Something Pleasant for the Weekend: Machinarium
October 24th, 2009I don’t play many video games, but I indulge my childhood habit about once per year. Machinarium is a beautifully handcrafted little game by a tiny, independent Czech game company called Amanita Design.
Most of Machinarium involves solving puzzles that get progressively more difficult as you move through the screens. I actually wasn’t able to start the elevator platform on the outside of the building—you’ll know the point in the game that I’m referring to if you decide to play—and had to refer to the hints that are accessible from within the game. Needless to say, if you aren’t looking to spend some time solving fairly difficult, but elegantly implemented puzzles, take a pass on this one.
Not only is Machinarium a feast for the eyes, I don’t recall ever encountering a soundtrack for a game that I liked listening to on its own. (Well, it has been a couple of decades since I’ve done that. *blush*) The soundtrack (as MP3s) is included as part of the purchase price.
Machinarium, including the soundtrack files, costs US$20.
See: machinarium.net
Machinarium is almost certainly by the designer of this cute little flash game called Little Wheel: http://www.kongregate.com/games/fastgames/little-wheel
That one might give readers a chance to play a short, non-demo version and see how they like Machinarium.
On a personal note, I grew up with computer games that fit onto, at most, 2 to 4 of the old 8.25″ floppies, nd I still have nostalgia for those days. Computer games at that point were so novel that everything was about exploration, creativity and playability. There was so much experimentation going on. Like in the early stages of any revolution, there weren’t many established forms yet to consciously or unconsciously imitate, everyone was free to dream up any silly little thing that captured their interest and, like Tetris for instance, it might become an overnight classic. Also, early games were cheap to make, so they were cheap to buy and easy to swap with your friends. Then – just like rock ‘n roll – all that died out as developers started to focus on creating big money-making hits, copying the successful forms, valuing image over innovation, building “development teams” around one title, etc. First person shooters especially left me rather cold, and I stopped caring about playing games for more than a decade….
But lately I’ve started to be interested in flash games, which because of their limited size seem to concentrate on ingenuity, artistic creativity and intellectual stimulation (over simple “nervous stimulation”). I like the fact that there’s a forum once again where one or two people can start something truly groundbreaking.
Here’s another simple little favorite of mine called Light Bot: http://www.kongregate.com/games/Coolio_Niato/light-bot
I like this game, a physics puzzle game:
http://fantasticcontraption.com/
and this is a fun little test:
http://www.predictablyirrational.com/?page_id=117
and because I am rude: Throw a shoe at gwb!
http://www.aksalser.com/game.htm