When comparing Machinarium vs TinyKeep, the Slant community recommends Machinarium for most people. In the question“What are the best Android games without in-app purchases/paywalls?” Machinarium is ranked 17th while TinyKeep is ranked 79th. The most important reason people chose Machinarium is:
The player is forced to move their character across the map in order to find objects of interest. This, coupled with the great sound design and soundtrack which also do their part in giving cues as to where the objects are and if the player is close, really help you immerse into the atmosphere and art style of Machinarium.
Specs
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Pros
Pro The gameplay is perfectly interwoven with the overall aesthetic and atmosphere of the game
The player is forced to move their character across the map in order to find objects of interest. This, coupled with the great sound design and soundtrack which also do their part in giving cues as to where the objects are and if the player is close, really help you immerse into the atmosphere and art style of Machinarium.
Pro Beautiful art style
Machimariums hand drawn graphics exude a very steam punk style that definitely has a very unique look by being all hand drawn.
Pro Challenging puzzles
The puzzles are quite challenging to the point of frustration but in the end give a sense of immense reward when figured out.
Pro Interesting protagonist
The main character and the one controlled by the player is just a normal, average, everyday robot. He doesn't have any special powers or abilities other than being able to slightly extend his midriff in order to reach high ledges or making his body shorter. He's pretty much an ordinary robot thrust into an extraordinary situation.
Pro Built-in hint system
For those that do find some of the puzzles too challenging there is an inbuilt hint system shown through "thought bubbles" on top of the playable character.
Every level has its own hint when pressed and it's usually a hint on where to go or what kind of object you need. Although it's advised not to rely on the hint system too much since it takes away from the experience of actually enjoying the game.
Pro The well-designed gameplay mechanics avoid making the game boring to the player
Unlike most point-and-click games, objects of interest in Machinarium light up only when the main character is close to them; this completely changes the way the game is played. In point-and-click games where this is not the case, the gameplay is usually reduced to aimlessly flailing the cursor around waiting for something to light up.
Machinarium on the other hand completely avoids this, keeping levels interesting and the player interested to the game.
Pro Randomly generated levels allows the game to always stay fresh and new
Each level is randomly generated, allowing each play to feel fresh and different from any other. There is no telling how each floor will be laid out, which makes for a game with limitless replayability.
Pro Immersive mode suppot allows the game to play in full screen, hiding the software navigation and notification bars
TinyKeep has support for immersive mode on Android 4.4+. This allows the game to be played in the entire screen on devices that uses navigation software buttons.
Pro Good controller support that makes for more tactical control of the game
TinyKeep has controller support for SHIELD devices as well as any HID controller, which is great for those that would prefer to play the game with a controller over using a touch screen.
Pro Being SHIELD compatible and Tegra optimized allows for a more graphicly intensive experience over the majority of games found on Android
Tiny Keep works with all SHIELD devices as well as other Tegra devices such as the Nexus 9. This allows for a more graphically intensive game, due to taking advantage of the Tegra GPUs.
Pro Different endings and Game+ mode give plenty incentive to play the game for a long time
There are 3 different endings to the game, which gives a good bit of incentive to replay numerous times in order to see them all as well as a Game+ mode that makes the game even more difficult.
Pro Fun mechanic where the environment can be used against enemies
Parts of the environment in the game can be used against ones enemies, such as spike floor traps, turned over fire pits or even captive NPCs. Utilizing these objects or NPCs adds an extra set of tools to aid in the players fight to reach the end of each level.
Cons
Con Items may be difficult to find due to similar colors
At points in the game there are needed items that blend in too well with their surrounding making it quite difficult to actually see them.
Con Only works on limited devices
TinyKeep, being a very graphically intensive game has been ported specifically for Tegra K1 devices with newly added support for the Tegra 4. Sadly this means that devices without a Tegra K1 or 4 will not be able to run the game.