Machinika Museum Reviews

I bought this game to play on a long flight. I absolutely love puzzle box / escape room type experiences.

After playing the tiny “demo” that is free, I went ahead and purchased the full game and started playing in the terminal. I got three chapters in (which isn’t far at all) with no problems.

After getting on the plane and getting into the air, I turned the game back on and I was greeted with a “purchase the full game” message when I clicked continue.

This game, after buying it, requires you to be online or will deny you access to the offline game you paid for.

This is a terrible way to treat paying customers for game that has no online elements to the game play.

I’m currently requesting a refund through apple as the game was unplayable when I needed it.

That aside, the gameplay is fun though I’d suggest less messages to the player that are more helpful than they should be.

Id recommend the game but I can’t recommend anyone support this anti-consumer behavior.

The game was a lot of fun, but too short. For $3.99, I was expecting a longer game, I beat it a couple hours after I downloaded it. It end on a “to be continued” and I’m hoping I won’t have to pay another $3.99 for that one. The controls themselves were also slightly wonky, zooming in and out wasn’t very smooth and control over movement around the puzzles was slightly hindered. These were the reasons for the 2 star deduction. ***The game itself is very fun, intriguing story, cool graphics with moderately difficult puzzles that I had fun solving.*** I feel like I’d pay $.99 a chapter if there are indeed going to be 7 chapters as the game hints at, but $3.99 per chapter is too much for a mobile game that takes 2 hours to beat.

This looks promising. The imagery and lighting/mood are great looking. The trouble is that it is unplayable on iPad Pro when using a controller or mouse.
I have a iPad Pro 12.9”. With the large screen it is much like a monitor and I like to use a contoller rather than touchscreen when gaming. For most games this works well.
I tried using my MFI Bluetooth controller (SteelSeries Nimbus) but the controls are backwards, or mapped to the wrong buttons, and don’t allow use of the game interface. I tried it with a standard USB mouse, but I ran into similar issues. I kept getting an error message “Controller unplugged - Plug the controller back in or click to play with mouse.” I tried multiple combinations, but nothing worked. I ended up turning off the controller and unplugging the mouse.
The game itself is interesting. I did have to drop the scissors on the cardboard box many time before it triggered the opening process.
Please update for proper controller/mouse usage on iPads.

This wording is probably a bit harsh, but it's the only way I can think of to describe the game.

Pros:
Great visuals
Smooth control scheme
A couple of interesting game mechanic ideas
Noticeably awesome sound design
Pretty simple and mostly linear puzzler if that's what you're looking for
Lets you try the game first before purchasing, even if the price is slightly high for the relatively small amount of content

Cons:
Pretty simple and linear if you're looking for more of a challenge; took only about an hour or so to finish.
Surprisingly buggy, most of which caused softlocks (would lock you in place and not allow you to alter your view or interact with anything, were fixed by returning to menu. Occurred a handful of times across multiple chapters). Others were usually visual bugs, such as a clue being obscured by your inability to view it due to the object intentionally altering in size and shape as you progressed.
Not a whole lot of content, plenty of other games offer far, far more for the same price.

With some more fleshed out puzzles and far less linearity (and cleaning up some of the bugs), I'd be very interested to see a potential follow-up or something. But if you're looking to buy one of these types of games, this is an average option, not at all bad but there are better options in my opinion.

This one is promising but needs to be longer. In addition, a couple of the puzzles were solved unintentionally as I was shifting between combinations of moves. Then the scene moved on before I could even see what I had done! Solving a puzzle by random chance is not at all satisfying. The graphics and sound are good; up to the standards of “The Room”, but the scenarios and actual game play are a bit “weak” and just not there yet. I would prefer more depth, and seven brief chapters are really too short for the money paid. I am not sure I would buy in to the sequel (whenever it shows up).

I love these types of puzzles! I had so much fun playing it I never even hesitated to buy the game. I recommend that you do though. Four dollars for a game that takes a couple hours to beat it just seems a bit ridiculous. Know if there is more coming soon and I just have to wait and I don’t have to pay more money than that’s great but if I have to pay to play the next parts it’s totally not worth it. It deserves five stars for the quality and integrity of the game itself I would give those two stars back if there was more to the game that I don’t have to pay anything additional for.

And I do mean “little”. It’s very short, and I finished it in about 3 hours. Machinika Museum is a good example of that very particular “The Room” style item puzzle games. But there are some issues.
Most pressingly, it’s very easy to soft-lock oneself, necessitating quitting to the menu and restarting in order to reset a puzzle.
And speaking of puzzles, a lot of them are based on...Nothing. No clues, no hints, nothing to uncover or think through. Your only bet is brute force trial-and-error, which sort of makes sense within the game’s context, but is still frustrating and not at all fun.
Given the ending, I expect we’ll see a sequel in the future, and I look forward to it. As long as the devs listen to the community.

Like its competitors The Room, House of DaVinci and even The Chinese Room, this game has beautiful visuals, moderately complex puzzles and a decent, if not compelling, story line. Had to drop a star because the game had some issues, which were able to be worked around. Occasionally I would see the phrase “Insert English phrase here.” Also, had to replay one section that wouldn’t allow me to use the scope where it had to be used to complete the puzzle. Lastly, rotating objects to look around or to move a piece was unnecessarily difficult. Definitely worth trying the sample chapter. You’ll end up making the full purchase. Looking forward to part two.

I must say, I really did enjoy the puzzles. Usually confused at first, I’d find my way through them with a bit of thinking. One issue I did find was in the chapter with the anti gravity device. At one point you had to slide two pieces in opposite directions to proceed. I accidentally slid it too far and the pieces wound up below the the inventory and tools slots. I could zoom out further without leaving the device entirely. I’m on an IPad Air. A quick fix was to hard quit the game and then go back in. Other than that, it was a great game and I can’t wait to play the next one.

The graphics, sounds, music and puzzles were all great! This games combines all of the above to create a great gaming experience. I did run into a couple of places where I had to go out of the game and come back in to see the revealed puzzle piece. It was a little frustrating at first but def not a problem after I figured it out. I just wish the game was longer. Looking forward to the continuation, I will def be playing that one.

It’s seven chapters, each taking ten to fifteen minutes and it’s in the style of The Room but not as challenging. That said, I found the story easier to digest and this is more casual which is just what I wanted. I liked the use of the scope thing, and screwdriver. The printer was pretty neat at first but it was always pretty obvious what to do with it. Still it adds to the aesthetic so I hope it stays in the sequel. I had a bit of trouble zooming out of the crates the devices came in. All in all, very enjoyable and IMO, reasonably priced for the amount of entertainment I got.

This absolutely incredible puzzle game is a work of art, as you become an investigator- first unpackaging , and then analyzing mysterious alien artifacts. But it’s not so easy! Getting into each crate or tube is just the first step- next you have to figure out how to access the item, then explore its functions to deduce what it is! And you must use deductive reasoning, observation and trying things, and use clues and discovered tools in order to make the artifacts operate and finish the analysis! The only drawback to this game is that you must buy it after only one simple chapter in order to explore its richness (well worth it!), and if you have no patience or logical thinking you may not enjoy it. For me, it’s hard to put down, and it’s not so difficult that you can’t solve each puzzle. Each chapter just gets better and better! Highly recommended!

This was a great game—I had a hard time putting it down. It was just the right balance of challenging and solvable, plus easy to use game mechanics. I’m really looking forward to the next game—I hope it’s available soon! There is a tiny hole in the story line. I hope it’s not a spoiler since I’m not giving any hints about the actual puzzules, but if the ship has a visible hole, how could it support life during extraterrestrial flight? Also, does it make sense to assume that the atmosphere used by the alien pilot would support human life? Other than these two things, the story hangs together well, the game was super engaging, and it left me wanting more. The price point was also perfect for the length and quality of the game. I really prefer paying for a good game over watching endless ads.

I own the game and have played it for many years. I love it as it is a lot of fun and it challenges you to think. I upgraded to the two new levels and beat the level seven and was 90% through level eight and I wanted to stop and take a break. I went to the settings and told it to pause the game and save my game standing and when I did it deleted my game and restarted me at the very beginning. Please fix this.

They did fix it for me. This is a great game puzzle. I can’t wait for the next release.

This was fun. Good atmosphere, good controls, and some cool puzzles. Not nearly as challenging as the room series, but some of the puzzles were challenging to figure out. You get so focused on finding a key to the puzzle sometimes that simpler solutions are not apparent though right in front of your nose.

There were a couple places where the controls seemed to be a little specific on where your fingers needed to be to slide the thing open, but that’s a minor nitpick.

There was a glitch at first where the game wouldn’t run but they patched it in about a day. The credits were also kinda messed up too (didn’t scroll but static over the final cut scene then the screen went blank and played music for a while) but they weren’t able to duplicate the issue, and its just the credits and end cut scene effected so no worries there. I’m sure it will get fixed eventually.

Overall I really enjoyed it! Just wish it was longer! I finished it in one night when I was up with insomnia. Still I felt it was worth the price paid.

This game would appeal to anyone who enjoys The Room series, House of DaVinci, and similar types of games. The graphics are simply gorgeous, the controls are flawless, design of the machines are absolutely fantastic, and you get hours of gameplay. There are no hints, which I appreciate. (If you get stuck, you’ll have to search the web, but don’t ruin it for yourself and seek out help too hastily. The solutions are usually quite simple if you just take the time.)

To the developer: When is Part 2 coming out? I’ve been waiting for yearrrrs! I just played this a 2nd time and I’m dying for more. Please hurry! (And THANK YOU for this good quality game!)

I truly enjoyed this game. I’m looking forward to the continuation. I am playing on an iPad, and I had a little trouble with controlling two of the puzzles. One of them was a slider. I slid too far to the right, and my button ended up under an inventory item. I could not maneuver it without accidentally choosing the item from the inventory. I had to restart the chapter and slowly slide the button. It worked fine after that. There was a second puzzle that I had to work very carefully also. I had to restart that chapter too. A little frustrating, but the game was so much fun that I really didn’t mind. Please hurry with the next game...can’t wait to continue the journey!

I’m just beginning chapter 4. So far, I’ve really enjoyed the game. If you’re someone who likes games such as “The Room, House of Da Vinci,” etc. you might like this one. I’ve been waiting for a game similar to the two I named above and so far this is the closest I’ve found to them on iOS. I like it because you have to use your brain but it’s not so difficult to where it’s frustrating and you have to use a walkthrough for half of the game. Not at all. I’ve had to use a walkthrough for one thing in chapter 3 but that’s been it. Anyhow, to the developers- I think you did great creating this game. I haven’t lost interest and I don’t think I will. It’s been interesting. Thanks! 😁🖤🖤

Very cool game. Has similarities to “The Room” and “Da Vinci” games...with lots of details to explore and mini-puzzles. Not as long as those games, but it was all very logical and clever. Devs did an amazing job with attention to detail and artistry. Thank you!

Side note... we had no problems playing this game on an IPad Pro. There were a couple times where things didn’t operate properly...ch 6, mask door shut and couldn’t proceed, and the slide pots on other side went the wrong direction....but exiting and continuing the chapter solved the issues with no problems.

Wish people would be more patient. It is quite difficult to make games like this and certain glitches will happen. It appears the devs have been responsive and quick to repair those things.

This was a totally unique, beautiful, mysterious puzzle game with a responsive interface. There was only a few times I got stuck and had to go online to find walkthroughs but otherwise pretty great. I had to restart a chapter once because I went out of sequence.
Overall though I give it five stars despite the few things here and there because I haven’t played such an enjoyable puzzle game in a long time.