Machinarium

Released 16 October 2009, Amanita Design

I love tiny flash games. I particularly love indie ones, created more for art than actual play. And I have explored this genre to its very limit- Plachy Trpaslik, Daymare Town 1-3, Submachine, and a lot more. But nothing has compared to the works of Czech game developer Amanita Design (found at amanitadesign.com). My particular favorite, Samorost 2, is brilliant and gorgeous. So imagine my joy when they released their very first full-length game, Machinarium. This was last year, and though I played the demo, I never bought it. Until now, when Steam advertised it for half off. Sold. And I absolutely love it. I mean, I even discussed it on my personal blog (which I'll shamelessly advertise at the end). It's not a game I recommend for those of you who absolutely love action games or FPS. It's a thinking game, the kind that'll make you reclusive for weeks on end until you beat it. You're playing as a tiny robot, running about a large mechanical city full of evil, black hatted robots with superior size yet inferior brainpower. You must navigate around and ultimately save the city and your friend. It's absolutely beautiful, with amazing 2D drawings and a wonderful, minimalistic soundtrack that is almost as important to the game as the art itself (I honestly don't feel like I'm playing unless the sound is on). There are also no words, relying entirely on thought-bubble sketch pictures to communicate meaning (very effectively, too). Even better, it's not just an artsy toy- the best thing about Amanita's games is the fact that they don't require huge, arbitrary leaps of logic to solve, yet are still extremely difficult. Very pretty, but functional, with a lot of gameplay: when they said full-length game, they *meant* it. I can only describe it as a very long, surreal dream that you can control. All in all, Amanita has delivered the best possible gift unto the gaming world. Go play the demo. You'll like it. You *must*. Roar.

//SleepToDream
I can haz scattered thoughts, as mentioned above: cufflinksoffate.blogspot.com

Posted in: Computer