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The Machine


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Rating: 4.6/5 (49 votes)
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The Machine

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.

Play The Machine

Thanks Toby! =)

Walkthrough Guide


(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)

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).

83 Comments

Short and sweet. It's pretty and original, but the puzzles are a little too easy for my taste.

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GG Allin April 20, 2005 7:36 AM

Pretty cool! Easy to get frustrated at puzzle 1, but once you solved that, you race right through the rest of the puzzles. Not difficult at all.

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Stuck on the one with the grey buttons. I have no idea what I'm to do, But I do know everytime I get a double digit number, it makes a wierd noise like, it accepted the number

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But working with life makes my windows happier as well.

Oh dear.

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Jonathan - =)

the irony of a user interface gone crazy and the message it would have you believe.

By the way, working on a new game? =)

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That was a very cool (and easy) game. I really liked puzzle with the two glowing files, that was unique.

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Very cool and stylish. Enjoyed it. The last one was cool. It's interesting how you get hints after a little while.

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Very nice game. I had never played the "puzzle" flash games before, but this one was a fun (and sometimes frustrating) experience.

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You're welcome! :D

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Baaa! The Phone thing is making me snap :| Please Help!

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NM, I get it now! persistance is the key to success. A hint is to have a good memory ;)

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persistance as in pushing buttons repeatedly? i'm way stuck and braindead on the grey buttons.

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How do you do the puzzle with the two glowing files and the triangle? I can't fathom it.

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Daniel - drag the files around and absorb the hints the game gives you. It's really brilliant the way it shows you what to do if you let it. =)

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The files and the little moving nubs glow sometimes, but I'm not sure why. I can't figure out the mechanics.

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okay. persistance and a good memory it indeed was :D;; grazie, joel.

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Short, but enjoyable -- reminds me of the Donnie Darko flash site (warning: spoilers towards the end, if you haven't seen the rather odd Donnie Darko film) http://donniedarko.com/

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in the upper right corner there is a button if your stuck ^_^

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Tom - it's actually in the upper left corner, but you shouldn't need it with this game!

Aaron - I just watched Donnie Darko a couple of weeks ago. Great movie! I will have to check out the website. thanks.

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This is nice. Short but packed with an intense amount of fun and great attention to detail. Props!

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really, really need some help on level two...tried to follow 'hints'...no clue....stuck.....help?

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Anna - it's really not that bad. You can figure it out for yourself. Just don't try so hard. Start by dragging the two documents around and let the Machine tell you what to do. =)

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Still stuck...so easy that I can't get it, I guess.
The machine 'told' me nothing that I can understand...yet still more proof that it's simple and I'm making it hard! Maybe a tiny hint for my tiny brain?

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Ok, Ok, duh...finally figured it all out!! Definitely right about persistence. Thanks Jay, I have lots of fun with your site.

P.S....please ignore the most recent whining/pleading post from me!! (:

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now im stuck with the one with the phone..help?

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Brandon May 1, 2005 11:17 AM

That was absolutely brilliant. Working with the glowing files takes a long time, but that's apparently because it took me a long time to accomplish the first solution I thought of.

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Stuck on the phone. What do I do lol? Great game tho :D

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i am stuck on the one with the grey buttons and the phone the machine doesnt give me any clues i understand. please help

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I'm stuck in the Donnie Darko site =S, in the level three with the phone, I would appreciate some help with this

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Genius! Pure Genius! Finally got part four done (it's so ridiculously easy that it's the last thing you try!) Last part was easy, took me a few seconds to work it out but they've got basically the same puzzle on MOTAS.

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im on the begining and its too small to read wats happening to the wires i mean there is a square yellow box aroud it when i click on to it help please some one wat do i need to do?????????????????????????????????????????

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Kamehameha_cuty May 27, 2005 5:00 PM

Pretty cool game. I almost gave up on the last part, it was kinda tough! But I beat it!! Yay!

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Dear Louisa,

You just broke the internet. You will be receiving a bill in your "e-mail" shortly for the damage your question marks have caused to this frame. Please try to be more careful in the future.

Sincerely yours,
Hoyniham
Internet Action Committee

Reply

Okay, once I solved the first puzzle the rest were easy, except for 2. Since it was 1:00 am, cheated on 2. Went back to 2 today, still can't get it. Am not getting any hints except flashing dials and boxes but no matter what I do I can't get through it. Help!! What does a hint look like?

Sandy

Reply
fernanda June 15, 2005 12:24 PM

mamma mia! im stuck on 2 somebody help me pleaseeee...grazie

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OK, The phone's keypad is driving me mad, what the hell do I do?

Help - Wibble Wibble.

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A brilliant game, just not enough levels.
Are there any more levels to come?

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yes, I have beaten the game. (including the phone part)

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Oh my goodness, level 2 and 3 are really hard. I had to press the cheat button. The rest were pretty easy though. Anybody have hints for my sleeping brain, I want to go back and do 2 & 3.

SPOILER ALERT! The phone's key pad is pretty easy. Look at the buttons like they were ur phone's buttons. Then simply press the buttons the machine asks you to dial. If you get it right you'll keep advancing. But if not then it'll take you back to a single digit number and will have to try again.

Reply

EASY! hav a question, ask me -MANAX

Reply
christine August 23, 2005 4:59 PM

That is literally a 10 minute game and very, very cool to look at except for that ant-crap-sized font that will make you blind at an early age. The progressive help was great. The one with the folders - at first I couldn't figure if you were supposed to herd them into the flashing spots or what. Still don't really know what I did to get rid of them but eventually did put together that very untrue phrase... ;)

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Wow. That was really fun. ^_^ Took me a while actually, to understand what was going on, but after I got it, I breezed past it. Hehe. Fixing a virus on a comp is a pretty good premise for a game. I hope to see The Machine 2.

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Great game but little hard on the memory game...

If u wait then it will show the numbers again

dont know if i needed to spoiler tag it but its the first time i dunit

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I know there are a few of you that may be like "wtf? this ain't easy!" but when you get going - it is.

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I loved this short game. I was stuck on the phone one for a while. I didnt get the clue the machine was trying to give me. Lots of fun though.

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thyvillageidiot March 5, 2006 2:07 AM

Yea, manax, i'm completly stuck on the begining. i click, i hold, i try to drag. i see the hint of hte weird green squars with the buttons.
all it does is say stuff and type it. but nothing changes. what do i do?

Reply

hello all, this is Tilman, the author of The Machine. I just discovered this post about my game and wanted to say hi and thanks for all the props. If somebody is really stuck, I would be happy to help: [email protected] The Machine 2 is not too likely in the next months (too much work to do), but you never know!

cheers! T.

Reply

took me a awhile on the phone part to figure it out. this is going to take me awhile considering how fast you have to be.

Reply

Very Nice, music by Sonic-subjunkies too!

Reply

how do i beat tjhe second stage

Reply
Patrick May 10, 2006 9:46 PM

Wow, that was an interesting game. my head hurts after that phone stage, but I liked it.

Reply

Ehh. I just can't get through the deaf image stage, I guess you guys are much smarter than me, so.. Can anyone give a hint?

Reply
Evilwumpus June 3, 2006 9:04 PM

You have to spell out a phrase, but why sit there and strain your brain trying to unscramble it? Let the Machine do it for you. Just wait around and it will give you directions.

Reply
pointyclick June 26, 2006 8:09 PM

I beat the game, only cheating on level 2, but I really want to know how to beat it, all of the hints so far haven't helped.

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pointyclick--

what is level 2?

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A wonderful perfect game, just wish it was longer

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One of the first types of these games (point and click)I was able to solve on my own without getting frustrated. Great game!!!! Thanks Jay

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The cheating method to pass the phone stage

screen capture

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The game is actualy easy if you understand what to do.

just look for hints that it gives you. and look closly

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i dont know what happen! it says, when i open,

"an unexpected error has ocurred" error code 564 and in red: "MALFUNCTION"

help

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i can play now. im stuck at lvl of fone(?) invisible numbers! what can i do?

HELP

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i understand now sorry for the triple post

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i finished it. not so difficult i say. i know chess and last stage was easy.

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Lvl 1=know your lines.Lvl 2=make the shadow to nothing. Lvl 3=Working with windows make youe life easier. Lvl 4=Remenber the number,then hit it like hit a phone.Last Lvl=Chess horse,make hit the square.

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i still dunno wat to do with the lvl 1 thing~ aiks~ any help??

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Wow. Nice game! The interface is nice and complete with the "high-techy" feel.

RAPHAEL'S HINTS

1

Treehugger:Hippie :: Cheerleader:Preppy

2

And in light there is darkness.

3

Windows suck

4

Simon says, "Punch me some numbers."

5

Seabiscuit on Board

Reply

This is one of the coolest games I've played! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Reply
Blues Lee June 15, 2007 3:58 AM

What a Nice Nice Work!

Reply

I've beaten lvl 2, but I'm not entirely sure why or how.

I moved the files until it lit up the arms, then switched to the other file, etc. If the files lit up, then I switched to the other file until I could get the arms to light up. I thought maybe to try to get the shadow arms to match the lines, or to match the nothing, or to overlap themselves... but I'm still not exactly sure what the real answer is. The answer I got just randomly seemed to work, it was gone before I could really see what I did.

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How do you get rid of the hint system in this game? it keeps giving me hints that I don't want.

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you match two of them if you see a green line there matched.

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level 1?

Reply
Div_2005 March 28, 2008 3:42 PM

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).

Reply
Frustrated January 15, 2009 9:47 AM

THANK YOU Div, for posting that walkthrough.

[Edit by Kayleigh]

Reply
Patreon VIP Chiktionary August 7, 2009 3:41 AM

A knight can also move 1 across and 2 up.
Nice game, short and sweet, although I had to cheat on the first level then go back and play it later...

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i cant figure out level two

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Anyone else having trouble opening this? I get the "system startup" screen but then everything just goes black.

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The same problem as Anna. I am using an imac in firefox and I just downloaded the shockwave player today.

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Littleghost October 5, 2011 3:13 PM

The weird thing is, other shockwave stuff like Spybot: Nightfall incident work fine.

Reply

@Jay

Same as 2shay, except I'm using Safari. Maybe it's a Mac thing.

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Littleghost October 6, 2011 4:07 PM

Really not sure what the problem is other than the 32-bit shockwave mode. I've OSX 10.6.8, and tried several versions of shockwave running Safari in 32 bit mode and now Spybot won't even work. So I guess the lesson to be learned with Shockwave is be happy with what you've got. Lol.

Reply

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