the Andrew Bailey

Machinarium

Machinarium is a point and click adventure game. It's kind of like the old ones, but made about 5 years ago. The game is set in a robotic city surrounded by a large junkyard. I would not call it a robot apocalypse, as there are no humans, animals, or evidence of them anywhere. The story is about a robot fighting against a gang who want to blow the city up.

Screenshot of Machinarium, showing one of the split room scenes

The gameplay is pointy and clicky. I like how some scenes that there is a revealing mechanic going on. Some locations reveal a room at a time, indicating more rooms nearby that you will discover later. There is almost no dialog or text whatsoever. This may be because this is an indie game from the Czech Republic made on a shoestring budget by people who might not afford translations into a dozen languages. It's a clever way to engineer around that problem.

The graphical style for the setting is pretty unique. Last time I played a robot game, it had a rather realistic but colorful look. This game looks hastily hand drawn and illustrated. The style emphasizes the old, decaying feel of the city. I like this style.

Medium difficulty puzzles fill the game, in my opinion. There's nothing that stands out much. You have to trace routes through tangled things twice; the only crucially timed part of the game is the easier one. When I got past some parts, I facepalmed, not because of the stupid solution, but because of it's logical sense and my stupidity.

This game is very approachable. It's inspired from the classics, but made independently from them, and it feels like a step forward. I recommend it for anyone who likes the adventure genre.

Posted under Gaming.

You can't complain about this anymore. It's perfect!