Alan's Automaton Workshop
- January 20, 2022
- Laputa Labs
Get on Steam"Alan's Automaton Workshop" is a physics-based puzzle game where players construct and control intricate machines. As Alan, you'll invent unique automatons using a variety of parts and gadgets, and then bring them to life through animatronic mechanics. Solve increasingly complex challenges by programming your creations, and enjoy the charm of a whimsical steampunk universe.
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Reviews
- The game features challenging puzzles that require abstract thinking and a good grasp of algorithms, making it a rewarding experience for those who enjoy programming games.
- The artwork and presentation are highly praised, with beautiful steampunk visuals and engaging character designs that enhance the overall experience.
- The game offers a unique take on flowchart programming, providing a satisfying challenge for players familiar with logic puzzles and finite state machines.
- The user interface is cumbersome and cluttered, making it difficult to manage both the flowchart and the devices simultaneously, which detracts from the gameplay experience.
- The difficulty spikes significantly in later chapters, with some puzzles requiring advanced knowledge of programming concepts that may not be accessible to all players.
- Many players find the game tedious, as the process of building logic and flowcharts can feel more like busywork than an engaging puzzle-solving experience.
- gameplay36 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
Gameplay in this title is centered around designing finite state machines to control mechanical automata, which can be engaging and rewarding for players who enjoy optimization and problem-solving. However, many users criticize the user interface as cumbersome and flawed, making it difficult to manage the mechanics effectively, leading to a tedious experience. While some appreciate the core mechanics and the trial-and-error learning process, others find the puzzles lack tension and excitement, detracting from the overall enjoyment.
“The player must design finite state machines to drive mechanical automata, with a range of devices that each provides specific inputs/outputs and functionalities (counters, switches, the famous infinite tape, ...).”
“At the same time, though, I feel like it plays into the overarching gameplay philosophy of this game, which is knowledge and success through trial and error.”
“Chapters 1 and 2 feel sort of like tutorials that give you the freedom to just play around with the various mechanics that they've introduced.”
“Regrettably, AAW also falls short in the gameplay department.”
“The gameplay is tedious, the UI is deeply flawed, and the writing is nonsensical.”
“The problem is that the core puzzle mechanic of the game is boring as hell.”
- story36 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The story features a visual-novel style narrative interspersed between levels, set in a colorful steampunk world that draws inspiration from real-life events and political themes. While some players find the writing engaging and the character expressions well-matched to their emotions, others criticize the storyline for being convoluted and filled with technical jargon that detracts from the overall experience. Overall, opinions are mixed, with some appreciating the deeper meanings and connections to contemporary issues, while others deem the story unremarkable or poorly executed.
“It's a good looking game with bright and colorful steampunk art that helps tell the story of a man in the mid 20th century who meets up with Alan Turing in his automation shop for a job and ends up being his business partner.”
“The writing of the story is engaging enough to want you to complete the puzzles so the tale continues, much like other games in the genre.”
“The story, in fact, is surprisingly engaging - a steampunk world dealing with 'fake news' and similar blights visited upon us by the age of social networks.”
“The storyline and mechanobabble (it's steampunk, so I don't think technobabble applies) is beyond cringey and goes into the territory of downright painful.”
“The story is also really trash.”
“As for the actual campaign story, that requires an advanced understanding of machine language programming and basic circuit design knowledge most individuals will not have, yet will need by the time you reach chapter III, task 4 (multiplier).”
- grinding18 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be overly tedious, with many levels requiring excessive effort and complexity that detracts from enjoyment. The charting system is particularly criticized for its cumbersome interface and lengthy processes, making problem-solving feel laborious. While some appreciate the intuitive graphical representation for newcomers, the overall sentiment leans towards frustration with the repetitive and tedious nature of gameplay.
“The game would be fun if it weren't so tedious to build logic in it.”
“I have better things to do with my time than to tediously slog through endless flowcharts.”
“The gameplay is tedious, the UI is deeply flawed, and the writing is nonsensical.”
- graphics14 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are praised for their beautiful and polished artwork, enhancing the overall aesthetic experience. While the music is noted as limited and not particularly remarkable, the realistic sound design complements the visuals well. The graphical representation of game states is seen as intuitive, making it accessible for players unfamiliar with the concept, contributing to the game's appeal.
“The aesthetics of the artwork are beautifully done, but you can see that from the screenshots.”
“The artwork is incredible, and I'll definitely be listening to the OST for a while.”
“Its a good puzzle game with beautiful visuals.”
“Sloppy visuals, of course, are not a dealbreaker.”
- optimization8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is hindered by its complexity and size, making micro-optimizations challenging and often impractical. Players report that attempts to streamline performance can lead to cumbersome adjustments, as changes require extensive edits across multiple transition rules. Overall, the game's design does not support efficient optimization practices typically found in other contexts.
“Edit: just finished the game with all levels optimized.”
“While there are targets for runtime and component usage, the game's sheer weight and inherent complexity do not lend itself well to micro-optimization, and I can very much see why they skipped building this part.”
“Forget about your smart designs that would increase performance and decrease complexity in real life; it's quite the opposite here.”
“If I forgot to add some condition to the next transition branch or I add a new component to try out some new optimization technique, I had to edit all transition rules one by one.”
- music8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as fine but limited, with a few tracks that are not particularly memorable. While the overall sound design is realistic, the music is considered supplementary to the core gameplay, which some players find acceptable given the game's focus on puzzles and resource allocation. Overall, the soundtrack may not stand out, but it complements the game's artistic elements.
“The artwork is incredible, and I'll definitely be listening to the OST for a while.”
“The music is fine but limited to a few tracks and is nothing extraordinary, and the sounds are realistic.”
“All of their games have a very strong puzzle foundation, while art, music, obligatory mini-game, story, and general presentation are amazing.”
“Slightly fudged character portraits, backgrounds are just stock photos with Photoshop filters, music that's not that memorable. Shortcomings like that I can deal with, because it's called 'allocating resources to things that matter.'”
“I don't want to just bluntly call this game a Zachtronics rip-off (well it is, but that in itself is fine by me and not a problem), but all of their games have a very strong puzzle foundation, while art, music, obligatory mini-game, story, and general presentation are amazing, but still supplementary to the core puzzling, which gets much harder and much more interesting by this point compared to Alan's Workshop.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the humor in the game, highlighting its witty dialogues and engaging art, which contribute to a lighthearted experience that makes daily challenges feel more manageable.
“Great art, funny dialogues, playing this makes my day job feel easier.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, users report that the game exhibits some bugs and rough edges, indicating that stability is a minor concern.
“The game is a little buggy and rough around the edges.”
“The game is a little buggy and rough around the edges.”
