By John Walker on March 3rd, 2008 at 9:19 pm.
Two of my very favourite web games would be Samorost, and Samorost 2. Created by Amanita Design, which consists of founder Jakub Dvorsky with Vaclav Blin, both games are serene, beautiful experiences. Ostensibly point-and-click games, they are more about exploring the locations and experiencing the techno-natural environments. There are puzzles, but they are gentle, and usually are solved by experimentation rather than ingenuity. The news (it’s not news, but we’re writing about it today) that they are working on a full-scale adventure is met with a happy heart.
Machinarium is due in the second half of this year, and as yet very little is known so far. So check out the two screenshots available here (and they are screenshots, not concept art).
Here’s what we know: It’s going to feel similar to the Samorost games, using no speech, and 2D backgrounds and characters. It will be a fully hand-drawn world, where everyone, including you, is a robot, fighting against the Black Cap Brotherhood.
We also know that the soundtrack will once more be scored by Tomáš Dvorák, under his Floex guise. If this means nothing to you, play Samorost 2 with your ears open. And then buy the CD of the music (along with the full game) from here.
03/03/2008 at 21:30 Alex says:
I loved both Samorosts. You can also get the full Samorost 2 through Telltale Games (of Sam & Max Episodes fame), that’s where I bought it (after vaguely remembering playing the first Samorost a few years before).
And the soundtrack is indeed equally fantastic.
03/03/2008 at 22:06 Jim Rossignol says:
This looks so beautiful.
03/03/2008 at 22:08 Thiefsie says:
Loved the Samarosts so count me eager for the new one!
04/03/2008 at 00:47 Crispy says:
I only stumbled across Samorost after cleaning out my inbox and finding a link someone had sent me. I was very happily surprised. If you haven’t tried these, they are WELL worth playing.
04/03/2008 at 07:38 James T says:
Samorost was a gorgeous little ‘art game’ (I particularly loved the ‘song’ of the goat-creatures); this comes as awesome news to me.
04/03/2008 at 08:34 Theory says:
Samorost is fantastic in every sense, but Samorost 2 was less so and I only ever played the demo. Did it improve when you played the paid bit?
04/03/2008 at 10:39 Acosta says:
I have had Samorost in my backlog for too much time, need to play those games, the art is absolutely fascinating. You can count me up for Machinarium.
05/03/2008 at 21:27 fluffy bunny says:
There’s some info about the game in this interview:
http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2008/03/interview_samorost_developer_j_1.html#more