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Machinaria's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #4 | 3.970 | 3.970 |
| Graphics | #13 | 4.212 | 4.212 |
| Innovation | #19 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Overall | #24 | 3.545 | 3.545 |
| Gameplay | #88 | 2.848 | 2.848 |
| Theme interpretation | #118 | 2.848 | 2.848 |
Ranked from 33 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
GitHub repository
https://github.com/blackmambastudio/machinaria
Theme interpretation
You operate a physical machine in a digital game.
We also build a physical machine based on the digital representation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDhcMvdIoBc
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Comments
While this is an impressive submission the fact that the web version is a post-jam release and the advisory about this fact isn't visible above the game (and thus easy to miss until after playing) makes it difficult to know how to fairly rate the game.
I'd encourage you to consider making post-jam releases more obvious in future. (Ideally itch.io would make it easier to handle this kind of situation since I imagine it's quite common & knowing that the original is "locked in" would probably encourage people to update their games after jams more often.)
In terms of game play I think the game would definitely benefit from more guidance (one suggestion was to add one "module" to the machine at a time) at the beginning. From reading the comments/blog posts it seems there was a lot of additional machine "functionality" available than was obvious--and even when "successfully" completing a task (e.g. creating a word) it wasn't entirely clear if that was all that was required (or, more so, how all the individual elements of the game related to each other).
Definitely a very distinctive aesthetic and an entry which clearly has had a lot of effort put into it.
This game looks and sounds fantastic - it has a clear vision that was probably almost exactly realized. I love the world and story created here too, very evocative. I feel like the gameplay was a bit weaker than the rest (even though I did have fun) - but if there is the ability to physically control this game with actual moving parts (as hinted in the youtube video?) then this would be absolutely amazing. I'd love to see the physical machine in person!
Good luck at GDC Ctrl.Alt!
Thanks for your comment. We're glad that you liked it. A lot of changes are coming in terms of gameplay, stay in touch to know about them.
This is a pretty cool game. It took me a little bit to understand it but once I did I enjoyed it quite a bit!
I love the Orwell and Papers Please feeling! great visuals. The youtube video of the physical machine looks good :)
Thanks. We're glad you liked it. You're the first one who compares the game with Orwell, and that's pretty good.
Its a great game and quite interesting to play...reminded me of Papers Please. The music is great and the controls are smooth. It seems like a game made by professional developers. Also maybe you are sending this game to GDC 2019 so goodluck for that :)
"Made by professional developers"... thanks for that. We're glad you liked it. And regarding the GDC 2019 submission, we were accepted: https://gdconf.com/news/play-these-20-unique-games-gdc-2019s-altctrlgdc-showcase
Well congratulation then for being selected. And as I said the game indeed looks like a professional work or atleast by very experienced people.. very clean, subtle and appealing. I look forward to see more amazing games from you. Goodluck at the GDC :)
Visual and sounds are awesome
Well done guys, good luck :)
Thanks!
Very original idea! :-)
I likes the visual style and music.
Thanks. We're glad you think it is original and that liked the aesthetics.
Wow... VERY atmospheric!
Great Artstyle and totaly unique.
Love the 80s vibe.
Awesome Job! :O
Thanks for you comment. We're glad you liked it and what you think of the art style.
I can see a lot of improvement after the update. But even before the update it was great.
Thanks! feedback from other players was very useful to know what things had to be improved.
It took a while to figure out I was suppose to form words with tapes, silly me.
I quite like the whole mechanic and political setting. It's very polished and full-featured game, considering it was a jam entry.
Thanks. We're happy to know you liked the mechanics and the theme.
Great visuals and very original idea! You did a great job guys, with lots of details :)
Check our game if you have time! :)
Thanks for your comment, Jake the dog. We're glad you liked it.
Someone in the team (could be me, who knows) will play your game later, I promise.
Simply great, awesome visuals and audio work! Definitely one of the most original and polished ideas so far.
Check my game if you have time, I would love to know your opinion =)
I absolutely loved the subject of this game, It was so interesting! I really liked the music, the sounds were well implemented and really felt like a political-divertion machine. Although I didn't really understand what the interpretation of the main theme was, I think it's one of the best entries.
It would be great if you check out our game!
https://itch.io/jam/game-off-2018/rate/338156?fbclid=IwAR2q3vZk7Zid04A8sZdnkR_l0...
Amazing atmosphere and UI. I could go on but every comment on there pretty much nails it, so, definitely one of the best entries I've seen. Kudos!
Thanks. We're glad you liked it.
Wow! Incredible artwork and UI design. I am sincerely jealous of this games presentation. Easily the best I've seen in this jam so far. Congrats on that!
Someone already mentioned this below, so I won't belabor the point, but I do think the second level needs some work to make clear what we're supposed to do. It goes from being very simple and straightforward at the start to being a complete mystery the next day. I started randomly putting tapes into each slot just hoping something random might click. (It didn't.) I only say this because this is absolutely a game I would pay money for if it was polished a bit more on the puzzle end of things. I'll be looking forward to updates!
Thanks for your words. We're glad you liked the visuals.
We're working on improving the puzzle design, a lot of players complaint about it. It was hard to get to the current puzzle mechanic, and that explains why it has loose ends (we didn't have the time to test it before release).
Updates will keep coming until we're ready to launch on stores with much more content and gameplay mechanics.
Absolutely love the graphics, sound and setting. Definitely has a Papers Please vibe in the best possible way. The gameplay of having to make words from the tapes is quite clever, though the second level doesn't make it obvious enough (for me) what to do when you have two letters per tape. I had to look at the comment below for it to make sense. Sometimes it can be surprisingly hard to make a word. A subtle hint, such as wording in the text, could help with that.
There's a bug on I think the second puzzle on Nov 30 - It's possible to make the correct word with an alternate arrangement of tapes but it doesn't count. If this isn't a bug it's not clear to me why this is invalid. One other thing I'd suggest is that dragging a tape over another should swap their places. It would save a few wasted moves of dragging them around to swap them.
Finally, I absolutely love that you can choose positive or negative messages to influence the election. Even in the tutorial you can go against the words it tells you to use. Brilliant.
Overall I'm extremely impressed by this game. Certainly one of the best games of this jam. This could definitely go on to become the next Papers Please-esque hit
Thanks for the long comment. We're glad you liked both the aesthetics and mechanics of the game. We want to keep the game as mechanical as possible, and that's why we decided to leave the cartridge switching in that way.
Other players are commenting about the words, so we're are improving its design. It is good to know that the game has a Papers, Please atmosphere because that game inspired a couple of things while we were throwing ideas.
We wanted to give players freedom about which path to take, so it is good to know you think it was a brilliant decision.
I loved the art concept & music, well done!
Thanks. Our artists are jumping thanks to your comment. :D
The game immerses the player in a very special atmosphere. Good idea and I just love the color palette choice. Seriously good!
Thanks! You're game has an interesting concept.
Great game. Reminds me of the visual novel Va-11 Hall-A!
That's a great compliment! thank you!
It's just a cool weird concept, love it!
Thanks!!!
I played your entry also. I really like the puzzles in your game!