Machinarium 

Beautiful to look at, but hard to play

It's great when you find a game that is just so cool it's really hard to stop playing, but unfortunately that's not always the case. Luckily for us, Machinarium is one of these games, a program so fun that I had a really difficult time convincing myself to stop playing it and actually start writing the review.

The premise of Machinarium is simple - you're a robot who has accidentally been thrown out onto the scrap heap beyond the city. You must get back inside to save the town from the Black Cap Brotherhood, rescuing your girlfriend in the process. Machinarium is a beautifully crafted game with graphics that manage to be disarmingly cute and haunting at the same time and music that is at once mysterious and soothing.

This complexity is all very fitting, because Machinarium is actually a quite difficult. Mainly based on the point and click method, you are shown your goal and then required to use the objects around you to achieve it. This could range from fooling a security guard into thinking you're one of the brotherhood to solving intricate puzzles, all with the aim of foiling the baddies and getting the girl. Machinarium allows you to pick up and store items in your inventory, and there is a hint option in case you get stuck, which is just as well, because I did - and more than once!

Machinarium is such a cool game that you're going to have a hard time pulling yourself away from it!