is working on Contraption Maker, a spiritual sequel to The Incredible Machine that promises to bring back the same free-form puzzle solving we fell for back in the good old days.

For those of you who wish a decent video game movie would be released in theaters for once, we might have a true winner with Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph. The movie’s official video game, however, is being described as the game that will “Inspire a whole new generation of young gamers”. Both Activision and Disney Interactive have been working on a side-scrolling, arcade title of Wreck-It Ralph: The Video Game for current Nintendo platforms to go right alongside what is portrayed in the movie.

We've been following Indie Puzzle darling, A Virus Named TOM for quite some time now, and we're happy to say the game is finally getting an official release date after a lengthy beta.  The PC version, which will be available on Steam, Desura and direct from developer Misfits Attic will be out on August 1st, 2012 for $10.  You can still pre-order the game for the low price of $5 and get immediate access.

Ron Gilbert and Double Fine Productions are working together to bring us a 2D side-scroller combination of Blizzard's puzzle-platformer, The Lost Vikings, and the old school, LucasArts adventure game, Maniac Mansion, known only as: The Cave.

You may have heard little whisperings about Okabu, like how it’s a pro-environment game, or how it sports a cutesy artstyle. Or this PSN-exclusive game’s release last week may have quietly slipped under you radar. Whether you have some invested interest in the game or if this is the first time you’ve heard much about it, we’re here to give you the verdict in our Co-Op Review.

In the first Trine, as well as the normal mode for upcoming Trine 2, the co-op is class-restricted (by which I mean players can only have one of each class in a game at a time). It makes sense, as the whole magic of Trine is to use the different abilities of the characters to navigate everyone through the various levels. Just this past week, though, developer Frozenbyte announced that Trine 2 will also have a special "unlimited mode." This mode, separate from the main campaign, will allow players to play as any combination of classes they want. Always fighting over who gets to play the rogue? No problem, just bring three in unlimited mode!

I was quite pleased by my time spent playing Chime Super Deluxe. The overall effect of the music and the puzzles is very relaxing, and you might find yourself blissfully zoning out for a while. Chime Super Deluxe is a nice little game that fills its niche very well.

Last year, we reviewed Arcen Games' Tidalis, and we were quite impressed.  It was an editor's choice 5 point review, which we don't give out too terribly often.  One of the most impressive features was the easy drop in/drop out co-op for local play.  Tidalis can be played with either mouse or keyboard, and if someone walks by interested in playing, they can just grab whichever of the two the first player isn't using.  It's a perfectly seamless system, but Arcen wasn't content to rest on their laurels.

Arcen games recently announced Tidalis, a match three style puzzler with a unique gameplay element for the PC that adds 2 player co-op play to the genre. We sat down with Arcen games designer, developer, and owner Chris Park and got the details on how the co-op would work.

It was the end of last year when Arcen Games, makers of AI War: Fleet Command, told us they had two cooperative titles in the pipeline for 2010.  The first was called A Valley Without Wind, which was a take on the tower defense genre.  The game has since been bumped to 2011, but the second was an unnamed puzzle game with an addictive but simple mechanic.  Today Arcen has named the puzzle game and announced a beta starting very soon.

The co-op releases keep on rolling out this week!  Puzzler Lonpos is available on WiiWare this week.  The game was a launch title for WiiWare in Japan, so it has definitely been a while in coming.  Lonpos allows two players to take turns placing pieces in the ever-diminishing open spots.  It looks like Tetris meets Mancala, doesn't it?  The game will set you back 800 points and is available now!  You can check out one review of the game here.

Way back in the middle of the summer, we gave you the first details about a quirky upcoming game called Flock.  Now even more information has been made available.  First of all, the game will be made available on XBLA, PSN, and PC sometime in January.  Second, a batch of screenshots are available, including the one shown above.  The game is described as a puzzler, and looks to be similar to Lemmings, with one important addition: co-op gameplay.  Two players online or local can team up to abduct all those sheep and take them to your base ship, the Mother Flocker.  (RIM SHOT HERE.)  No price has been revealed at this time.  Sheep + spaceships = I'm downloading the demo, for sure.  Hit the link below to see the rest of the screenshots for Flock.

Puzzle fans who own a Wii will be glad to see this week's WiiWare release, Magnetica Twist.  The original Magnetica was a well regarded DS release back in 2006.  The addition of several co-op modes may pique Co-Optimus reader's interest.  Taken from Wiiware-World's review:

Weak Co-Op Gaming: After playing through the addictive adventure mode, I was looking for a similar experience to share with my son. Unfortunately I didn't get one. The co-op levels felt more like something meant for training or to show off the tech than for fun.

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May will be a busy month for Steven Spielberg.  The acclaimed director's collaboration with EA, Boom Blox, will be released on May 6th.  Boom Blox is a unique game, hard to classify, but will include some puzzle and building elements as well as (of course!) co-op play.  The game looks to be a nice fit for the Wii, and we look forward...