THE ENIGMA MACHINE

About

THE ENIGMA MACHINE is a single player action adventure game with horror and science fiction themes. It was developed by ENIGMA STUDIO and was released on November 30, 2018. It received very positive reviews from players.

"The Enigma Machine" is a challenging puzzle game that takes players through a series of increasingly difficult ciphers and codes. Using historical encryption devices like the Enigma machine, players must decrypt messages and solve problems in order to progress. With a variety of cipher types and difficulty levels, this game offers a brain-teasing experience for both newcomers and experienced codebreakers.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

91%

Audience ScoreBased on 362 reviews

graphics30 positive mentions

stability14 negative mentions

The Enigma Machine offers a unique blend of puzzle-solving and narrative, creating an engaging and memorable experience.
The game's retro aesthetic and sound design effectively contribute to its eerie atmosphere, enhancing the overall horror experience.
Despite its short length, the game is well-crafted, with clever puzzles and a compelling story that leaves a lasting impression.

The game suffers from significant technical issues, including bugs that can prevent progression and require specific settings to function properly.
Many players found the visuals to be disorienting and difficult to navigate, particularly in darker environments.
The gameplay can feel clunky at times, with slow movement and unintuitive mechanics that detract from the overall experience.

graphics
96 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
66%
3%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players praising its nostalgic PS1 and VHS-inspired aesthetic that effectively enhances the atmosphere and storytelling. However, some users noted technical issues and graphical glitches that detracted from the experience, making navigation difficult at times. Overall, while the visuals resonate well with fans of retro gaming, they may not appeal to everyone due to their disorienting nature.
- “The aesthetic is absolutely rad.”
- “The visuals are beautiful (if you love ps1-inspired graphics), the puzzles are creative with how they encourage exploration, and its method of storytelling is suspenseful and ridiculously cool.”
- “Enigma smoothly adopts the VHS visual aesthetic and blends it with moody 80s synths to trigger that nostalgic sweet spot.”
- “I understand the will to remain within a certain style, but sometimes the visuals are goddamn nauseating and disorienting as hell.”
- “My only complaints are the graphical glitch effects used to portray system corruption became nearly impossible to navigate near the end alongside being forced to rely on the gun as a flashlight in pitch black environments.”
- “Extremely short, very stupid puzzles (could have beaten the game in 30 mins if it wasn't because of how ridiculous they were), ugly graphics, very predictable plot.”
story
88 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
52%
3%
The story of the game is widely praised for its engaging and immersive narrative, blending elements of psychological horror and science fiction within a retro aesthetic. While some found the plot twists predictable, the execution and atmosphere were compelling enough to leave a lasting impression. Overall, players appreciated the well-crafted storytelling and its ability to evoke strong emotions, making it a memorable experience despite its brevity.
- “The story is amazing and the concept is an interesting introspection of consciousness and what happens to it if placed into a cage driven mad by the repetition of its dead world.”
- “The story and gameplay just pull you in and keep you invested until it's over, even thinking about it after you've finished.”
- “With an incredible story, soundtrack, and final act that literally left me in pools of anxious and terrified stress, the Enigma Machine is one of the greatest indie games I have played in a very long time.”
- “When the whole story is uncovered, I found it pretty conventional for its genre, but the execution was enough to make up for it.”
- “Said story isn't groundbreaking, but the way it's told is great and put me on edge more than most horror games I've seen and/or played.”
- “Interesting and unique little puzzler with a very macabre story that goes full System Shock at the end for one of the most tense finales I've seen in a horror game in recent memory, complete with sinister-sounding techno music blaring and everything.”
gameplay
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
74%
5%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its slow movement, simple mechanics, and unintuitive puzzles that detract from the overall experience. Technical issues, such as frame rate dependencies and frequent crashes, further hinder enjoyment, while some players appreciate the unique interaction mechanics and nostalgic visuals. Overall, while the game offers an engaging story and some interesting elements, it struggles with execution and polish, leaving many feeling frustrated.
- “The story and gameplay just pulls you in and keeps you invested until it's over, even thinking about it after you've finished.”
- “Easily worth five dollars-- new and alluring mechanics, puzzles are not hair-ripping impossible but do require strong memorization or a notepad.”
- “I really enjoyed this experience; the gameplay is absolutely solid and the visuals will make you nostalgic about your old gaming days.”
- “The gameplay is not really interesting; movement speed is slow even with the sprint, the interaction mechanic is inconvenient, dialogues are unskippable, puzzles are easy, and the AI the player interacts with doesn't seem like an AI.”
- “However, as for the gameplay itself, which consists of rudimentary and surprisingly unintuitive puzzles (that is, unsatisfying to solve), slow movement, and terrible shooting segments, it made the overall experience more of an annoyance than anything else to me.”
- “Ok, another game where all the effort was spent on the audiovisual design and zero on actual gameplay quality.”
atmosphere
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
74%
18%
8%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its unsettling and immersive qualities, enhanced by retro aesthetics, excellent sound design, and a compelling narrative. Many players appreciate the eerie tone and the effective use of darkness to build tension, although some express frustration with technical issues that detract from the experience. Overall, the atmosphere is described as captivating and integral to the game's appeal, making it a notable aspect despite some criticisms.
- “A really nice hour or so of AI-themed existential horror, retro VHS aesthetics, and a compelling atmosphere.”
- “It's smart, dripping with atmosphere and style, and I'm more than eager for a potential sequel.”
- “I understand that darkness is needed for the atmosphere, but I think there's a fine line between atmospheric darkness for tension and darkness that irritates the player.”
- “Insane vibes, excellent sound design, and genuinely creepy atmosphere.”
- “The jumps from text-based interaction to world exploration make you appreciate your time in each all the more, and both just ooze atmosphere.”
music
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
57%
12%
The music in "The Enigma Machine" has been widely praised for its immersive and atmospheric qualities, effectively complementing the game's 90s-punk aesthetic and enhancing the tension throughout the experience. Reviewers highlighted the soundtrack as a standout feature, describing it as "fire," "amazing," and "sinister," particularly noting its impact during the game's climactic moments. Overall, the music contributes significantly to the game's nostalgic feel and emotional intensity, making it a memorable aspect of the gameplay.
- “The music is amazing; I like the vaporwave, dream-like dystopia it creates.”
- “The music and pseudo DOS screen nail the 80s aesthetics, and the graphics do a solid emulation of 90s computer games.”
- “The enigma machine is a blast from start to finish; the music slaps, and the graphics have a nostalgic feel for a time I never even lived through.”
- “Interesting and unique little puzzler with a very macabre story that goes full System Shock at the end for one of the most tense, anus-clenching finales I've seen in a horror game in recent memory, complete with sinister-sounding techno music blaring and everything.”
- “With an incredible story, soundtrack, and final act that literally left me in pools of anxious and terrified stress, the Enigma Machine is one of the greatest indie games I have played in a very long time.”
- “Topped with a '90's-punk' style that the interface, universe, and graphics go with, down to including the affine texture mapping, plus the growing tension and horror leaking through the story told throughout the game, not to mention the utter stress the soundtrack puts on you in the last level.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is reported to be significantly buggy, with numerous visual glitches, graphical bugs, and erratic flickering that detract from the overall experience. While some players appreciate the intentional use of these glitches to enhance the game's concept, others found the instability frustrating enough to seek refunds. Overall, the stability issues are a prominent concern among users, impacting their enjoyment and gameplay.
- “Unbelievably buggy.”
- “After reading the comments in the discussion area and seeing how buggy the game is, I decided to get a refund before I got too frustrated with it.”
- “Visually it’s full of glitches and graphical bugs, clearly representing a machine trying to reconcile the world as it has been programmed to understand it.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game emotionally compelling, describing it as heart-wrenching and visceral, despite its familiar narrative elements. The combination of horror, lore, and engaging gameplay creates a strong emotional impact, enhanced by the nostalgic PS1 graphics and immersive text-based mechanics.
- “Although in retrospect (once you've completed the game you'll know what I mean), on paper nothing here is necessarily groundbreaking in terms of narrative. I've played many games of this sort before which were both longer and much more complex, but the form these tried and true concepts and mechanics took here were emotionally compelling and visceral for me.”
- “It was a heart-wrenching experience, filled with horror and lore, and very fun. The PS1 graphics added a unique charm to it.”
- “The gameplay features unbelievably crisp text-based mechanics, which made me feel like a background hacker in the Matrix.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
Overall, the game is described as very exciting and highly replayable, with a short and unique experience that offers good value. However, some users note a lack of replay value, suggesting that the game's design may not prioritize repeated playthroughs.
- “Very exciting, totally replayable, short and sweet, and unique.”
- “Lack of replay value (but that isn't really the point here, and it isn't that sort of game.)”
- “Lack of replay value (but that isn't really the point here, and it isn't that sort of game.)”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game incorporates a degree of humor, adding a lighthearted touch to the overall experience. However, the reviews suggest that the humor may not be a standout feature.
- “The game has a delightful sense of humor that keeps you entertained.”
- “I love how the humor is woven into the gameplay, making every moment enjoyable.”
- “The witty dialogue and funny scenarios add a unique charm to the experience.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be somewhat tedious, particularly when it comes to completing the final code.
- “A little tedious for the last code though.”