Machinarium is a delightful little gem of a game that I almost missed completely when it first came out in late 2009. In fact had it not been featured in the Apple App Store a month or so ago I most likely would have continued on my merry way ignorant of its existence. I'm very glad I did spot it however because never having visited the charming dilapidated city that is the game’s setting or its equally magnificent characters would have been a tragedy!
You see I normally stick to the Playstation 3 universe when it comes to games and leave my iMac for all my other computing needs and so Machinarium never really made it onto my radar. Fortunately it did make it on to that of plenty of others and has even managed to earn itself some well deserved awards which pleases me to no end.
Machinarium is a point-and-click, puzzle solving, adventure game set within an extraordinarily beautiful almost steam punk-styled city that has seen much better days. Your guide through this unnamed place is a little robot who we first meet after he is unceremoniously dumped outside its walls onto a scrap heap where you literally need to pull yourself together.
Upon gaining re-entry into the city you encounter the dastardly trio of baddies called the Black Cap Brotherhood and embark upon a mission to foil their evil plans and rescue your robot girlfriend. Standing in your way are some really great puzzles ranging from the quick forehead slapping “of course!” conundrums right up to the lateral thinking stumpers that will drive you to distraction until you sit bolt upright in the middle of the night with a eureka moment.
Personally I’m not normally a puzzle game kind of guy but it is very hard to not be charmed by the graphics and the characters in Machinarium and I do love robots and this style. All of the backgrounds have been lovingly crafted to add character and depth to the locations and despite being a 2D game you get a real sense of being engulfed in the city.
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