Someone said that this was "machinarium for kids", that is a good summary of this, if not completely accurate. The game *is* fairly short, yes, but there is quite a lot of stuff to do, things to figure out and animations and little funny situations to watch and laugh at. Since it's so short, I've found that it also has re-playability - after half a year or so, you've forgotten how it went and can enjoy it all over again. Is it really *for kids* though? I'd honestly say "not for the under 7 crowd at least" There are certain situations and images that are a little disturbing, and I'm not just talking about the War-of-Worlds like easter-egg, but constant things: what exactly *IS* Gomo? He has a zipper for a mouth, and were he keeps his inventory seems kinda eerie (in machinarium, the main character is a robot, so the "my body is a bag ofholding" is cute, not creepy.) Gomo seems more biological than that, or maybe he is a voodoo doll? But, some kids like crazy and scary stuff, so maybe it's more an individual thing than age thing? I am one of those who likes crazy eerie things, so I like it! Is it too short? Yes. and, no, it has a story to tell and it does it well, no part seems rushed or jumped over in order to shorten the amounts of screens, likewise would more screens just make the game drag on and become uninteresting. On the flip side wouldn't a full, length "Gomo" game be a great thing to behold? It's something I'd definitely like to see! In essence I'd say this is a kid's game for grown-ups, or maybe a grown-up game for kids? It's hard to say, it's silent-quirky -no text-short way might scream "Kid's game" to some, but to me it's more reappropriating things-for-kids the way adult colouring-books are; it's a Kid's game, for Adults.
ooog gog, why not release this and its sequel for mac as well? I actually own the originals, and with a bit of tinkering got them to work in wine. the problem is of course that there are 3 discs per game and for me, one of the discs had corrupted files! it's a pita to have the cd in the drive/cdimage mounted too. plus wineapps tend to bit-rot and stop working after a while. Now this phenomenal game is on sale, but I don't know if I can justify buying a game I already own, that wont work on my machine :/
The minute this becomes available in the original Norwegian and for a mac I will buy this, even though I already own it - this game is *that* good. The long time ago I played it I enjoyed it immensely, still occasionally I am sad because I sadly cannot play this great game - no compatible computer.
