I
can make this really short and sweet:

Download and start playing
Machinarium today.

OW!!! [That was Randy whacking
the back of my head.]

Okay, okay I’ll be
a little more specific. Machinarium is what
might have happened if Dreamworks’ overlooked 1996 masterpiece
The
Neverhood and Pixar’s Wall
E had a baby.

The game takes place in
a brown city of ugly and awkward robots. The nameless main character
is a meek but resourceful little dude who spends most of the game
dealing with bullies and trying to get back to his girlfriend.

The gameplay is beautifully
intuitive. You control the main character with the mouse, Your pointer
changes in hotspots around the screen. If you can walk somewhere,
the pointer becomes moving legs. If you can interact with something,
you see a hand icon. Arrows indicate places you can jump or climb.

Two
interesting quirks add an additional layer of complexity to the basic
gameplay. First, you only get an interaction icon if you are actually
close enough to interact with the object in question. In other words,
you can’t tell from across the room whether that chair you see
can be picked up. You won’t know until you walk over to it.
The same is true for arrows which indicate possible jumps up or down.
This may sound annoying, but the environments are so contained that
it’s not a burden. It actually serves to help focus you on the
tasks at hand.

The second gameplay innovation
is that your little robot character has three different “sizes.”
There’s his normal configuration, which allows him the speediest
movement. But he can also stretch to become taller or compress to
become shorter, thus rendering additional areas of the game world
accessible.

There
is a narrative to the game, but like everything else about Machinarium,
it’s presented in a charmingly quirky way. There is no dialog
or speech in the game, but you periodically see thought-bubble-like
callouts which let you know what a character wants, or even a bit
of history your character might have with another.

The puzzles in the game
are a combination of inventory collecting and combining and classic
Solve the Puzzle Room mechanics. For the most part the puzzles make
sense, and there are contextual clues to help you.

The game even has a two-tiered
hint system for when you really get stuck. There is one hint per level
which, when you access, gives you a visual nudge in the right direction.
If that’s not enough, there’s a little minigame you can
play which will unlock a blueprint of the entire series of steps you
need to complete to accomplish your current objective.

This
is a Flash game, which means the graphics are simple and low-tech,
but they are beautifully crafted and very easy on the eyes. The musical
score is unusual and evocative, and the sound design is full of nice
little details. These three elements — visual design, sound design
and music – create a surpringly engaging atmosphere. It’s
all very moody and melancholy, but you won’t stop rooting for
your plucky little hero. In fact, the whole affair is pleasantly reminiscent
of a classic silent Buster Keaton movie, as you and your plucky hero
battle the odds in search of true love.

This is a very modest game
with big ambitions. I don’t think I’ve played a game since
Portal
which is such few things to complain about. It costs $20 and you should
be playing it right now. You can download it from the company’s
website listed above. Enjoy!

System Requirements:

• Windows XP/Vista/7,
  Mac OS x (10.4 or newer) or Linux (try the demo first)
• Processor: 1.6 GHz
• Memory: 1GB
• Hard disk space: 380MB
• Minimum screen resolution:
  1024×768 (1280×800 or higher recommended)

This
review is copyright Ray Ivey and Just Adventure and
may not be republished elsewhere without the express written consent
of the author. Republication of said review must also contain a link
back to Just Adventure.