No one is likely to argue that games contain art, for games today are created by whole teams of artists as well as engineers. The works produced by these artisans often exceed our expectations and the standards set by previous works, and/or change our perception of what a game can ultimately be. And yet what artistic merit is afforded to games by the very society that consumes them? Certainly games are at the heart of popular culture today, and yet the notion of games as art is anything but widely accepted.
Enter The Machine. Created by Tilman for Kaliber 10000—also known as the Designer's Lunchbox—and featured in their online issue #0077, this game is indeed a work of art.
Without going into too much detail that might spoil the fun, The Machine is a Shockwave game about a normal computer interface gone awry. The object of the game is to correct the chaos, right the wrong, and make it through to the end. In other words, figure out what to do on your own because the journey is the reward. What I will say is that you will only need the mouse to point, click, and drag.
It's short, and oh, so beautifully done. Game. Art. Perfection.
Thanks Toby! =)
Walkthrough Guide
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That was fun, here's how to do it:
1.
All you have to do is connect the squares on the left with the ones on the right.
To do this, click on the squares, you'll hear a word. the words you'll hear from the squares on the left have a connection to the words on the right.
Click on the squares with the connected words after each other and you shoulld see a line appear that connects them.
2.
This one appears to be difficult but is quite simple. What you need to do is line up the dark arms with the word nothing on all 3 circles at the same time.
To do this, you have to move the 2 'word document' icons into the correct position. one of them should be put near the bottom right and the other near the top left.
3.
In the large window in the bottom left of the screen there are lights and squares, putting your cursor over 7 of these areas will sound seven words, you must cover these in the correct order to complete the level:
Working with windows makes your life happier.
4.
The keypad has the same layout as a telephone keypad (except without the numbers), 123 across the top then 456, 789 and finally 0 at the bottom centre.
You must type in the numbers seen just below it, these numbers are not shown for very long so you'll have to remember them, the sequence increases by 1 digit after each go. I think it goes up to 7 or 8.
5.
The final level. you have to move the circle so that it is on the same cross as the square.
You can only do this using the chess move of the knight (2 across, 1 up).
Posted by: Div_2005 | March 28, 2008 3:42 PM