Machinika: Atlas

About

Machinika: Atlas is a single player action game. It was developed by Littlefield Studio and was released on September 17, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

In Machinika: Atlas, find yourself stranded on Saturn's moon, Atlas, inside a crashed alien ship. As a museum researcher, solve cryptic puzzles to navigate the labyrinth of the mysterious vessel and uncover its secrets, even if you haven't played the preceding game, Machinika: Museum. Engage in a captivating sci-fi adventure that challenges your logic and observation skills.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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74%

Audience ScoreBased on 195 reviews

story24 positive mentions

stability22 negative mentions

The game features enjoyable puzzles that are mostly intuitive and do not require excessive guessing, making for a satisfying gameplay experience.
The graphics and atmosphere are beautiful, creating an engaging environment that enhances the overall experience.
The developers have addressed many of the initial bugs, resulting in a smoother gameplay experience compared to the first game.

The game suffers from several bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, including soft locks and issues with puzzle interactions.
Many puzzles feel overly simplistic or repetitive, lacking the depth and challenge that players might expect from a sequel.
The story and dialogue can feel disjointed and lack coherence, detracting from the immersive experience of the game.

story
70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
62%
4%
The story in this game continues from the first installment, "Machinika Museum," and while it offers a more engaging narrative with additional lore, many players find it awkwardly presented and at times confusing. The integration of puzzles with the story is inconsistent, leading to frustration when puzzles feel disconnected from the narrative. Overall, while the story has its merits and can be enjoyable, it may not satisfy those looking for a deeply cohesive plot, and players are advised to experience the first game for better context.
- “The storyline here builds upon the previous Machinika Museum, but this game is larger and more engaging than the first.”
- “I also like that there is much more of a story to this one, and it keeps you hooked until the end even when you want to take a break.”
- “The story, the atmosphere, and the puzzles were not too difficult.”
- “The game's story is a bit strange and awkwardly presented - it can feel unserious or forced at times, and at worst can potentially take you out of your appreciation of the rest of the game.”
- “The story is flimsy, and the graphics suffer from trying to deliver a bigger game.”
- “The plot picks up where the last story ends and is mostly followed via letters and the walkie-talkie, which is a new feature.”
graphics
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
43%
7%
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with many players praising the beautiful visuals, unique art style, and impressive animations. However, several users report bugs and glitches related to graphics that can detract from the overall experience, suggesting that while the visuals are appealing, they are not without issues. Overall, the graphics are considered a highlight, but they may not meet the expectations set by the game's predecessors.
- “A highlight of the game's puzzle design is its last two levels in particular, with excellent well thought-out puzzles and remarkable visuals to go with them.”
- “Visuals are gorgeous once again and all the transitions are done beautifully well.”
- “Love this game; it has awesome graphics and the puzzles are great. Would highly recommend.”
- “Visuals are fine, but might be the cause of a majority of the bugs as most bugs seem to be related to graphics/animations not loading correctly. I only had one bug and reloading the level fixed it, but still, a bug is a bug and should get fixed by the dev team.”
- “It's not graphically much better than the first game, still looking like it's either a mobile port or decades old, but you know that just from the store page, and that's not where the meat of the game is anyway.”
- “Despite what the trailers show, even on the highest settings, there are some key visuals that appear flat and even untextured. The tools at your disposal are different in lieu of not being in the same environment as before, but it feels like an afterthought in the face of the prior game.”
gameplay
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
48%
12%
The gameplay is generally well-received, offering around 4-5 hours of engaging, puzzle-focused content that is accessible without hints, though some players found the puzzles to be relatively easy and lacking in challenge. The game features a mix of point-and-click mechanics and a new walking feature, enhancing exploration but not significantly altering gameplay dynamics. While there are occasional bugs and clunky visuals, the overall experience is enjoyable, especially for fans of the puzzle genre, with a strong narrative and satisfying mechanical interactions.
- “Interesting story, bug-free gameplay, able to play it without hints, but the game doesn't hold your hand.”
- “A large part of what makes 'needlessly mechanical' games satisfying is the feedback from interacting with and completing puzzles, and this game fulfills that element well, with a number of sci-fi set pieces to feast your eyes on as you progress.”
- “The gameplay besides that is a solid 10/10, and I definitely enjoyed the experience after the original game.”
- “I liked it enough to play it through to the end, but I felt like it really cheaped out on the puzzles this time - nothing very challenging, only one or two satisfying 'a-ha' moments, and it overuses the little drone mechanic.”
- “Most of the puzzles are fairly easy when you know what you have to do, but one or two did stump me because I missed a control or a mechanic.”
- “But besides chapter 7, I do like this game a lot; it's almost like the Room series of games, but you can personally walk around in the area. Sadly, this doesn't affect the gameplay much, as you're still allowed the usual point-and-click style, which also means that there's nothing that inherently takes advantage of the ability to walk around.”
stability
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability has been a significant concern among users, with frequent reports of freezing during level transitions, softlocks, and various glitches affecting gameplay. While some players find the experience enjoyable despite these issues, many express frustration over the persistent bugs and technical problems, which detract from the overall enjoyment. Despite multiple patches, stability remains a major drawback, leading some to hesitate in recommending the game.
- “The one negative is that the game freezes for a long time when loading new levels, which could have been handled a bit better with a loading screen.”
- “Even today, after multiple patches, the game is still a pain to get through, softlocks, glitches, non-responsive UI, and so on.”
- “The game glitches out every chapter or so, mostly during chapter transitioning animations, softlocking your game.”
atmosphere
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
46%
23%
The atmosphere of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its immersive sound design and unique charm, while others feel that the introduction of dialogue and certain design choices detract from the overall experience. Many note a loss of the eerie, mysterious ambiance that characterized previous installments, leading to a less engaging environment. Overall, while there are moments of solid atmosphere, the game's tone and worldbuilding seem to have suffered compared to earlier entries.
- “Nice little puzzle game with a cool atmosphere.”
- “I found this game interesting and surprisingly deep in terms of its atmosphere, which is quite unique and a strength for this genre.”
- “The sound design is immersive without being overwhelming, which complements the atmosphere well.”
- “Almost joke-like, which doesn't fit the atmosphere well.”
- “While the letters and notes from the previous game provided a lot of the unique charm and mystery while contributing to the somewhat uneasy atmosphere, every time there was dialogue or notes in this game it took me out of the experience completely.”
- “The environment is severely lacking in atmosphere.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing performance issues and a lack of polish, particularly at higher settings. While it runs fast for some, others note that it doesn't match the optimization of its predecessor, leading to concerns about smoothness and overall performance. Despite these issues, some players find it still playable on various hardware configurations.
- “Performance is fast, though!”
- “A more optimized, polished game, which will run on almost any hardware in high quality (the first part itself ran at 30-50 fps due to the lack of a discrete video card), which can not help but please.”
- “In terms of optimization, the game seems to run shakily at the highest level, though my computer isn't the best and I didn't play around for long enough to experiment in depth, so my judgment may not be accurate.”
- “But even that wouldn't put the game in a non-recommended state; stretched textures across longer walls to avoid creating a second one, reused assets not only inside the game but from the first game too (shoutout to the anti-gravity machine XXL), lack of polish, bad performance, and most of all, a complete lack of logic in its world-building.”
- “It is not optimized like the first part 'Machinika Museum'; even with 144fps, it looks like there are some issues with smoothness.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The music in the game is highly praised for its sentimental and dreamy quality, effectively setting the tone and enhancing the overall experience. Reviewers appreciate the soundtrack's ability to complement the beautiful graphics and engaging gameplay, contributing to a captivating atmosphere.
- “It has a great storyline, sentimental ambient music, great graphics, and gameplay.”
- “I really enjoyed the soundtrack as well.”
- “The soundtrack set the tone nicely.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
67%
The game has been criticized for its lack of replayability, with players reporting only about four hours of gameplay and expressing disappointment in its short length and buggy puzzles. While the first game in the series offered enjoyable replay value, this installment does not meet those expectations, leading to recommendations against its current pricing.
- “I played the first game several times and enjoyed it for its replay value.”
- “The variety of choices and outcomes keeps me coming back for more.”
- “Each playthrough feels fresh, thanks to the different paths and strategies available.”
- “I got about 4 hours of play from this with no replay value.”
- “As of now, I can't recommend the game for its current pricing. It's short, has no replayability, and while the museum was fun, it seems clunky and poorly thought out. Some puzzles just don't work properly and are bugged, which led me to check an online walkthrough and see that I did exactly what was supposed to be done.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed bag, with some puzzles feeling tediously easy or frustratingly difficult, leading to a sense of boredom rather than a satisfying challenge. This inconsistency in puzzle design detracts from the overall experience.
- “Quite a few of the puzzles rely on you struggling to figure out how to interact, so they're tediously easy or unreasonably difficult with no relation to your intelligence either way.”
- “Some of the tasks were tedious and boring.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is highlighted in the ending script, which, despite feeling rushed, delivers comedic moments that enhance the experience without detracting from gameplay. Overall, players appreciate the humor, finding it amusing even in the game's abrupt conclusion.
- “The ending script of the game felt a bit rushed, but it was funny.”
- “It stops when the cutscene is supposed to stop, so it's not game-breaking, but I just found it funny.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized, with users noting that it suffers from a boring story and poor writing, which detracts from any potential emotional engagement. Additionally, frustrating gameplay elements like bugs, tedious animations, and simplistic puzzles further diminish the overall experience.
- “Very buggy, with baby puzzles, long and annoying animations, a boring story, and bad writing.”