Adorable point-and-click adventure Machinarium came out an astonishing 17 years ago, telling the heartwarming story of a gorgeous little robot named Josef and his attempts to save a robo-city from being blown up by the Black Cap Brotherhood. It was created by Amanita Design, the Czech studio responsible for a swath of hit games, from Samorost to Botanicula, Chuchel to Creaks, and most recently this year’s Phonopolis. Today the team has announced a surprise return for perhaps their most fondly remembered game, rather inevitably called Machinarium 2.
“Seventeen years later…” posted Amanita to their X account, “the time has come for Machinarium 2,” accompanied by a short video showing off the studio’s familiar, stunning cartoon artwork and animations. There’s also a link to a Steam page for the freshly announced game.
This belated sequel picks up where the first game left off, with Josef and his friend Berta escaping from the city of Machinarium, and now crash-landing in a place called the Barrens. They will discover a “lush hidden valley, home to two peculiar robot tribes.” One lives in an elevated monastery, the other in the valley below, and apparently both are running low on power.
The sequel will have us playing as both Josef and Berta this time, able to switch between the two whenever we wish, with the pair working together to solve puzzles. And they’ll do so wordlessly, communicating in thought-bubble pictographs.
Amanita’s games are distinctive both for their hand-drawn art and animations, and for the incredible soundtracks created by long-time collaborator Tomáš “Floex” Dvořák. They also almost never use written language, making the games immediately more accessible and far more intriguing.
This isn’t the first time the studio has surprised players by reviving a long-time favorite: in 2016 a third game in the Samorost series appeared after an 11-year absence. Which means I hold out hope for a Botanicula 2, and most of all, a Chuchel 2. The original Chuchel is such an incredibly funny game, and one of my all-time favorite memories of playing games with my kid when he was young.
There’s no word on a release date yet for Machinarium 2.