Duet vs Machinarium
When comparing Duet vs Machinarium, the Slant community recommends Duet for most people. In the question“What are the most beautiful puzzle games on Android?” Duet is ranked 5th while Machinarium is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose Duet is:
Duet does not require an internet connection for the game to be played, making it an ideal game to play when there is no internet connection available.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Can be played offline
Duet does not require an internet connection for the game to be played, making it an ideal game to play when there is no internet connection available.
Pro Simple yet interesting graphics
At a first glance, the graphics of Duet appear rather simplistic, but on closer inspection one notices how much detail there is, from the moving background to the high resolution support.
Pro Can be played in the player's preferred orientation
Whether the player prefers playing in portrait view or landscape Duet supports it.
Pro Supports immersive mode
Duet supports immersive mode on Android devices that are on 4.4+ (KitKat or above). Immersive Mode allows you to 'hide' the on-screen navigation buttons and the top status bar in order to get a full screen experience.
Pro Excellent soundtrack
The soundtrack for Duet was created by composer Tim Shiel and matches the game graphics perfectly.
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.
Cons
Con Extremely difficult
Even though the levels are only 20 seconds long, the difficulty of each level is so high that it takes several attempts before a stage is completed.
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.