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Machinarium, by Amanita Designs
I stumbled across this game while searching Google images for pictures of steampunk at work. I clicked out of curiosity because the picture was gorgeous, and realised that not only were there more images, but that it was a game. When I got home, I played the demo, wrestled with my better judgment, and coughed up the $20 for the rest of it.
I'm so glad I did. It's a 2D, point-and-click game. You know Shaun Tan's novels? How everything is otherworldly and mindblowingly detailed, and you (well, I) just want to reach in and touch? This is like playing in one of Shaun Tan's novels, for hours.
You control a little robot who stores things in his belly, and who is wandering around an intricate castle-type-city, helping creatures and fellow small robots in need by solving puzzles (mini-in-game-games and much larger 'collecting item X to put with Y to go off and do Z' style puzzles) and trying to stay out of the way of the big bully police robots.
The art, the sound effects and the music delights me. I'm not usually one for this style of lateral thinking, but it's excellently organised: there's a hint per level, if you want it, and for the few times I was deeply stuck, there is a locked walkthrough book that you access by playing an arcade style game, revealing sketches of how to solve the level, one page at a time. <3!
( Two screen grabs below )
I stumbled across this game while searching Google images for pictures of steampunk at work. I clicked out of curiosity because the picture was gorgeous, and realised that not only were there more images, but that it was a game. When I got home, I played the demo, wrestled with my better judgment, and coughed up the $20 for the rest of it.
I'm so glad I did. It's a 2D, point-and-click game. You know Shaun Tan's novels? How everything is otherworldly and mindblowingly detailed, and you (well, I) just want to reach in and touch? This is like playing in one of Shaun Tan's novels, for hours.
You control a little robot who stores things in his belly, and who is wandering around an intricate castle-type-city, helping creatures and fellow small robots in need by solving puzzles (mini-in-game-games and much larger 'collecting item X to put with Y to go off and do Z' style puzzles) and trying to stay out of the way of the big bully police robots.
The art, the sound effects and the music delights me. I'm not usually one for this style of lateral thinking, but it's excellently organised: there's a hint per level, if you want it, and for the few times I was deeply stuck, there is a locked walkthrough book that you access by playing an arcade style game, revealing sketches of how to solve the level, one page at a time. <3!
( Two screen grabs below )
