When comparing SimCity vs Machinarium, the Slant community recommends Machinarium for most people. In the question“What are the best games on Linux?” Machinarium is ranked 8th while SimCity is ranked 110th. 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
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Includes tourism
Pro City socialization
City socialization add in an extra element of story and advancement allowing user to specialize in certain fields that will allow for expanded options and buildings.
Pro Stable and runs well on lower end systems
SimCity runs well on mid range hardware with little to no crashing.
Pro Design any city you want
SimCity allows for users to play and build how they like. From small country or suburban towns to huge cities and all the perils and gains they bring.
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 Limited building space
SimCity limits the payers amount of building space which can ultimately prohibit the creativeness of a players city building.
Con Always on DRM
Simcity features always online DRM, even for it's single player campaigns.
Con City to city resource sharing is limited
City to city resource sharing can only take place if both cities are able to provide said resource with one borrowing some from the other. There is no way to share resources with a city that for instance does not have a power plant and power is what the player wants to share.
Con Takes a lot of dedication and time to learn the ins and outs of planning a city
Even after 100 hours users can still be learning about different features or plans on how to expand their towns from the earliest outsets.
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.