[ms comment: Is this my very first AI generated review?… :D.
I’m not sure why, but this gives me non-human vibes…
Keeping it as a curiosity].

Introduction
Submachine: Legacy is a captivating point-and-click adventure game that will keep players engaged for hours. With its immersive storyline and challenging puzzles, it offers a unique gaming experience for PC users.

Overview of Submachine: Legacy (PC) game
Submachine: Legacy takes players on a thrilling journey through a series of interconnected rooms and puzzles. The goal is to explore the mysterious world of the Submachine and uncover its secrets. The game features stunning visuals and atmospheric music that will draw players into its enigmatic world. As players progress, they will encounter mind-bending puzzles that require careful observation and problem-solving skills to solve. With its seamless gameplay and intricate level design, Submachine: Legacy offers a truly immersive gaming experience.

History and popularity of the Submachine series
The Submachine series, created by Mateusz Skutnik, has gained a cult following since its inception in 2005. Known for its intricate puzzles and cryptic storytelling, the series has captivated players around the world. Submachine: Legacy is the fifth installment in the series and continues to build upon the immersive gameplay and intriguing narrative of its predecessors. With its dedicated fan base and critical acclaim, the Submachine series has solidified its place in the adventure game genre.

Whether you are a fan of the series or new to the world of Submachine, Submachine: Legacy is a must-play game that will challenge your intellect and immerse you in an unforgettable gaming experience.

Gameplay and Mechanics
Exploring the immersive world of Submachine: Legacy
Submachine: Legacy is a captivating PC game that offers players an immersive and mind-bending experience. The game takes place in a complex and mysterious world filled with interconnected rooms and hidden secrets. Players are tasked with exploring this vast environment, solving puzzles, and uncovering the truth behind the Submachine.

From the moment you start the game, you’ll be drawn into its mesmerizing atmosphere. The detailed graphics and atmospheric sound design create a sense of intrigue and wonder. Each room is meticulously designed, and the attention to detail is commendable.

Puzzles, challenges, and interactive gameplay
Submachine: Legacy is not just a visual feast; it also provides a challenging gameplay experience. As you navigate through the rooms, you’ll encounter a variety of puzzles that test your problem-solving skills. These puzzles range from logic-based challenges to cleverly hidden clues that require keen observation.

What sets Submachine: Legacy apart is its interactive gameplay mechanics. Players can manipulate objects in the environment, uncover hidden passages, and unlock new areas to explore. The game encourages experimentation and rewards players for their curiosity.

Overall, Submachine: Legacy is a must-play for fans of atmospheric puzzle games. Its immersive world, thought-provoking puzzles, and interactive gameplay make it a standout title in the genre. So, if you’re ready to embark on a captivating journey, dive into the world of Submachine: Legacy and prepare to be amazed.

Graphics and Visuals
Visual design and atmosphere of Submachine: Legacy
Submachine: Legacy is a visually captivating game that immerses players in a mysterious and atmospheric world. The visual design is top-notch, with detailed landscapes, intricate architecture, and an overall sense of foreboding.

The game creates a dark and eerie atmosphere that keeps players engaged and on their toes. From the dimly lit corridors to the haunting soundtrack, Submachine: Legacy effectively sets the stage for a thrilling adventure.

Use of colors, details, and special effects
The use of colors in Submachine: Legacy is exceptional. Each location is meticulously designed with a specific color palette that enhances the overall mood and ambiance. The details in the game are also impressive, with intricate puzzles, hidden clues, and interactive elements that add depth to the gameplay.

Special effects, such as lighting, shadows, and particle effects, further enhance the immersion and make the game feel more realistic. Whether it’s the flickering lights in a dark room or the shimmering particles in a magical portal, the special effects add a touch of visual flair to the game.

Overall, the graphics and visuals in Submachine: Legacy are outstanding and play a crucial role in delivering a captivating and immersive gameplay experience.

Storyline and Narrative
Submachine: Legacy is an immersive point-and-click adventure game that captivates players with its engaging storyline and intriguing plot twists. As players progress through the game, they unravel the mysteries of the Submachine, a complex network of interconnected rooms and mechanisms.

Engaging storyline and plot twists in Submachine: Legacy
The game presents a rich narrative that keeps players hooked from start to finish. With each room unlocking new clues and puzzles, players delve deeper into the captivating storyline. The plot twists and unexpected turns make for an exhilarating gaming experience, ensuring players are constantly surprised and intrigued.

Character development and world-building
Submachine: Legacy doesn’t just focus on its storyline but also puts a strong emphasis on character development and world-building. The game introduces players to a vast and immersive world filled with interesting characters and intricate details. As players explore the Submachine, they uncover secrets and learn more about the characters and their motivations, deepening their emotional engagement with the game.

Overall, Submachine: Legacy is a must-play for adventure game enthusiasts who appreciate a well-crafted storyline and immersive world-building. Its engaging narrative and plot twists will keep players entertained and guessing until the very end.

Pros and Cons
Strengths and weaknesses of Submachine: Legacy
Submachine: Legacy is a popular PC game with a loyal fanbase. Here are some of its strengths and weaknesses:

Pros:

Intriguing storyline: The game immerses players in an engaging and mysterious world, keeping them hooked until the end.
Challenging puzzles: Submachine: Legacy offers a variety of brain-teasing puzzles that require logic and problem-solving skills to solve.
Exploration: The game allows players to explore different environments and uncover hidden secrets, adding to the overall sense of discovery.
Atmospheric visuals and sound: The game’s haunting visuals and ambient sound design create a captivating atmosphere that enhances the gaming experience.
Replayability: With multiple endings and hidden secrets, Submachine: Legacy encourages players to replay the game and unravel its full potential.

Cons:

Steep learning curve: Some players may find the game’s puzzles and mechanics initially difficult to grasp, requiring patience and perseverance.
Limited action: Submachine: Legacy focuses more on exploration and puzzle-solving than fast-paced action, which may not appeal to players seeking intense gameplay.
Short duration: The game can be completed in a relatively short time, which some players may find disappointing if they prefer longer gaming experiences.
Player feedback and reviews
Player feedback for Submachine: Legacy has been largely positive. Gamers appreciate the game’s immersive storyline, challenging puzzles, and atmospheric visuals. Many commend the game for its thought-provoking puzzles that require players to think outside the box. However, some players have mentioned that the learning curve can be steep, and the game’s duration is relatively short. Overall, Submachine: Legacy offers a unique and captivating gaming experience for puzzle and adventure enthusiasts.

Conclusion
Submachine: Legacy is a captivating PC game that offers an immersive and intriguing gameplay experience. From its stunning visuals to its challenging puzzles, this game keeps players engaged and entertained throughout.

Final thoughts on Submachine: Legacy
With its unique blend of adventure, mystery, and puzzle-solving, Submachine: Legacy is a must-play for fans of the genre. The game’s atmospheric setting and intricate storyline keep players hooked from start to finish. Additionally, the intuitive controls and user-friendly interface make it accessible to both experienced gamers and newcomers alike.

Recommendation and overall rating
For those looking for a thought-provoking and immersive gaming experience, Submachine: Legacy is highly recommended. Its blend of challenging puzzles, captivating storyline, and impressive visuals make it a standout title in the PC gaming world. Overall, this game deserves a solid rating of [insert rating here] out of 10.

Entire game got full refactor and logic upgrade. This includes:

• Full controller support, now you can play entire game using your controller. This functionality was added in preparation for Steam Deck compatibility re-review, which means that while the game is not officially supported on Steam Deck, you can still play it on Steam Deck without any additional key and buttons remapping. You can check out key / gamepad bindings on new, restructured controls options screen.
• Updated entire code of the game, based on new Submachine: Legacy logic. With each subsequent game my code is getting better and more robust, therefore after releasing Submachine: Legacy I decided to go back to Slice of Sea and rewrite it to match better version of my code architecture.
• Added new cursor icon showing hotspot regions where an inventory item can be used. When you hover over an area where game expects you to use some inventory item, the cursor change will indicate that.
• Aristocrat and Collector achievements now trigger in-game, not in outro. As you collect final item needed for those achievements, they will trigger instantly.
• Reworked Tibet Drums availability to spin. Now you can spin them without finding drum order notes first. You still can’t solve this puzzle without finding all needed notes first, but you can at least spin them and see the structure of the puzzle.
• There’s a new achievement to unlock. It’s seasonal, which means it will be available only for two weeks around Halloween. Hunt them pumpkins.
• Unfortunately, Mac version doesn’t work anymore after latest macOS update, so I can’t have that version still available to buy. Note, that this is not fault of the game itself, it was working fine, nothing changed in the code, it was fulfilling Apple’s long list of demands to be playable on macOS, it was checked, approved, notarized, paid for etc. And then it stopped working. Subsequently, Mac version is not updated. I would like to come back to this subject in the future, but I’m not sure if it’s sustainable at this point. If they expect me to try making the game playable after each system update, then I’m sorry, I’m not sure I want to handle that.

This Flash puzzle games collection is holding a strong 99% positive review on Steam.

Adobe Flash is, of course, dead. It was deprecated back in 2021, putting a scruffy little bow on this particular niche of PC gaming. Line Rider, Happy Wheels, and Bloons all started their careers via Flash, and while some of these games do make a return every so often, as the upcoming Alien Hominid remaster, they’ve certainly fallen out of favour with the younger crowd.

Now, even though Newgrounds continues to exist, the legendary Adobe Flash content repository is not nearly as culturally relevant today as it once used to be. That is not to say, however, that Flash games have been totally taken out of the equation. Notably, Flash developer Mateusz Skutnik – whose name may ring a bell for the older folks – has just released an all-new entry in his Submachine puzzle series. This is, of course, a big deal for Flash fans all on its own, but even more interesting is the fact that Submachine: Legacy has already got a 99% positive rating on Steam.

Submachine: Legacy enjoys a remarkably high review score.
Skutnik’s Submachine titles weren’t quite as incredibly popular as some of the games mentioned in the previous section. They were, however, a mainstay for point ‘n’ click fans due to their satisfying puzzles and a mysterious vibe. All of that seems to have made the transition into Submachine: Legacy, which is basically a collection of 12 previous Submachine releases.

Now fully updated and tied into a single experience, all of Skutnik’s previous work on the Submachine series has been enjoying praise on Steam, with fans being positively thrilled with this new release. “Thank you Mr. Skutnik,” said one reviewer. “Been playing your games since 2005.”

Another compared Submachine: Legacy to Dwarf Fortress in an unexpectedly wholesome way: “You remember when Dwarf Fortress hit Steam and there was a post saying “have you people all been waiting 20 years to give the devs money?” This is a little bit like that. Cheers, M, this is superlative.”

Good stuff all around, then. Submachine: Legacy seems to be a must-have for Adobe Flash veterans, and may even be a sign of things to come for Skutnik himself. Fans may remember, after all, that the mysterious Submachine: The Engine was a thing.

Posted 17 October 2023 by Filip Galekovic

One of PC’s best and spookiest puzzle games has returned from the abyss.

Rage against the submachine.

We talk about retro and throwback game releases being a “blast from the past”, but in this case, it’s more like you’re strolling down a sunny path amid soothing birdsong, and then one particular, innocent-looking paving stone swivels underfoot with a rustle of gears, dropping you into a dingy, yellow-panelled room. There are vacuum tubes mounted on one wall, doors to either side, and a ladder leading further down into darkness.

You click one of the doors and the perspective switches over slide-projector style to a second room with identical proportions. There are pipes emerging from the floor, here, and some kind of antique radio on a pedastel in the centre. Hang on, I know this place. I know this formless sense of dread. I know these machinations. The last time I set foot here, it was 2009 and I was running a Flash game blog, writing up choice submissions to sites like Kongregate. This is Submachine, a 14-part escape puzzle series from Mateusz Skutnik, which Skutnik has now compiled, polished-up and re-released as Submachine: Legacy.

Submachine is one of the highlights – or perhaps that should be lowlights – of the Flash gaming era. It’s clever, compact and menacing, a world of terrible contraptions that must be operated, fixed or broken, from relatively everyday clumps of pistons to eerie, pseudo-magical tech that calls to mind the Amnesia series. There’s a story to follow, too, for those of you who find “pure” puzzles too dry. While deciphering each nugget of ominous gadgetry, you can gather up dropped journal entries that recount the exploits of an unfortunate lighthouse keeper.

The puzzles come and go in terms of consistency and satisfaction, but each Submachine chapter is a wonderful mood piece, and it’s lovely to see them pieced together into a “complete” game. This isn’t just a compilation of Flash ports, mind you: the visuals have been spruced up, new mechanics have been added, and the chapters have been re-interpreted as pieces of a much larger machine. And then there’s Submachine: Universe, which I never played, but which is apparently a Submachine project consisting of over a thousand rooms, with each room containing clues as to the coordinates for the next.

If you’re halfway interested in point-and-click puzzling and good old-fashioned eeriness, I can’t recommend this enough. It’s available on Steam or Itch. If you need a taster, you can still play the very first Submachine game on Kongregate.

by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell, News Editor
Published on Oct. 16, 2023

get from my shop | get on Steam | get on itch.io | get soundtrack

reviews: Rock Paper Shotgun | Destructoid | World of Legions

overwhelmingly positive timestamp

remastered graphics: sample 1, sample 2, sample 3, sample 4, the ladder

Become the Researcher
Submachine is a hand-drawn point and click adventure game. You will find yourself in a vast network of desolate locations containing puzzles, secrets, notes and inventory items to collect to help you along the way.

the World of Submachine
The underground world of submerged machines offers you vast variety of locations and structures to discover and repair. While everything is shattered, you will try to put things back together to understand and escape.

Story
You are alone here. You will follow the footsteps of a banished lighthouse keeper discovering his descent into ruins of Submachine. The story is divided into chapters that will unlock for you as you progress through the game. The story is conveyed by series of notes that you’ll collect and read.

Puzzles
There are tons of puzzles, some of which you’ll solve by bringing the machinery back online, tinkering with it, turning off and on again. For others you’ll need to find missing parts, levers that were broken off or stolen, depleted power sources, gears, cogs, lamps, coils and so on. As you move through the structure, you will be putting back together things that were shattered.

Graphics
Entire game is hand-drawn. There’s nothing auto-generated nor procedural. Each location was thoughtfully designed. Stylized drawings give the game it’s eerie atmosphere.

Music
Ambient music for this game was created by ThumpMonks, with chapter 1 ambient by Marcus Gutierrez. The music perfectly emphasizes the atmosphere of lonely exploration.

download this game for free | see original release post

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“Daymare Cat is a gorgeously sketched exploratory platformer that feels like a simple adventure game. The platforming here isn’t particularly challenging, but almost every hand-drawn scene is worth witnessing.” – said some by now non-existent indie game review website in 2013.

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The main character of this game is Cat Jahnke, and I’m not talking about the in-game little girl, but the singer and songwriter, who created the song that this game is all about. This is the reason why this particular game stands out in my catalogue of games. Hats off to you, Cat. Let’s just hope that you’re right in the song, and things will finally get better.

~

Meanwhile, it’s 2023. How is it possible that it’s been 10 years already… Daymare Cat is the ancestor of Slice of Sea, one could even say that it was the foundation of Seaweed’s game. Cat is the OG.

~

This game needed some major upgrading, since its release my gamedev art direction and workflow changed drastically.  Things that are new in this Anniversary Edition:

– The game is in glorious 60 fps and plays in full screen.

– Most noticeably the game has new background texture. This might be a bit controversial take, but in my opinion this improves the vibe.

– Interactive items have a color. Yes. A color.

– Cat now runs like a ballerina, not a raptor. Thank god.

– Platforming is a bit easier thanks to hitbox tweaking but also by redrawing platforms in few places, for reference check the main gate.

– I added a new pathway for you in case you have a fear of being eaten alive by a cosmic horror monster and really don’t want to do this part. So now you can go around it.

– No changes were done to the music, since it’s already perfection.

Home improvement tips! Upgrade your climbing rope to a brass ladder to lighten up the room!

download this game for free

Hear me out.

For the sake of my mental health, today I decided to take a one-day break from remastering Submachine into Legacy (I’m still finishing chapter 8) and see how things were back in the good old days of flash development over a decade ago. Not sure why I started tinkering with “Where is 2010?”, but here we are with a brand new version – renamed into more lore-friendly title of Daymare Stray. I think I was just curious to see how the code looked like in those old days. Not code per se, but my thought process concerning constructing game logic. It was… strange. Like reading your old diary pages, stepping into your old self. Then I changed main character animations to look a bit better, then switched to 60 fps, which prompted me to update all animations, and and then also sound design needed a bit of love. The screenshot you see above shows a small graphical change in which I emphasized the fact that you can climb back left up that wall, as in old version it was not so obvious. Is this a one-day remaster? Nah, that will come when I remaster entire series into one big game, just like Submachine Legacy. But I have to admit – it was fun to get back to flash for one day. It’s also super convenient to be able to draw and code in one application. This really highlights the genius of flash workflow. The freedom to create in an instant. Don’t get me wrong, working in Game Maker and Photoshop and Spine and Flash all at once is also super fine, but flash was on a completely different level. It made a game designer out of me after all. Ah, to be young again…

Enjoy this little trip down the memory lane!