Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

wuischke · 2009-10-17 14:32:58

Machinarium is an indie adventure game written in Flash.

You steer a small robot through a wonderfully painted robot world. To get a feel of the game play, you can play Samorost, an earlier game by the developers, for free or try the demo.

To get the disclaimer out of the way: I've no affiliation to the developers, but I liked the game and pre-ordered after it won the Excellence In Visual Art competition at this year's IGF.

Yesterday I downloaded the client and started playing. It works nicely on my computer (1.6GHz C2D, 1GB, GMA950, Arch i686). The graphics are beautiful and the puzzles are so far (I played only the first section) on the same high level as Samorost 1+2.

According to the web site the game is only 32bit and needs a minimum resolution of 1024x768, with 1280x800 or higher recommended. The developers also recommend to disable flash hardware acceleration.

You can find more information and a demo at the website at http://www.machinarium.com/ , where you can also buy the game for $20.

P.S. I'm writing here because I believe in supporting developers who offer Linux versions of their games. I bought Penumbra, WoG, Prey and now Machinarium for this reason. If you like the game (there's a demo), please consider buying it to show your support for studios developing for Linux, too.

Rasi · 2009-10-17 16:29:00

grrr... the demo does not work for me... i can click as often as i want, no reaction... and rightclick -> settings gives me the flash settings dialog which i cannot close anymore

flash sucks

ArchArael · 2009-10-17 16:42:31

Amazing. I have played the demo. This game is awesome.

Gen2ly · 2009-10-17 20:17:15

This is great. I remember play Samorost years ago (demo only) and liked the artwork and puzzle-solving. Reminded me alot of the point and click adventures I used to play quite a bit. I'm not sure you can say they support Linux development as it's designed for flash (a cross-environment program). Good to know though. Still playing demo... very fun.

Ranguvar · 2009-10-17 20:39:39

Rasi wrote:

grrr... the demo does not work for me... i can click as often as i want, no reaction... and rightclick -> settings gives me the flash settings dialog which i cannot close anymore
flash sucks

Same

flamelab · 2009-10-17 20:40:33

Clear your cache and restart your browser.

wuischke · 2009-10-17 21:24:39

Mh, so far there has been one screen (kind of a plaza) where the game became sluggish and the fan got loud...the game itself is still a lot of fun and the puzzles are good and logical, although I managed to overlook an obvious switch and had to look at in-game help once.

I'm not sure you can say they support Linux development as it's designed for flash (a cross-environment program).

I agree that Linux support is probably not intentionally, but they saw the possibility and offer a Linux version on Launch day.

Linux gaming is in a very sorry state - just take a look at the still missing UT3 client or the sound problems with Prey. And these are games which are (were promised to be) supported - almost no developer cares about Linux as a platform.

I believe that when I buy the games of and talk about those few developers who do care about Linux, I might convince more developers that there's a market for Linux games.

When I pre-ordered Machinarium, I communicated clearly that I bought the game because they thought about offering a Linux client. I'm glad they did in the end. The same for Osmos - I pre-ordered the game (it's a very relaxing experience) and I pledged to buy it again when the Linux client is released.

Ranguvar · 2009-10-17 22:02:38

flamelab wrote:

Clear your cache and restart your browser.

Doesn't work, even Midori doesn't work. I wonder if this is related to the problem I've been having with Flash where on some Flash objects, nothing will click at all...
Ah: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=82377

Gen2ly · 2009-10-17 22:13:45

Oh, ok. Maybe I misunderstood. wuischke, are you saying the full version runs as a seperate client? I was thinking that it would be played through the web browser.

As for Linux games, I have to agree. Linux gaming isn't in a great state at this time, some big titles haven't made a mark yet. Though I do think some good indie games are coming and have come in the last year (goo, shadowgrounds e.g.). I support when I can, got Penumbra, Doom 3, Quake Wars in the past year and they all run pretty good.

wuischke · 2009-10-17 22:29:54

Indeed, the full game runs outside the browser, but uses a Flash 10 run time.

s3kt0r · 2009-10-17 22:56:48

Great stuff, gotta love that artwork.

wuischke · 2009-10-18 10:34:58

OK, the game is almost unplayable in the sluggish screens (two so far). Workaround: Switch to windowed mode and set the quality to low, (View->Quality->Low quality) then it runs just fine again.

After having played longer, I want to praise the music. It's really well done and adds a lot to the atmosphere. Dialogues are all done with images, btw, the only texts are in the menus.

litemotiv · 2009-10-18 11:39:09

wuischke wrote:

After having played longer, I want to praise the music. It's really well done and adds a lot to the atmosphere.

definitely, the soundtrack creates a real Plaid-like atmosphere.

it looks like a great game, the demo levels are certainly enjoyable!

wankel · 2009-10-26 20:29:54

Just played this game and I loved it. Does anyone have any other similar games I could look into(ones were you collect items to move on)? I tried googling but surprisingly I didnt come up with anything good.

wuischke · 2009-10-27 08:33:41

Samorost 1+2 are similar games from the same developers.

Looking at "real" adventure games, you could have a look at The longest journey, if you have a Windows computer somewhere. (It's still one of the best adventures and the graphics and controls are not too bad.)

Last edited by wuischke (2009-10-27 08:34:19)

Chokkan · 2009-10-27 09:48:23

Thanks for pointing this out. I'm really enjoying this.

bender02 · 2009-10-28 08:09:35

Thanks for bringing this up! I've just played Samorost 1, and if I like the sequel as much as the first one, I'll definitely buy Machinarium.

fini_fly · 2010-04-12 16:01:15

I purchased it and am downloading it now as I also prefer to support developers who embrace Linux gaming. I also bought World of Goo a while back for the same reasons.

Artificial Intelligence · 2010-04-17 20:52:56

Another way for those who have trouble with flash; In Flash Settings => Disable Hardware Accelaration

Snakeye · 2010-04-17 23:06:59

The game demo had a blank black screen for me when i tried it. chmod +x fixed it for me. Bought the game...i found a link for the game a while back while visiting a steampunk forum. Lots of cool puzzles to solve and great visuals and atmosphere.

I also tend to pick up all the new GNU/Linux titles. Awaiting Amnesia from Frictional eagerly.

Last edited by Snakeye (2010-04-17 23:09:18)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-10-17 14:32:58

Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#2 2009-10-17 16:29:00

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#3 2009-10-17 16:42:31

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#4 2009-10-17 20:17:15

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#5 2009-10-17 20:39:39

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#6 2009-10-17 20:40:33

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#7 2009-10-17 21:24:39

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#8 2009-10-17 22:02:38

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#9 2009-10-17 22:13:45

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#10 2009-10-17 22:29:54

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#11 2009-10-17 22:56:48

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#12 2009-10-18 10:34:58

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#13 2009-10-18 11:39:09

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#14 2009-10-26 20:29:54

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#15 2009-10-27 08:33:41

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#16 2009-10-27 09:48:23

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#17 2009-10-28 08:09:35

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#18 2010-04-12 16:01:15

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#19 2010-04-17 20:52:56

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

#20 2010-04-17 23:06:59

Re: Machinarium - a new game with a Linux client

Board footer