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.
Reviews
- The game features challenging puzzles that require logical thinking and programming skills, making it engaging for fans of the genre.
- The art style and presentation are praised for their beauty and attention to detail, enhancing the overall experience.
- The game offers a unique take on flowchart programming, providing a satisfying sense of accomplishment when solving complex problems.
- The user interface is cumbersome and cluttered, making it difficult to navigate and manage the flowchart elements effectively.
- The difficulty spikes significantly in later chapters, which may frustrate players who are not prepared for the steep learning curve.
- The game lacks sufficient tutorials and documentation, leaving players to figure out mechanics and concepts on their own, which can be overwhelming.
- gameplay18 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The gameplay is centered around designing finite state machines to control mechanical automata, requiring players to optimize their solutions for better scores. While the mechanics can be engaging and offer a meditative experience, many users find the gameplay tedious due to a flawed user interface and a lack of clarity in the puzzle-solving process. Overall, the game presents a mix of enjoyable mechanics and frustrating design choices that can detract from the overall experience.
“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, ...).”
“Chapters 1 and 2 feel sort of like... tutorials that give you freedom to just play around with the various mechanics that they've introduced.”
“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.”
“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.”
- story18 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The story in the game features a visual-novel style narrative interspersed between levels, drawing inspiration from real-life events and political themes within a colorful steampunk setting. While some players find the writing engaging and the character expressions effective, 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 depth and art, while others feel the narrative lacks coherence and compelling elements.
“There's a bit of a visual-novel-style story going on in between levels, and when I say 'between levels', I mean pretty much any level you finish is going to reward you with dialogue.”
“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.”
“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).”
“That said, 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 game has dialogue and story sequences because Zach-like games have those, but it doesn't know what to do with them, and technical details are either muddled or straight-up technobabble.”
- grinding9 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be overly tedious, with many noting that the complexity and effort required for puzzles and charting systems detract from the overall enjoyment. While some appreciate the intuitive graphical representation for newcomers, the repetitive and cumbersome nature of building logic and navigating the user interface leads to frustration, particularly in later chapters. Overall, the grinding feels excessive and detracts from the game's potential fun.
“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.”
“Manipulating edges, conditions, and actions starts to feel really tedious by chapter 3, even with keyboard shortcuts.”
- graphics7 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The graphics are praised for their beautiful and polished artwork, enhancing the overall aesthetic of the game. While the visuals are impressive, some users noted that the representation of states can be tedious, yet it remains intuitive for new players. Overall, the game's graphics contribute positively to the experience, making it appealing to its target demographic.
“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.”
“It's a good puzzle game with beautiful visuals.”
“Sloppy visuals, of course, are not a dealbreaker.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is hindered by its complexity and size, making micro-optimizations challenging and often impractical. Players have noted that attempts to enhance performance can lead to cumbersome adjustments across multiple components, suggesting that the optimization process is not user-friendly and may require significant manual effort.
“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.”
- music4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as fine but limited, with a few tracks that are not particularly memorable. While some reviewers appreciate the overall sound design, they note that the music does not stand out and is overshadowed by other elements of the game. Overall, it serves its purpose but lacks the extraordinary quality found in other titles.
“The artwork is incredible, and I'll definitely be listening to the OST for a while.”
“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.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by its witty dialogues and engaging art, which collectively contribute to a lighthearted experience that makes players feel more positive about their daily routines.
“Great art, funny dialogues; playing this makes my day job feel easier.”
“The humor in this game is top-notch, with clever writing that keeps me laughing.”
“I love how the characters have such witty banter; it adds so much to the overall experience.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Overall, users report that the game exhibits some minor bugs and rough edges, indicating that stability could be improved.
“The game is a bit buggy and feels rough around the edges.”
“I encountered several crashes that disrupted my gameplay experience.”
“There are frequent glitches that make it hard to enjoy the game.”
