Machinarium

Hi everyone! Remember Samarost? A great game for provoking creative thinking in writing and problem solving, and has been used in many a classroom.

Well, Amanita Design, the creators of Samarost has released Machinarium, their new point and click adventure.

This time the action revolves around a little robot, cast out from a mechanical city by accident. He must find his way back home, rescue his girlfriend and prevent a gang of robot hoodlums from setting off a bomb.

Each area is packed with visual detail, from intricate backgrounds to fluidly animated characters. Machinarium's world is not a still piece of scenery, it's a living, moving environment loaded with personality. There's so much to look at it can be difficult to know where to start. Somehow, though, you always catch wind of a puzzle on the screen and can manage to discover what needs to be done.

The graphics are slightly different to Samarost, this time done in scratchy pencil style, but stills retains that unmistakable Amanita feel, and will foster a whole new round of creative writing prompts for eager kids.

Machinarium is a magnificent game, and that's all I really need to say. You'll be hooked the moment you see the robot store an item in his belly.

You can try out the web demo at http://www.machinarium.com, which gives you the first three screens to solve.