It’s not often that I spend money on the App store unless it’s something worthwhile, like an app or big name game. But Machinarium is one of the best games I’ve played on my iPad and on my PC. The little artistic point and click game not only has a great story but the environment and game play walk hand in hand to create an experience you won’t forget.
You play a little robot who’s has to stop some bad old bandits from blowing up the city. The player’s character name Josef (after the creator of the word robot!) is dropped into a scrap heap and has to rebuild himself and work his way through the artistic world of robots laid out before him. This game is on both the App Store (£2.99)and also PC on Steam (£7.49) with a recent release to the PSN (Playstation network).
The game is primarily a puzzle adventure game, but with small mini games in. It isn’t a game where you have to pull out a guide before you reach halfway as it’s a natural feeling game. It’s not overly complex yet it keeps an element of skill within it’s puzzles and the progression points aren’t meticulously hidden so there’s no clicking methodically all over the screen to find the next part of the game.
The creators Ananita Design is a small indie games company from the Czech Republic, whilst it’s rare indie games ever take off, it’s rarer that they receive awards for their excellence. This game is one of those with as an Independent Games Festival 2009 Winner and an Excellence in Visual Art Award. The gameplay is fast paced and the puzzles aren’t lacking in logic and it makes for quite an interesting story.
In whole Machinarium is a revival of old school point and click with a twist. Instead of it telling you where to go, you know where to go. It’s natural feel and hand crafted graphics create emotive and thought provoking characters that you are sure not to forget. With such a cheap price for the iPad this game is easily one of the most creative and complete games that you can get these days. Easily the best use of me money on the App Store in a long time.
