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Machinarium Dreams

I am not one to be drawn into computer games. Admittedly, I was (and will always be) a Tetris addict, but that game was only a salve to my anxious tendencies. Playing it, I always felt the same tension in my stomach that I feel when I bite my nails. Not a healthy past-time, really.

I remember decades ago when Super Mario Brothers came out. That's when I knew I wasn't a game-gal. I couldn't manage to keep the little guy alive. Later, Spider Man took over the free time and attention of several of my friends to the point that I began to follow a self-imposed rule: don't date a guy who plays video games.

And so, it came as a huge surprise when I read a review about a video game in the Toronto Star newspaper last month and promptly went online to try out the demo.

I was smitten.

Machinarium, from Amanita Designs, is the story of a little robot that you control as he wanders through an adventure in a mythical dystopian, yet poetic landscape. Only Czech developers could come up with such a romantic vaguely medieval yet seemingly futuristic world. Actually, now that I think about it, it has the flavour of the run-down, post-Communist Europe of a few decades ago.

Neither the little robot or any of the other characters that he encounters speaks - they communicate through grunts and thought-bubbles. Actions are classic point-and-click, and without any written instructions players are meant to learn where the little robot is meant to go and what he is meant to accomplish. In this sense, when you play the game, you may as well be traveling in a foreign country where you don't know the language. And that is certainly part of the fun.

My partner and I play the game together on the couch on our laptop. We take turns at the control and are constantly suggesting to one another possible moves. It is, I think, a joy to discover that we do not bicker with each other when we disagree with the little robot's intentions and actions.

My father has been playing the game for about a week longer than us and my mother says it became the main activity in his life for a week after I bought the game for him as a gift. I wonder which room he is in now...

A couple of nights I have dreamt that I lived in the world of Machinarium. The music and sounds rounding out the experience. I have no idea where the little robot is going - and my dreams gave me no clues - but I look forward to learning more when my partner and I pick it up next.