Machinarium Collector's Edition

The visual style, design choices, & attention to detail are wonderful. I love the way this game looks & sounds. The music is great & listenable outside of actual game-play, so even long after I've finished the game, the music will still be worth $10. I had fun playing. It's worth experiencing, just as a work of art. As a game, it has a few frustrating issues that could have easily been worked out. It's also short. I found myself wishing for more game, when it was completed. The core design mechanics of adventure games are here, along with many of their flaws: The old 1-answer-only "lateral thinking" puzzles are throughout. Relies too heavily on successfully clicking on things in the "right" way. A ponderously slow avatar. In-game animations that you couldn't simply skip out of, which was frustrating when you were just double checking things, or fumbling around. When I am picking a lock, or solving a mechanical puzzle: 1-answer-only is normal & acceptable. When I am just trying to figure out exactly how the game designer wants me to do something, even though I can conceive of alternative solutions, it's frustrating & feels arbitrary. The in-game "help" manual is a nice touch, but I found myself needing to resort to it most often because I tried the correct action it a way that the game didn't register. The game does a good job with scaling. The first sections are 1-scene puzzles. The later sections become multi-scene puzzles. The game was most satisfying when it relied on logic puzzles. But about half the game was focused on "lateral thinking" puzzles. The problem being that those puzzles require you to think exactly like the creators did, ignoring all other lateral options. It feels like freedom. But it isn't. A better design would allow for multiple solutions to those puzzles. Because some people see a hammer as a tool to drive a nail. Others see it also as a way to remove the nail. Freedom is hard to account for, but makes for a more satisfying game.

I wanted to love this game so much, but visual flair will only take you so far. It's troubling that modern adventure games still fall prey to the same issues that plagued Sierra adventures and their ilk: inconsistent puzzle design and lack of internal logic. Even with all the new and unique worlds that we can create in modern point and clicks, something is lost if you are just simply clicking on everything to get through the level. Even when you do solve the puzzles, they are mostly an unsatisfying lot. I gave the game an extra point because I listen to the soundtrack sometimes while working. Otherwise, not worth your time, unfortunately.

I knew little about this game when I bought it...I just saw it got amazing reviews and there was some sale so I purchased it. Because I had no expectations I was blown away from the immersion into the game world. Puzzles are great, and thought I had to check an faq once or twice it was still rewarding to play through. I highly recommend if you like adventure games (the old definition of adventure games...I'm not sure what it is defined as now, lol).

I happened on this game by accident. It was given to me as a present from a family member who knows nothing about games; I'm not sure where they found it. I have played a fair number of adventure games in their hey-day, but I hadn't seen much from the genre in years. I decided to give it a whirl and WOW. Beautiful art, involving story and characters, thoughtful puzzles... all without a single written or spoken word. It is truly a remarkable achievement in a genre I thought moribund. It has led me to look back through the recent past for other Adventure game gems I had missed, like Syberia and the Longest Journey. Not too bad for a game about a little robot who doesn't speak.

This game is a mind-changing experience. Prepare yourself for an aesthetic thrill of a lifetime, passionate graphics & music, wonderful plot, to be learned while idling watching characters tell stories vial animated thought bubbles. Also includes several hard logic, arcade, musical and other puzzles. Every next step makes you proud. And did I mention it is beautiful? Not like those girls who dress alike, same jeans from H&M + a top of any kind. It's like that one girl you remember you saw five years ago, you're not sure she existed, but there was something perceptively perfect about her. This is how this game looks and feels. Oh stop reading, you're wasting time! You should be playing this game. Also great for a lonely winter evening. My best friend bought it for me as a birthday gift, this is what best friends are for.