amanita-design posts

Machinarium became one of the most acclaimed indie games of all time but since the odd but cool adventure game was released in 2009 there hasn't been much news about what the development team at Amanita Design has been working on next. That changed today as PC Gamer revealed not one but three upcoming projects from the team.

The first, due out for free in just a couple of weeks, is called Osada and is described as less of a game and more of an interactive music video with "'Czech psychedelic country music". The second project, shown above, is a true adventure game called Botanicula, where five "critters" are out to save a seed from parasites. That game is due out by the end of 2011.

Finally there's an announcement that will make indie gamers swoon. It's the official reveal of Samorost 3, the third game in the odd series that started Amanita Design's rise in the indie game ranks. It's still early in development but the article states it will be "much longer, much more intricate, and much, much, much more polished than any of the already plenty-shiny Flash instalments we've seen so far."

Piracy is a major issue in selling PC games, even for indie developers who sell downloadable games at prices that are much smaller than AAA game titles. Developer Amanita Design has decided to give people who pirated their acclaimed indie game Machinarium a bit of a break this week.

According to the developer's blog site, " ... only 5-15% of Machinarium players actually paid for the game." Yep, that means that as many as 95 percent of the folks who played and most likely enjoyed the game did so for free (the game does not contain DRM set-ups). So from now until August 12, people who pirated Machinarium are invited to pay for the game for just $5. That's 75 percent off its already low price and also includes the game's soundtrack.

There are just a few more days left until the end of Direct2Drive's 24 Days of Christmas sales promotion. Today's latest one day sale takes the promotion into indie games territory with Machinarium. From now until 1 pm Eastern time on Tuesday you can purchase and download the acclaimed adventure game from developer Amanita Design for just $9.95.

Direct2Drive also has some tactical shooters on sale for one day today. Specifically they have SWAT 4, the 2005 released game from Irrational Games (now 2K Boston). You can get the original game for just $7.50, the expansion pack The Stetchkov Syndicate for $4.95 or SWAT 4 Gold with both the original game and the expansion for $9.95.

The playable demo for Machinarium is now available for Linux systems. A full version of this independently developed, award-winning, puzzle/platform game is expected to release later this fall and can be purchased through the official website or via digital download stores like Steam. The demo is also available for the PC and Mac. As an added bonus, the game's official soundtrack can be downloaded here.

"Machinarium is independent puzzle / adventure game developed by the makers of popular web-games Samorost and Samorost2. A little robot who's been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend."

Download Machinarium Soundtrack (31 MB)

Download Machinarium Linux Demo (33 MB)
Download Machinarium Mac Demo (36 MB)
Download Machinarium PC Demo (35 MB)

After a busy last few weeks, things on the new PC game release front slow down a tad for this week. In addition to the games listed below you can also get the Fallout 3: Game Of The Year edition this week which has the original game and all five previously released downloadable mini-expansions. Also this week comes another collection of previously released material, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Collection.

NBA 2K10: While EA has pretty much abandoned the PC market for its sports games, 2K Sports is releasing their latest pro basketball game for PC owners as well as their console audience. Sports game developers Visual Concepts are in charge of this title which has features like updates and news that will reflect the real NBA season.

This playable demo for Machinarium is now available for Mac systems. A full version of this independently developed, award-winning, puzzle/platform game is expected to release later this fall and can be pre-ordered through the official website. The PC demo can be downloaded here. System requirements are shown after the jump.

"Machinarium is independent puzzle / adventure game developed by the makers of popular web-games Samorost and Samorost2. A little robot who's been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend."

Download Machinarium Mac Demo (36 MB)
Download Machinarium PC Demo (35 MB)

This is the playable demo for Machinarium, an award-winning independently developed puzzle/adventure game. The full game is expected to release later this fall and can be pre-ordered through the official website. System requirements are shown after the jump.

"Machinarium is independent puzzle / adventure game developed by the makers of popular web-games Samorost and Samorost2. A little robot who's been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend."

Download Machinarium Demo (35 MB)
Download Machinarium Mac Demo (36 MB)

One of the more interesting Flash-based game developers is Czech-based Amanita Design. They are best known for the title Samorost which has a blend of sci-fi and fantasy inside a click-based adventure game. The full version won the 2009 Independent Games Festival award for Best Web Game.

Next month their latest game, Machinarium, is due for release and it's also the developer's first full-fledged move into commercial downloadable titles. The game, which has already won the studio another IGF award for Excellence in Visual Art is due out on October 16 for both PC and Mac but you can pre-order the game now for $17, which is $3 off it's regular price. Describing the game is a tad difficult so make sure you check out the video after the jump to get a glimpse of what Machinarium is about.