You might not know the name Rube Goldberg, but you've definitely seen his machines at work. He was the inventor of the cartoon depiction a tremendously complicated device that completed a relatively simple task (an authentic Goldberg cartoon is above).

We love these things, and decided to collect a few videos of them here for your enjoyment.

Mouse Trap
The famous children's game from 1963 is a great example of a Rube Goldberg device at work. I don't recall actually ever properly playing the game, we would just build and set off the trap, then re-pack everything. Check out this awesome 60's commercial promoting it.

Der Lauf der Dinge
One of the best-known examples caught on video is Der Lauf der Dinge by artists Fischli & Weiss. Translated from Swiss it means (spoiler alert!) The Way Things Go, and boy do they go. First revealed in 1987, the 15 minute performance inspired many of the clips further down this list.

The Cog
In 2003 Honda produced this 2 minute long epic commercial to promote their flagship Accord model. It cost 1 million pounds to produce, and involved over 600 takes to get right. In the end, the time, cost, and effort was worth it as it became one of the most famous ads of all time. And to think in North America we got stuck with the "opportunity knocks guy".

This Too Shall Pass
The latest video from OK Go, and the inspiration for this blog, is for their new single This Too Shall Pass. Not only is the sequence exquisitely complex, but it also operates in time to the music. Look carefully and you might spot a model Martian rover in the video - that's because some of the engineers in the video actually helped build the real Spirit Rover!