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Machinarium dev's beautiful bug game, Botanicula, on iPad May 1
Botanicula lands on iPad on May 1, after hitting PC and Mac in 2012. From Machinarium developer Amanita Design, Botanicula is a point-and-click puzzler and exploration game told from the perspective of five adorable bug friends. The tiny creatures must outrun and outsmart a barrage of parasites creeping around their treehouse – there's one seed left and the fearsome fivesome must save it from the evil invaders. Life on a small scale is just as dramatic as life on large land. [Image: Amanita Design]
Machinarium creator's Samorost 3 debuts in 2015
Amanita Design has been silent on Samorost 3 since revealing the game in March of 2011, but today brings two important bits of information: a release window and a new teaser trailer. As with prior entries in the series, Samorost 3 is a dream-like adventure game that mates an intriguingly quaint aesthetic with characters and locations that are simultaneously mundane and bizarrely alien. Specific dates are still up in the air, but Amanita plans to release Samorost 3 on PC, Mac, iOS and Android platforms at some point during 2015.
Machinarium free on Vita for PlayStation Plus subscribers
The PlayStation Vita version of Amanita Design's acclaimed point-and-click adventure game Machinarium is available as a free download this week for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Following up on Amanita's Samorost series, Machinarium chronicles a scrapped robot's quest to save his robotic girlfriend from the Black Cap Brotherhood. The PlayStation 3 port of Machinarium was featured in a previous PlayStation Plus giveaway. This week's PlayStation Plus update also hosts a members-only discount for the newly launched Vita version of Spelunky, along with steep price drops on select indie games. Many are half-off or more, including Retro City Rampage for $5, Limbo for $7.50, Tokyo Jungle for $7.50, Journey for $7.50 and Retro/Grade for $5. The deals will be available as soon as PSN updates later today, and you can look at the full list of discounted games over on the PlayStation Blog.
Machinarium finds the secret to a European Vita launch on May 1
It looks like that cute little robot dude in Machniarium has found the source of eternal life, the game first launching for PC in 2009 and still hitting other platforms in 2013, all to the wondrous fanfare. Machinarium is headed to European Vitas on May 1 for €5.99, following its North American launch on March 26.The Vita version of Machinarium includes touchscreen options, improved zoom and full-quality audio and graphics. That last one is a good thing, because even after four years, Machinarium is still gorgeous – and adorable.
Machinarium extends onto Vita March 26
Eccentric puzzle-adventure Machinarium comes to Vita in North America on March 26. The robo-stuffed point-and-clicker jumped from PC to PS3 back in October, when developer Amanita Design announced an upcoming Vita version, albeit with "no idea" when it would arrive. March 26 is a little more concrete, as is a price of $6.99 - cheaper than on PS3.Amanita previously described the PS3 port as the "ultimate" version of Machinarium, so we're not sure what that makes the further tweaked Vita version. In addition to the PS3 enhancements, Amanita says the Vita version employs both front and rear touch controls, and brings improvements to the zoom feature.
Machinarium hits North American PSN on October 9, Vita version TBA
Machinarium is finally clanking its away to North America's PlayStation Network, releasing on Tuesday October 9 for $9.99. Amanita Design also tells us a Vita version of the puzzler is currently in development, but the Czech studio has "no idea when it will be released."According to Amanita Design, the European version released last month was downloaded by over 100,000 players, which equates to a lot of people seeing a robot eat traffic cones.
ESRB: Machinarium also coming to Vita
Amanita Design's lovely robot-themed adventure game, Machinarium, will occupy another beautiful screen, that of the PlayStation Vita. Machinarium's ESRB rating has been updated recently to add Vita to the list of platforms. However, designer Jakub Dvorsky told Joystiq that though Amanita would "like to bring the game to Vita," it couldn't confirm that version.Also on the list is PS3, reminding us that the downloadable release for that platform is due sometime this summer as an "ultimate version" (following long delays). Dvorsky confirmed that summer release window to us as well. Perhaps one of the features of this version will be Vita crossplay.
Amanita plants a Botanicula demo on its website
You can try a browser-based demo of Amanita Design's beautiful environmental adventure game Botanicula now! Then you can feel bad that you missed out on the chance to get the game in a Humble Bundle. Then you can find out it only costs $10 from the website anyway.These are all new experiences you can have, just by clicking this link.
Botanicula puts down roots on Steam, 10% off
Botanicula, the latest from Machinarium developer Amanita Design, has finally planted itself on Steam for PC and Mac. In addition, those willing to snag the organic adventure before 10:00am Pacific on May 14 can do so for only $8.99, a buck off the usual $9.99 price tag. Seems only fitting that buying Botanicula should save you a little green, right?
GOG gifts bonuses to miffed Botanicula pre-orderers
GOG's pre-order deal for Botanicula, getting the game for a dollar less than the post-launch retail price, seemed like a pretty legit bargain for Amanita Design's floral adventure. That is, until The Humble Botanicula Debut Bundle showed up, offering Botanicula, Machinarium and Samorost 2 for any amount of money you wanted.Naturally, some folks that had pre-ordered Botanicula from GOG felt slighted, as they'd paid (nearly) full price for a game that almost immediately made available for close to zero dollars, in a bundle that also included two other games."This left an unsurprisingly sour taste in some gamers' mouths, and we were just as surprised by the launch of the Humble Botanicula Debut as anyone else was," reads GOG's olive branch. To make things right, anyone who purchased Botanicula from GOG prior to 12:00 GMT on April 20 will receive a free copy of Machinarium, as well as links to download "the full soundtrack and a special artbook of Botanicula designs and character sketches."Additionally, everyone entitled to the above rewards will also receive a free copy of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director's Cut. Goodies are expected to begin arriving sometime tomorrow.
Botanicula leads all-Amanita Humble Bundle
The latest Humble Bundle is your first opportunity to purchase Amanita Design's newest point-and-click game, Botanicula. The bundle, under the entirely appropriate name "Humble Botanicula Debut," allows you to pay whatever you want for the new game, and pick up Amanita's Machinarium and Samorost 2 while you're at it.As usual, bonuses abound for those willing to pay more than average. In this case, they include a movie! Kooky, a Czech film with art direction by Amanita founder Jakub Dvorsky, will be handed out to those who exceed the average, as will Windosill, an exploration game by Vectorpark that you'd probably enjoy if you like Amanita games.This bundle features an extra charity option, in honor of Botanicula's environmental theme. You can choose to funnel some of your Humble funds toward the World Land Trust, a group dedicated to saving threatened habitats.
Botanicula swarming PC and Mac on April 19
Botanicula, the adorable bug game (notice that's not "adorable-bug game," because no bug is adorable, and we don't care how much it looks like a tiny, hairless rabbit) from Machinarium developer Amanita Design is officially flying face-first onto PC and Mac on April 19.The above trailer shows off the lighter, brighter side of Amanita's resume, offering a glimpse into the evolution of Machinarium's detailed design style with five bugs that are maybe possibly kind of adorable. Fine, you got us, Amanita. Your bugs are adorable. We probably won't feel gross and itchy when Botanicula drops on the 19th after all.
Botanicula video teases Amanita Design's next adventure
You likely know Amanita Design for its work on semi-sweet, semi-sad robot adventure Machinarium. The Czech team's upcoming Botanicula, billed as a "point and click exploration game," has more ... organic roots.
Daily iPad App: Machinarium
Machinarium is a charming game with an arresting and engaging art style; it debuted on the Mac and PC platforms a couple years ago. It's very similar to the point-and-click adventure games that saw much popularity in the late 80s to early 90s. You must guide a robot character through a rusted, run-down cityscape populated entirely with robotic characters and cybernetic animal life, solving puzzles along the way in order to advance the story. The art style and music, both of which are among the best I've seen in any game from any genre, combine with an eccentric storytelling method (told entirely without words) to deliver a unique and unforgettable experience. Machinarium was incredibly fun (and challenging) when I played it on the Mac last year, and at the time I thought to myself that the game would be a perfect fit for the iPad. Fortunately, Amanita Design thought the same thing, and Machinarium is now available for the iPad 2. I specifically mention the iPad 2 for a reason; that's the only iOS device that has enough horsepower to run Machinarium. Playing through Machinarium on the iPad 2, you might wonder why a 2D adventure game like this will only run on Apple's most powerful iOS device while heavy-duty 3D games like Infinity Blade or Rage will run on the original iPad and iPhone 4 just fine. As it turns out, Machinarium was originally built entirely in Flash for desktop platforms, and it's been ported to the iPad 2 via Adobe AIR. This enabled the developers to deliver mostly the same experience as the desktop version, but it also meant that the iPad 2 was the only device able to run the game to their satisfaction. "The memory limitations of iPad 1 (which are somewhere around 115 MB RAM per app) are just quite challenging," the developers said in response to complaints about the app not being available for the original iPad. "You have to have it running around 80-90 to keep it stable and the app has tons of timeline animations, the sources are 1 GB, all compiled into one single SWF file + some assets. The app was originally made for PC and upgraded for tablet devices. When you start creating tablet apps from scratch it's a whole different story. The game is now made with 'no compromises' compared to the desktop version and that keeps it unique." Having played all the way through Machinarium on both the Mac and iPad 2, I'll say that the iPad version does come fairly close to the developer's "no compromises" claim. I compared screens from the iPad version and Mac version side by side. Apart from minor differences in some UI elements and a lack of multi-layer, faux-3D "foreground" elements on the iPad version (something I didn't even notice on the Mac version until comparing them), Machinarium on iPad 2 is in nearly every respect identical to the desktop version. The game's art style is a perfect fit for the iPad, and you'll almost certainly find yourself entirely absorbed into the game as you hold it in your hands. However, while Machinarium on the iPad 2 runs very well and delivers an experience that's definitely worth the price tag, the app does demonstrate a few of the perils associated with porting Flash-based games onto a touchscreen device. Machinarium's Flash-based desktop iteration consumes around 70 percent of CPU resources on my MacBook Pro, a device with approximately 4.5 times the overall computing power of my iPad 2, so it's no surprise that only Apple's most powerful mobile hardware can handle the game even after porting it. Porting the game into a more iOS-friendly format made it so Machinarium could run (and run well, without a hint of lag) on the iPad 2. However, the game is still very demanding on battery life; my iPad lost over a third of its charge after two hours of play, about the same amount of battery charge a turbo-3D game like Infinity Blade would consume. Perhaps more frustrating is some interface elements for Machinarium's desktop version have been lost in translation on the touchpad interface -- another common caveat about porting Flash games to iOS. Controls in the desktop version of Machinarium were largely context-based; hovering the mouse pointer over certain areas of the screen would give users clues about what elements they could interact with and how they could interact with them. That context-sensitive interface is almost entirely gone from the iPad version of Machinarium, meaning that at some points the only way to progress is by tapping blindly on the screen and hoping something happens. Additionally, the game can sometimes be confused about which action you're trying to take. One particularly frustrating example of this was on a screen where you have a choice between pushing a crate or climbing on top of it. Several times in a row the game thought I wanted to push the crate instead of climbing on it, and each time this resulted in a solid minute of animation from pushing the crate to the next screen over and back again. On the Mac version, with its context-sensitive and mouse-based controls, this was never an issue. As another example of how the desktop interface was somewhat lost in translation on the iPad, the game's built-in hint system relies on a minigame that was easy enough on a Mac with keyboard controls, but the same controls on a touchscreen made it frustratingly difficult. None of these issues are knocks against Machinarium itself or its developers, but rather something to keep in mind when playing (or developing) any game that wasn't initially designed with a touchscreen interface in mind. One more thing worth noting: while the art style may make it seem as though the game would be perfect for younger children, unless your kids are packing some serious brainpower it's likely they'll become frustrated by the game's challenging and sometimes elliptical puzzles. Heck, the same goes for adults; if you don't find yourself hurling four-letter words at the game during at least one of Machinarium's many puzzles, then submit your application to Mensa right now, brainiac. Those complaints aside, Machinarium on the iPad 2 is definitely worth your time and your five dollars, especially if you never played the Mac version. Though the interface isn't a perfect translation to the iPad, the game's art, music, and charming story are each worth the price of admission on their own. When they're put together, five bucks feels like a bargain. Don't just take my word for it; as of this writing, Machinarium is the top-selling iPad app.
Machinarium available on iPad 2 today
You know what, buster? It might be true that Amanita Design's wonderful little adventure game Machinarium is almost two years old. But you know what else? We don't care. As long as there are people walking this big blue globe who haven't helped little Josef on his journey to find the robot girl of his dreams, we're going to keep telling you when the game comes to new platforms. Today, we bring word that Machinarium has appeared on iPad 2 for $4.99. If you have not played it, then you should buy it, because it is great. We'll see you here again in this same space when Machinarium finally makes it to N-Gage.
Machinarium 'should' be coming to iPad 2 on Sept. 8
The platform specificity in the headline should already impart the bad news: Machinarium is not suited for the original iPad. According to a brief post on Amanita Design's blog, the melancholy 'bot adventure "needs quite a lot of memory and fast CPU so it works well only on iPad 2." Owners of Apple's latest tablet "should" be able to download Machinarium from the App Store on September 8th. Amanita offers an apology to iPad 1 owners, and we suggest you load up the Unreal-powered Infinity Blade to quell any creeping thoughts of technological inadequacy. Machinarium is available on PC and Mac, and is en route to PlayStation Network (this fall), Playbook and "capable" Android tablets. Should we start worrying about the WiiWare version?
Machinarium 'hopefully' coming to iPad next month
Amanita Design's lovely little automated adventure title Machinarium seems like a natural fit for the iPad, which is in many respects also a tiny, helpful robot. The game hasn't made its way to the tablet due to its Apple-unfriendly Flash programming; however, Amanita founder Jakub Dvorsky recently told Pocket Gamer that the title's iPad iteration "should be ready during the next month ... hopefully." We suppose we can excuse the ambiguity, considering how difficult it must be to rebuild a Flash-based game on a non-Flash-based platform. We only ask for one thing in return: Extra robots. We don't care who they are or what they do, we just need them to be adorable.
Amanita Design's 'Osada' music video out now, odd forever
Machinarium developer Amanita Design describes its latest creation, the first of three new projects, as an interactive music video with "Czech psychedelic country music." That's a good encapsulation of this diversion, dubbed Osada, but we would also accept: "A weird, Gilliam-esque mix of photography, animation and percussion." "An unsettling, askew view of a day in the life of an insane cowboy." "WHAT." "A bizarre, point-and-click music thingy that only the internet could provide." Head over to Amanita's website to try it out -- and don't rush through it! You can linger on the parts you like, and download an offline version for later. Didgeridoos and banjos aren't safe in every office, we understand.
Machinarium headed to PS3 and undecided tablets this year
Developer Amanita Design seems to have its hands full, with a sequel to its adventure game Samorost and two other projects in progress. According to statements from founder Jakub Dvorsky at GameCityNights, the developer is still making time to get Machinarium onto PSN and as-yet-undecided tablets this year. Amanita publicly turned its attention to PS3 last year after Microsoft passed on the point-and-click adventure. There was no word on the previously announced WiiWare version. Though the iPad seems like the obvious choice of tablet, CasualGaming.biz reports that Amanita is instead "exploring" the Blackberry Playbook, which will be released in North America next month. If only we were privy to an animated thought bubble explaining the process behind that decision.
Machinarium developer reveals three upcoming projects
We don't usually fall as hard or fast in love with games as we did with Amanita Design's robotic adventure title Machinarium. Ever since our infatuation developed in 2009, we've been starving for more projects from the studio to admire; luckily, in a recent interview with PC Gamer, founder Jakub Dvorsky revealed the team's three upcoming opuses: Osada, an interactive music video featuring "Czech psychedelic country music," due out on Amanita's website within the next few weeks. Botanicula, a "simple, but quite large" point-and-click adventure game starring five tiny, arboreal creatures who are attempting to save their treehouse from invading parasites. It's slated to be released sometime before the end of the year. Samorost 3, the next installment in Amanita's beautifully crafted adventure game series, the first part of which is available to play for free online. It's Amanita's biggest project at the moment, and though it doesn't have a release window, the team hopes to bring it to PC, consoles and various and sundry e-tablets.
