When comparing World of Goo vs Machinarium, the Slant community recommends World of Goo for most people. In the question“What are the best indie games on Steam?” World of Goo is ranked 4th while Machinarium is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose World of Goo is:
A lot of attention has been put into creating interesting levels with great pacing and variety throughout the game.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Great variety in puzzles
A lot of attention has been put into creating interesting levels with great pacing and variety throughout the game.
Pro Beautiful visual style
World of Goo is pleasing to look at. Most of the time it's very colorful and joyful, but it changes from time to time to reflect different parts of the world. Nevertheless, it is stylistically well presented throughout the game.
Pro A twisted tale
As you start playing there doesn't seem to be much of a story. A few philosophical messages left behind by the Sign Painter and a cut-scene here or there. But as you progress through the game you unearth different details about a slightly disturbing world.
Pro Good, funny music
Each level has good and very funny music.
Pro Excellent physics engine
Physics in-game take into account gravity, wind, weight of different goo-balls, structural integrity of your architectural solutions to create an addictive, "let me try this one more time"-type of gameplay.
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 No co-op mode
The PC version does not include the co-op mode that was included in the Wii Ware version.
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.