Man and Machina
Physicians and scholars spend years upon years discovering, learning, and trying to understand the complexity of the human body. It’s multitude of organs, systems, chemical and biological reactions all boast incredible depth and efficiency. Breaking it down, it seems like it shouldn’t work, yet everyday people get up and go to school or work. To claim that the human body is a complicated machine is not an exaggerated claim by any measure. Developer Darjeeling and publisher ARTE Experience came together to produce Homo Machina on Nintendo Switch. Homo Machina is a touch puzzle game that tells the story of a simple person going about their day, and how the body’s individuals parts work to make a cohesive system that allows that person to function. Through clever visuals and intuitive puzzles, Homo Machina does a lovely job of being one big metaphor.
Increased brain productivity
Homo Machina takes the human body and deconstructs it into individual parts, nose, brain, mouth, and eyes. All each with individual tasks, it is up to the player to navigate a variety of puzzles in order to get the individual body parts to properly function. Much of these puzzles are based on the real life mechanics of the body parts, which the game does a very good job of artistically representing within the context of machine. One example of this is how once the food enters the mouth; there are giant (or mini) scissors and saws within the mouth to process the food into a state that can be digested. Or a turning wheel that opens the lids of the eyes and an adjustor to fix the size of the pupil letting light into the cornea. All slick designs that not only lightly touch upon the real life counterparts, but also engage the player mentally as to how the puzzle is to be solved.
The game started out on mobile systems, and now has moved to the Nintendo Switch. Overall, the portability and hand-heldness of the Switch is utilized perfectly by this game. The entire game is sideways on the screen, so the player must turn the system in their hands so that it is actually playable. Mimicking a smart phone, playing with headphones makes the experience feel very fluid, simulating taping a puzzle game on your phone while on the commute home.
Grindin’ gears
My only grip with the game is the lack of help when the player hits a wall. Which, of course, makes sense for a puzzle game. The thrill and draw is in the satisfaction of understanding and solving puzzles, but there are some parts of the game that have so little feedback as to what the player actually has to do, it can be difficult to move on. Perhaps more sound or visual cues would alleviate this problem.
A well oiled Machina
Overall, however, Homo Machina does a fantastic job of taking the body and its functions into metaphor. And it also does a terrific job of taking those metaphors and transforming them into engaging puzzles. Clever visuals and brain-racking puzzles make this game worth picking up.
Score: 8.7/10
Check Out the Homo Machina Arte Collection Video:
Nintendo Switch Review
Having spent my entire life gaming, my interests have expanded over to how the gaming industry has grown and developed into a globalized market over the course of my life time, as well as how games can build community and create a sense of belonging for people. I'm also trying to climb ranked in Overwatch so if you want to queue together, let me know
More Stories
ROGUE WATERS Pirate-Infused Turn-Based Tactics Releases Developer Walkthrough Video
Outright Games and Mattel’s MATCHBOX DRIVING ADVENTURES Now Available for PC and Consoles
KEYLOCKER: Turn Based Cyberpunk Action Review for PlayStation 5