Price:	US$25 – US$10 until xmas day
Developer:	Amanita Design

Coming from Amanita Design, the people that brought you Samorost 1 and 2 amongst others, Machinarium is a point-and-click adventure of extraordinary beauty. It was winner of the “Excellence in Visual Art” award at this year’s Independent Game Festival and it is easy to see why.

Playing a funny little robot who has been booted out of a mechanical city, the game sees you help him try to get back in. You will also need to save his girlfriend and stop a group of evil baddies from setting off a bomb along the way.

The actual game play is maddeningly frustrating, but highly compelling at the same time. The puzzles themselves are brilliantly conceived. There must have been a massive amount of thought put into each one. They generally involve switches, levers, buttons and many strange mechanical contraptions and you will find often yourself staring at the screen without a clue as to what to do next. Having said this, they are all totally logical and you will eventually work them out, usually just before your brain starts leaking from the ear hole.

The music throughout is a pleasant enough chilled out ambient track written by Tomas Dvorak. He has released 5 extra free tracks on the Amanita blog which are worth a listen.

7 Czech developers have spent some 3 years and a great deal of their savings to bring you this little gem. If you go to their site you can download the game as well as Samorost 2 for the measly price of 10 US dollars. Go and get it now!

Game play:	93%
Graphics:	95%
Sound and Music:	85%
Addictiveness:	89%
Overall:	92%