This game was amazing, my first ever "point 'n' click" adventure game and I want more!
Took me 8~9hours to finish the game. If you want to try a demo, here's the link http://machinarium.net/demo/
Story:
The story is shown through pictures and animations, for example, clicking on an NPC will show a thought bubble of what they want or what happened to them which tells you what you need to do or look for.
However the main story isn't as straight forward. You're looking for your robot girlfriend, however you wouldn't even know this until near the end of the game or if you stand somewhere for 2mins and watch your character's thought bubbles of memories with your girlfriend, which still didn't show you're looking for her. Unless you read a review, or the game's description before buying, you would never realize what the plot of the game is.
This aside, the story is simple and awesomely translated.
Sound:
Absolutely 10/10. The sound track was created by Tomas Dvorak, and is the best I've heard for quite some time, especially for an Indie game I believe. The genre is a little similar to psychill, it's extremely immersive and has that surround feel.
Art:
As I mentioned in the story section, the art translated the story/plot of the game extremely well.
From what I've read, it took the artist 3years to hand draw + detail every scene and animation. This dedication surely shows, the art is outstanding and draws you in perfectly.
Gameplay:
From start to finish you complete small puzzles in every scene/map in order to move onto the next area. Some puzzles can be challenging and had me annoyed so much at times, but once you get the hang of it, you'll probably laugh.
If you use a walkthrough, as I did a couple times especially near the end puzzles, you may want to replay a few save games around that area to do them again yourself! This is how addicting and fun this game is, that you'll feel guilty for cheating.
However there isn't really any replay ability.
Engine:
Some have complained this game should be free because it's engine is flash. Wrong. Just because the majority of the games you find for free on the internet are flash doesn't mean this game should be, this game had 3years of dedication and unique gameplay that makes it worth buying.
Who ever cared about the engine? As long as it plays and runs fine, does what it's supposed to, gives that wow factor, what more could you ask for? No whinging should be had.
Summary:
Buy this game! For $20, or on special every now and then for $5 if you can catch it, you will not regret it.
(PS. For steam users, try going to the game's folder and copy the /11/ folder, rename the .001 extensions to .mp3 if you want the sound track. Then copy the "Bonus ep" folder with the included .pdf and such.)