This is really a question for David B. Fox to answer, but not being from the US, your mention of these standards made me curious, and I looked them up.

Quoting from NGSS;Appendix I - Engineering Design in NGSS:

Grades 3-5
At the upper elementary grades, engineering design engages students in more formalized problem solving. Students define a problem using criteria for success and constraints or limits of possible solutions. Students research and consider multiple possible solutions to a given problem. Generating and testing solutions also becomes more rigorous as the students learn to optimize solutions by revising them several times to obtain the best possible design.

My favorite quote from that appendix is itself a quote: Technologies result when engineers apply their understanding of the natural world and of human behavior to design ways to satisfy human needs and wants. Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist, not an engineer, and any solution that incorporates a small tree growing from seeds as part of a task that should take minutes to perform is clearly not aligned with the "natural world", but then Rube was all about adding fun to engineering thinking. This has got to be better than Flappy Bird.

Nobody claimed this was "more educational" than similar titles; in fact, other titles may include more of a "sandbox" mode that allows for a more structured approach to finding and optimizing solutions, but Rube Works certainly has players think more out-of-the-box than any similar game I know.

I'm eagerly awaiting the "official" answer!

Thanks mendel. Here's the official answer... there are actually two different standards Rube Works aligns to, Common Core and NGSS:
http://rubegoldberg.com/rubeworksccssbullets

Common Core is more about reading and comprehension. NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) is about science, and it actually specifically mentions Rube Goldberg devices here[www.nextgenscience.org]:

Emphasis is on both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of devices. Examples of devices could include Rube Goldberg devices, wind turbines, solar cells, solar ovens, and generators.

This game is now being used in many classrooms from 2nd grade through high school as part of their units on simple machines, cause and effect, and transfer of kinetic energy. It's usually step 2 in a 3 step project based learning unit.

1. Learn about Rube Goldberg through his cartoons and YouTube chain reaction machine videos.
   
2. Play Rube Works (either a demo by the teacher, or if the class has multiple devices, break up into groups and play it).
   
3. Design and build a Rube Goldberg machine.

A few months ago, I started a discussion on LinkedIn asking educators how they were using Rube Works in their classroom. There are some great answers here[www.linkedin.com] if you're an educator looking for inspiration.

Also, Rube Works may not be any more educational than other Rube Goldberg-like games. We just took the time to see how it relates to the standards. But if a game doesn't have lots of reading involved, it's likely not going to allign to the current CCSS.

Thank you! I'll have to check the Linkedin discussion later. It's nice to see developers actually engaging the education community rather than just slapping on a "it's educational!" sticker for pure marketing.

Originally posted by WarPigeon:

Thank you! I'll have to check the Linkedin discussion later. It's nice to see developers actually engaging the education community rather than just slapping on a "it's educational!" sticker for pure marketing.

Yeah, I don't like that either, especially if it's really not educational, or not engaging!

I forgot to mention, we're doing free Skype in the Classroom[education.skype.com] visits with classes that are playing Rube Works. Classes can also schedule a session with Jennifer George[education.skype.com], Rube Goldberg's granddaughter, with Zach Umperovitch[education.skype.com], an award-winning Rube Goldberg machine building engineer, and/or with me[education.skype.com], designer/exec producer of Rube Works.

Originally posted by DavidBFox:

Originally posted by WarPigeon:

Thank you! I'll have to check the Linkedin discussion later. It's nice to see developers actually engaging the education community rather than just slapping on a "it's educational!" sticker for pure marketing.

Yeah, I don't like that either, especially if it's really not educational, or not engaging!

I forgot to mention, we're doing free Skype in the Classroom[education.skype.com] visits with classes that are playing Rube Works. Classes can also schedule a session with Jennifer George[education.skype.com], Rube Goldberg's granddaughter, with Zach Umperovitch[education.skype.com], an award-winning Rube Goldberg machine building engineer, and/or with me[education.skype.com], designer/exec producer of Rube Works.

Wow, I didn't even know about Skype in the Classroom.

I teach high schoolers, so I don't know if my students would be able to appreciate a skype chat as much as younger learners would, but I'll definitely pass this info along to some other teachers I know. I originally asked about this game because I was interested in buying it for my daughter, and you certainly convinced me to go ahead and get it. =)

Originally posted by WarPigeon:

Wow, I didn't even know about Skype in the Classroom.

I teach high schoolers, so I don't know if my students would be able to appreciate a skype chat as much as younger learners would, but I'll definitely pass this info along to some other teachers I know. I originally asked about this game because I was interested in buying it for my daughter, and you certainly convinced me to go ahead and get it. =)

Hah! Well, Apple gives educational orgs 50% off if they order 20 or more units (for iOS or Mac through the Mac App Store). No edu discounts on Steam.

You know your students better than I do. I've spoken to high school kids in person before, not on Skype yet. Could be fun for all.

Originally posted by DavidBFox:

Originally posted by WarPigeon:

Wow, I didn't even know about Skype in the Classroom.

I teach high schoolers, so I don't know if my students would be able to appreciate a skype chat as much as younger learners would, but I'll definitely pass this info along to some other teachers I know. I originally asked about this game because I was interested in buying it for my daughter, and you certainly convinced me to go ahead and get it. =)

Hah! Well, Apple gives educational orgs 50% off if they order 20 or more units (for iOS or Mac through the Mac App Store). No edu discounts on Steam.

You know your students better than I do. I've spoken to high school kids in person before, not on Skype yet. Could be fun for all.

They are at that age where anything that looks like it might be "for kids" is beneath them (even if they secretly enjoy it). I could be wrong though, so I'll try and show the game to a few kids. Maybe they will be able to get past peer pressure and appreciate the game for what it is. =)

Originally posted by WarPigeon:

They are at that age where anything that looks like it might be "for kids" is beneath them (even if they secretly enjoy it). I could be wrong though, so I'll try and show the game to a few kids. Maybe they will be able to get past peer pressure and appreciate the game for what it is. =)

I know peer pressure can be a pretty tough obstacle, especially for a game where there's no blowing things up (though there's something pretty close hidden in one of the levels). Let me know how it goes!