// PC GAMER — GAMING
A great indie studio is making a sequel to one of my favorite adventures 17 years later, for one simple reason: 'We're not getting any younger, and the world seems to be ending'
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I just made a noise like air being slowly released from a balloon.
It's been 17 years since the original Machinarium, a wordless tale of love in a crumbling city of robots. Amanita Design has put out some great games over that span—Botanicula, Chuchel, Creaks, Phonopolis—but hasn't breathed even a hint that more Machinarium might be on the way. So why now?
"We're not getting any younger, and the world seems to be ending, so if we were ever going to make Machinarium 2, now is the right time," Amanita CEO and designer Jakub Dvorský said—a bit dark, sure, but I can't find any factual fault in his reasoning. "We're also grateful to every player who waited patiently all these years. We couldn't have done it without them."
The new game picks up where Machinarium left off: Having escaped the city, Josef and Berta crash-land in a hidden valley populated by two robot tribes, one in the Elektrona monastery and the other in the city of Oilton—both of them facing a grim future as their power is slowly running out. While Machinarium 2 promises the same style of point-and-click puzzling as the original, Josef and Berta are both playable this time around, swappable at will, and will have to work together to solve the game's puzzles.
The distinctive visual style of Machinarium is back—perhaps a little sharper than the first game, although I think it still looks great—and importantly, so is Tomáš Dvořák, aka Floex, the composer whose soundtrack helped make Machinarium so distinctive and memorable.
As PC Gamer's Evan Lahti explained some years ago, music is one of the best parts of Amanita games, and Dvořák is responsible for much of it. Given his many years of collaborating with the studio on most of its games, it's not really surprising that he's back for Machinarium 2, but it is reassuring to have it confirmed.
"When I composed the first Machinarium soundtrack years ago, I never anticipated such a huge response," Dvořák told me. "I was simply trying to have fun and enjoy the creative process—and I believe that is the exact same approach I need for the sequel.
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"Naturally, it’s a challenging task. It is easy to fall into the trap of comparing my new work to the original, and doubts occasionally creep in about whether it will be as engaging. However, I try to minimize those thoughts. Experience has taught me that the best way to create is to simply 'have fun'."