It´s often easy for most point-and-click adventure games to fall on the same formula, have your character walk around, talk to people, and use items to solve puzzles, often with a bland storyline.
However, one game has recently stood out to me. Created by Amanita Design (who also created games like Samorost, Botanicula and Chuchel) in 2009, this quirky little game has gathered a cult following, special with its art style and puzzle design.
Here are some of my thoughts on this game and why it´s worth your time.
You play as Josef, a cute little Robot who finds himself outside the city at the beginning of the game. He then sets out to save his robot girlfriend from the nefarious Black Cap Brotherhood gang. But turns out he´s the only bot whose day is being ruined. During the game, you will find yourself helping other citizens that have been wronged by this gang. You will meet a lot of weird but funny characters, and challenging but dangerous situations.
However, this game lacks any dialogue, instead, it lets the visuals do the talking. The robots communicate instead through dialogue bubbles that play a cute little animation. And if you stay still long enough, Josef will share a memory of his time with his girlfriend. Maybe it´s just me, but in my personal opinion, since games are a visual medium they do not need to rely on dialogue so much.
Too much of it could lead to a game feel more like a slog to go through, especially if the writing isn´t interesting. I had made a similar complaint about Anna´s Quest So, an adventure puzzle game that has different ways of conveying a story can feel like a breath of fresh air.
The gameplay relies on a point and click interface. You enter several different areas, and can only progress to the next place when you solve all if not most of the puzzle. There is also a bit of backtrack, as some puzzles rely on objects acquired in previous areas.
The puzzles themselves are a mix of inventory interactions and brain teasers. Besides interacting with the environment by clicking on things, Josef has the ability to shrink or elongate his body, which allows to reach higher places or small spaces.
The brain teasers themselves are challenging and fun to play can come in the form of minigames. From your typical sliding puzzle tiles to an arcade game, which was my favorite part. I got to play a copy of the classic invaders game and solve a labyrinth shooting game.
However, there was one puzzle that made me frustrated, the 5 in a row minigame. This one has you pitted against an AI, I tried every possible strategy I could think of, and I still couldn´t beat it ( I used The Lamkin Gambit method). Worse, I heard the AI varies according to which game version you are playing (pc, android, or console).
If you can´t defeat it the best way is to simply beat it with another bot, simply set the board size to 10x10, and replicate the AI game moves. It might involve cheating a little, but since it´s a major bug in the game, I´m gonna let this one slide.
Another thing that stood out to me, was the beautiful 2d watercolor and hand-drawn artwork. The entire game has this mechanical dieselpunk aesthetic. A lot of the buildings and structures look a bit eclectic if not rundown, giving the game a certain charm. Despite looking a little bit like a moody dystopic scenario, this allied with its quirky humor looks something out of an illustrated kids book.
There is also a lot of variety in the robotic designs, from the intimidating city guards, a musician whose head resembles an instrument. Even Josef the main character, has a lovable robotic design. To me, robots are a lot more interesting when they are made to look like robots instead of more mechanical humans.
The music was composed by Floex who also worked on Samorost 2. It has a beautifully melancholic and environmental sound. Funny enough at certain moments in the game, you can hear more cheery and funky tracks, once with the robots musicians who play a jazzy sound, and the music player you give to a wrench-like robot, you can even see Josef do a little dance.
In the last part of the game, there is even a radio you can mess around with, it doesn´t progress the game, but you use to play some of the available songs.
I recommend buying the soundtrack if you wanna listen to it in its entirety.
God, this one beautiful game, that made me smile at times. I really liked Josef and felt a bit attached to him, because he is so darn cute. The puzzle had my head almost spinning, I had to really think outside of the box, they might look complicated at first, but they make sense as you progress, building up to the next puzzle. I did have a pen and paper on hand to take notes, helping with my logic.
Having a hint system also helped a lot, since it´s not uncommon for me to feel lost at certain parts of the game, motivating me to see this game to end.
The game is also short, it took me 5 hours, ideal for those who don´t have a lot of time to spare. the game even encourages you to solve the puzzles in the least time as possible with a leaderboard.
This something worth playing, and I can see how it got its fanbase. Machinarium is available for different game systems, like mobile, pc, the Playstation, and Switch.
Game Links:Steam/GOG/Humble Bundle/itch.io/Android/IOS
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