Machinarium Collector's Edition

Having slightly disabled hands, I have to be quite careful what I buy so I don't end up buying something I can't use and a game to just look at is a waste of money and certainly no fun :) So, after looking through reviews and being told that this game has no repetitive or other movements that would make it impossible for me to play, I bought Machinarium shortly after it was released (I think that was even before GOG existed :) ). I loved the game (still do) though I struggled a bit with some of the movements required. This is a beautiful adventure game with a lot of interactivity and in my opinion it still looks as good Today as it did then BUT then I arrived at a scene (the bicycle scene if you wanted to know :) ) where you have to do lots of repetitive movements, almost comparable to quick time events and after trying time and time again, I had to give up and so this game is still unfinished, years later. I sent msgs to the developers at the time, asking for help...anything that would make this scene playable for me but no response. That was very disappointing for me as especially as I had been told there were no such scenes in this game before I bought it. Anyway, lesson learned and I am more careful these days but if there is anybody here with problematic hands who is uncertain about buying Machinarium I'd suggest watch a walkthrough and decide after that or you'll end up with a wonderful, whimsical, beautiful, fun, great but in the end unplayable game.

Amanita Design is synonymous with fantastic visual and audio design in games. Just look at their flagship series, ‘Samorost’. Even if you’re not a fan of their puzzles, you’ll very likely find their blend of whimsical characters, colourful palette, and atmospheric soundtrack appealing. ‘Machinarium’, Amanita Design’s first full-length game, has all the strengths and weaknesses that embodies the developer’s flagship titles. ‘Machinarium’ may be close to being 10 years old at the time of this review, but it still looks and sounds fantastic, and plays really well. Although the game is set in a world of metallic robots, the masterful use of dark lines and various shades of grey and brown never gets dull. In fact, the occasional splash of vibrant colours helps to bring characters, objects and locations of interest to your attention. The soundtrack is also very pleasing and immersive. While ‘Machinarium’ is visually and aurally appealing, I find its puzzles a bit of a mixed bag. The collection of puzzles is diverse, ranging from inventory puzzles to logic games. The developers even threw in arcade games for good measure. Puzzle lovers may appreciate the variety, but I find the lack of a cohesive theme annoying at times. With the disjointed presentation of puzzles, you’ll find yourself thinking carefully in a switch puzzle in one moment, and getting irritated by a Connect 5 game in the next. After that, you may start pulling your hair out by pace-killing bead sliding puzzles, before you breeze through inventory puzzles and wonder why you need to play 'Space Invader' to proceed. In spite of a few shortcomings, ‘Machinarium’ is a great adventure game that has withstood the test of time so far. Like many Amanita Design titles, I find it slightly overpriced for what you get. Depending on how well you’re at solving puzzles, ‘Machinarium’ can be a short gaming experience. This is worth keeping in mind before you buy this game, which I highly recommend for you to do.

This game is visualy like your most beatiful nightmare you ever had. Puzzles are challenging, but solvable. Only negativum is an absence of Machinarium 2.

It is very cool game! I hope maybe soon i buy Machinarium - II Try play it plz! It is real vegy good game!

Machinarium is, by and large, a typical point & click game: a succession of scenes in which you have to solve environmental puzzles, using logic and a variety of more or less wacky objects you can stack up in your inventory and combine together. While I am usually not a fan of these games, which I think are frustrating, I found this one to be very enjoyable and approachable. Solutions to puzzles are often logical and not too hard to figure out, and, unlike other P&Cs, what you can pick up and / or interact with is usually well highlighted. The difficulty curve is especially well-made: the game starts off easy, throwing you in small areas with enigmas that are easy to solve, and gets increasingly complex, letting you explore larger and larger zones with obstacles that get more and more twisted. Overall, the most trouble I've had was with the combination puzzles (y'know, Rubik's cube type of things), which tend to be quite difficult and frustrating. Still, a built-in walkthrough guide can be accessed at any time through a minigame to help you solving them, which is neat. The big selling point of Machinarium is clearly its aesthetic and atmosphere. The game, which tells the story of a small robot in a huge mechanical city, just oozes magic. The hand-drawn characters and backgrounds are superb, the music is beautiful. And while the plot is simple and the game is entirely devoid of dialogues, the narration is masterful, delivering emotions without a single word. It's all super cute and is full of quirky moments that rarely fail to get a chuckle. The biggest problems with Machinarium are its steep price and short length. There are not a lot of locations to visit, and most of your time will be spent on trying to solve puzzles: once you know the solutions, the whole thing can probably be finished in under an hour. Still, I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet little game with a ton of personality to act as an gateway to P&C as a genre.