Submachine 7: The Core has been on our Gaming Most-Wanted List of 2010 and for good reasons too: Submachine series is one of most beloved gaming brands ever developed for the great territory of internet. Each installment brings Mateusz’s patented imagination to life through simple yet appealing graphic, compelling and intriguing on-going story, haunting and memorable ambients, and best of all, the highly polished gameplay that puts almost every other PNC games to shame. Hypes for Sub_7 exploded through the roof comparable to extremely long wait of Sub_6, only to be made worst after the releases of critical darling’s Submachine Network Exploration Experience and Submachine: 32 Chambers. The wait was unbearable and in the end came possibly what everyone was hoping to be an incredible cap-off of the fabled Year of the Submachine.

Does Submachine 7: The Core delivers, meets, and exceeds our expectations? The most resounding answer sung by chorus of hungry players is YES. Yes, indeed. Best Submachine game ever? Read on.

GRAPHIC

Again, it seems unfair that I have to continue to do this section of review, especially since each Submachine game is eerily beautiful in their ways and that there’s almost no flaw to Mateusz’s art direction. But what so different about this game is that the art direction totally blew our expectations of what Submachine should looks like and how the location designs and structures should be built. All of sudden, the constricting areas of blocky rooms within screen was thrown away in favor of wide-open areas located within one giant location and the art style became extremely rich and imaginative as result of it.

The fractured architects will be one of most memorable places ever visited in any Submachine games, powered by insanely immense structure and its haunting erosions backed by beautiful lifeforms. Not only the art styles breath new life because of shift in art direction, it also bolster toward and from the story as well, making the designs of entire game an absolutely, creatively, and breathlessly jaw-dropping. The art and graphic alone also pushed the doors wide open for even truly spellbinding locations possibly waiting for us in Submachine 8 and eventually in SubNet.

Absolutely perfect.

Also… cutely glowing lifeforms. Who wouldn’t like them?

Score: 10 / 10

SOUND

An upgrade over what I deemed as “disappointing soundtracks” of Submachine 6. What we get is a true return-to-form ambients that made Submachine 1-5 truly haunting games to explore and play. The tunes may not be as heavily memorable as many of classics, but they still have tons of Submachine signatures all over with electronic noises, chirps, and beeps bringing the machines to life. The ambients are also transcendent, not only highlighting the atmosphere of each locations, but also lending emotional impacts to the in-game plot development that would send chills down to everyone’s spines. Also supplementing the ambients are well-thought-of sound effects, making each notable activities extremely realistic and satisfying.

Expertly made and applied ambients and sound effects had made this game one of best Submachine games to listen to while playing. It would guarantee to make your ears cry with joys.

Score: 10 / 10

PLOT

After the satisfying plot-heavy Submachine 6, many of us thought we will get sizable chunks of stories to chow down on. What we experienced through was a major revelation, the greatest since eye-opening plot of Submachine 4. Mateusz has truly nailed down on the evolving plot developments, making this game a true gem to read and marvel at. Almost every area brings something new to the developing Submachine lore and Submachine 7 stories might be the best since fan’s favorite Submachine 4. And to the delight of fans all over, the stories of entire Submachine series are brought to almost full circle and that is not even the end of it. It only the beginning of something truly amazing yet to be come in final three episodes. What made this story truly memorable is that it also lends strength to art direction and gameplay, making this game addicting to play and scavenge through for its tasty secrets.

Although, the main criticisms is that there are so much of stories to scrooge through, it could leave some players drunk and confused by wealth of revelations. Also, some players might be disappointed that the Core aren’t what they expected, but I found it to be well written enough for the Core itself to shatter player’s expectation of what the areas should be like. Heck, I thought the Core would be machine-heavy, but it wasn’t the case. The standout of entire plot is the relationship between Liz and Mur finally made clear as well as the development of Submachine itself, shattering the boundaries of what Submachine truly is once again.

Also, Submachine 7 totally killed some of my famous theories. Thanks a lot.

Truly fantastic.

Score: 9.9 / 10

GAMEPLAY

Submachine 7 has finally offer extremely enjoyable exploration and biting-hard puzzle-solving not seen since Submachine 2, 4, and 5. What made Submachine 7 one of best PNC games around is the craft and care put into many of puzzles that are very different from all other games. The Core is a tough one to crack and one that require lot of thoughts and deductions to solve and beat. It not hair-pulling hard, but it no cake-walk either. The difficulty is just about perfect where newcomer and avid veterans can find satisfying challenges to overcome.

My criticisms is that the secrets are so dang tough to find, but I guess it made the rewards at the end all the more satisfying. Also, few of puzzles are extremely hard, it took me a while to figure out the answer, but that’s a nice change of pace from other Submachine games since we do have hints available to nudge us into right direction. Also, some of areas are so large that it felt bit unnecessary to have one or two extra rooms to explore in and I feel worried that the next three games will become too ambitious for their own goods. That why we have SubNet to dump the ideas into.

Expertly balanced.

Score: 9.8 / 10

In the end, Submachine 7 constantly screwing with our expectations and wowing us with tons of plot developments and eerily beautiful art styles that will sure to spark off new wave of speculations about what Submachines truly are and what they’re made for. I have never seen the reactions quite like this since the famous Submachine 4 and for good reasons too.

Is it the best Submachine game ever?

YES and NO.

Wait, why?

The answer: Submachine 4.

Submachine 4 and Submachine 7 are so similar and so different in every way. Both games offer truly compelling gameplay backed by haunting arts and ambients. Both have addicting stories that blew the doors wide open, welcoming all sort of heated debates and speculations. What they’re so different is that both offers extremely different experiences, plot developments, locations to explore, and theories to create. Submachine 7 reminds me what Submachine 4 brought to the table all those years ago and that made Submachine 7 all so great to play. It not really fair for me to say Submachine 7 is better than Submachine 4, but it also not fair for me to say that Sub_4 is better than Sub_7. No, I will leave that debate to the fans.

As for me, I believed that both games are truly excellent for same and different reasons and I am proud to say that Submachine 7 is the best game since Submachine 4 and that both games are the absolute best in entire series.

You truly outdid yourself once again, Mateusz.

Final Score: 9.8 / 10

One more thing: CUTELY GLOWING LIFEFORMS

Lazy sunday? Fear not! The new UPDATE from the submachine network is here! (third batch, second update).

enjoy!

play this game

reviews: PCWorld

As I remember, there was a note found in Submachine 4 mentioning 32 chambers filled with sand. Well, here they are in another short off-main-storyline installment of the Submachine series.

When you star at the right of the “submachine” there a green jade pick it up. Then go left.

Click on the brown box pick up “autumn plate”

Click on the brick wall with the drawing and go in the hole. (pick up the green jade) then go down and right.

In the big room go left and pick up the lever and the green jade.

Go up and pick up the winter plate (on the wall with all the symbols)

Then go right twice (the screen with the big haed. Put the lever into the wall on your right. Pull the lever up. Then go left twice and go down in the hole created by the lever.

Pick up the wooden stick. And go right. On top of the wall there is a wooden bowl pick it up. and go right. It’s written “Air wind and fire dig through sand” So go right and place all the cement box to air wind and fire (in that order) On the Wind one there is a jade on the sand. Pick it up. And on the Fire one click on the wooden box and pick up a round stone. Go left three times and go down once.

Pick un the jade and put the stick into the left wall (the round thing) Pick up the topaz and go down then right. (pick the Jade) and go right twice. You should be in front of a round “face” with a hole in the middle, Put the wooden bowl on the floor in front of the hole and click on the wall sand should come out of the mouth and fill up the bowl.

Pick up the bowl full of sand and go left once. Pour the sand into the goblet of the statue then go left (you should lose the bowl after that. Climb the rope at the top and a bit left you should be able to click to pick up the spring plate, after that go right. In the floor at the right of the wooden prison door there’s Topaz number 2 pick it up. Open the prison’s door (click and drag up) then go right.

On the wall there are two round clickable cement block. Click on the right one until the open spot is in the left and down quadrant (quadrant 3 on a diagram) After that click on the left one until the open spot is on the bottom. Go inside the “prison’s” door and pick up the “stone cone” then go down the ladder. Pick up the weight stone. Then go back up.

Go all the way back where you picked up the wooden bowl there’s a stick on the wall that you can push but it always go back up. Put the weight stone on it and go back where you came from. (now you can go all the way down)

Go down and left pick up the round stone. Go right pick up Jade 7.

Go left twice and click three time on the clickable cement block, go up and push down the white sqare. Go back down and click once on the clickable cement block go all the way back to the big face at the start of the game and put the 2 rounds stones in the eyes. (pick up Topaz three)

Go all the way back at the end and now the door with the three spikes should be open enter it and go left click on the wooden box (pick up topaz 4) There’s a wheel, put the stone cone in it and go right twice. on the wall there’s the plate 4. And completely on the right you can click on the wall to pick up jade 8. Go left climb the stairs. But the 8 Jadeites, the 4 plates in the wheel and turn very slowly each part of the wheel (starting by the plates, then the Jade then the topaz until it click) After that put the four topaz in and turn the middle of the wheel so it is straight.

written by Dave

Casual game Submachine: 32 Chambers takes you on a journey within stone walls, past ancient ruins, and through drifts of sand. With nothing but your wits and a few clickable objects, you navigate the chambers and solve puzzles to win this browser-based game. Its hand-drawn look and absorbing gameplay absorbed me so thoroughly, finishing the game made me blink as if leaving a cave.

Submachine: 32 Chambers begins in a stone-brick room with a Mesoamerican-looking glyph and a futuristic machine. If you’ve played any of the other Submachine games, you’ll recognize the apparatus as the teleporter that brought you there. Even if 32 Chambers is your first introduction to the Submachine games, you’ll immediately learn how it works: You mouse over objects and chamber edges, looking for items to pick up and directions to go. A veteran of these games would have little trouble finding out where to click to collect items, move switches, and travel from room to room. My strategy was to mouse over every pixel looking for clues (and to get a little disconcerted when I ran across the statue of Ixtab, the Mayan goddess of suicide).

Luckily, the creepy statue was window dressing and not a clue about my progress. Despite the spikes that shoot out of the walls at the boundaries, there’s no way to lose at Submachine: 32 Chambers. You can leave the game and resume at auto-save points. The ThumpMonks’ eerie music adds to the mood, but sounds aren’t crucial for gameplay, so you can also play it muted to avoid disturbing your neighbors. If you decide to become more of a tourist than an explorer, you can avail yourself of the walkthrough link handily placed in the game itself.

The tenth installment in Submachine series, 32 Chambers has its own history. Despite the Mesoamerican look, 32 Chambers is not part of our work, but of Mateusz Skutnik’s vast “subnet” (submachine network) world. Polish architect-turned-graphic novelist Skutnik has been producing Submachine games since 2005, building up quite a following.

If you need a break–or a series of breaks–to challenge your mind, Submachine: 32 Chambers might be just the right little trip to plug into your day’s itinerary.

author: Laura Blackwell

written by Oqapo

Rozbijte teleport pomocí odkliknutí souřadnice. Seberte zelený kámen za teleportem. Běžte doleva. Rozsypte písek z “box glyph” a seberte desku v něm. Klikněte na “air glyph” a vlezte do šachty která se otevřela. V šachtě seberte druhý zelený kámen a projděte šachtou dolů.

Běžte doleva seberte “lever handle” a na kraji třetí zelený kámen. Běžte podle malby nahorů a seberte druhou desku. Potom běžte dolů a 2x doleva a “lever handle” strčte do díry a zmáčkněte na něj. Běžte zpět k malbě a jděte dolů, seberte opřenou tyč a běžte doprava.

Seberte nad dírou, na stojanu mísu. Běžte 2x doprava a tam naklikejte symbol s popiskem “air” o jedno doprava “wind” a seberte čtvrtý zelený kámen, a zase o jedno naklikejte “fire” a rozsypte “box glyph” a seberte z něj kamenou kouli. Běžte doleva 3x a dolů. Vložte tyč do díry a seberte první topas, seberte pátý zelený kámen a běžte dolů.

Běžte 3x doprava a pod kruh s oblyčejem dejte misku, a pootočte kruh. Seberte misku a běžte doleva. Dejte soše do poháru misku s pískem. Běžte doleva seberte šestý zelený kámen, a po laně šplhejte nahorů. Nad částí provazu který je vodorovně je třetí deska, seberte jí a běžte doprava.

Před bránou pod podlahou seberte druhý topas. Pomocí kliknutí a táhnutí otevřete bránu a běžte doprava. 3x pootočte s kolem které vypadá jako tři čtvrtiny a vstupte za bránu. Seberte jehlan a běžte zpátky ke kolům. Teď 3x pootočte kolo které vypadá jako polovina a běžte znova za bránu. Běžte doprava, dolů a seberte krychli a teď běžte k tyči ve zdi, která je u symbolů jinak známích “obrázků”. Tak do toho otvoru s tou tyčí dejte krychli pro zatížení. Bežte zpátky za bránu, a teď zjistíte že už tam písek neni.

3x otočte kolem, běžte zpátky a stáhněte páku, běžte zpět ke kolu a 1x ho otočte. Běžte doleva seberte kouli a běžte k velké hlavě (socha), dejte jí do očních důlků koule, a ona otevře tlamu a v ní třetí topas. Běžte zpět na bránu. Tam běžte 2x doprava a seberte sedmý zelený kámen na čele sochy. Běžte doleva a projděte otvorem. Běžte doprava klikněte na “tooth glyph” a seberte poslední zelený kámen a poslední desku. Běžte 2x doleva, dejte jehlan na placku a rozsypte písek “box glyph”. Seberte poslední topas, běžte doprava a po schodech nahorů. Tam dejte do toho velkého kruhu všechny zelené kameny, topasy a desky, a otočte zmáčknutím a táhnutím kruhem. Potom vás to teleportuje, a konec!

THERE IS NO DIARY PAGE

THERE IS NO MENU

THERE IS NO SPOON

THERE IS ONLY YOU

AND THE MACHINE

“All memories are lost in time, like tears in rain.”

Submachine is the title of a series of Flash games created by Polish game designer Mateusz Skutnik.

All of the games are point-and-click style puzzles and (excepting the two AU games) follow a continuous storyline. The general object of each game is to escape from an enclosed (and usually submerged) location that houses a mysterious machine. As the story progresses, the player finds more and more about the history of the “submachines” through clues left behind by a mysterious figure named Murtaugh. One of the well-known characteristics of the game is a complete and total lack of any other living being, even animals. This often leads to the games being filed under Nightmare Fuel, thoughYour Mileage May Vary.

The puzzles within the game rely on acute observation, a willingness to hunt for objects hidden in the exact opposite of plain sight, and other such tasks. However, the puzzles are very cleverly made, and on completion one usually feels some degree of self-satisfaction.

Some of the tropes found within these games are:

• After The End – This is debatable, as the games haven’t revealed what happened to everybody else. Given some of the desperate-sounding letters in the more remote locations you visit, it wasn’t pleasant.
• Art Evolution
• Author Stand In – Mur, the mysterious figure that leaves you clues and interacts with you during the fourth game talks about having a pet black cat named Einstein-Mateusz has two black cats. Coincidence? …Quite possibly, yes (especially after The Edge).
• Beautiful Void – unless you find the structural decay, haunting minimalist music and utter lack of population unnerving (see Nightmare Fuel below).
• Big Brother Is Watching-There’s always a feeling that you are being watched by some unknown entity, especially after game #3.
• Bragging Rights Reward – Collect all twenty “secrets” in Sub 2 and you get… nothing. (Collecting the secrets in games 4 and 5, however, let you view extras.)
• Broken Pedestal – In Submachine 6: The Edge (huge spoilers), Mur abandons you in the Submachine after you disable its defences; you had no importance outside of enabling his invasion plan.

• Some of the notes left in Submachine 4: The Lab already hinted at this.
• In the SubNet Exploration Experience, if you visit the Loop from the third game (coordinates 555), you’ll find a “Submachine As Perpetual Maze theory” which ends with a short plea for help in escaping from the area, and you find it is written by the same character as in the above example.
• Submachine 6 also sees players engage with the computer elements of the machine.
• The SubNet Exploration Project is devoted largely to presenting many of the various fan theories as to what’s really going on.
• Claustrophobes might want to think twice as well.
• High Octane Nightmare Fuel – When you play Submachine Network Exploration Experience, type in 666 for the coordinates and see where you end up.
• The second game starts with you completing the first game on an arcade machine, and ends with you realizing your “escape” was just another game.
  • The “or was it?” part comes in when you realize what your inventory is at the beginning of the second game – the diary entry, as well as the Wisdom Gem you can find in the extended version of the first.
  • However, you no longer have the coin…
• In Network Exploration Experience, type in 815.

• Call Back – In Submachine 4 you visit various locations that are similar (but not identical) to areas of the previous games. In Submachine 5, you return to the lighthouse from Submachine 2, and collect the Wisdom Gem you left there.
• Cosmetic Award – In Submachine 2 collecting all the “secrets” (tiny spheres hidden around the world) yields … absolutely nothing. (In 4 and 5 they unlock a “Making of” section. 6 has five secret areas which yield extra information.)
• Early Installment Weirdness – If you had played the original Submachine without any knowledge of later episodes, you’d have probably guessed that the series would just be another set of escape-the-room series that happened to have a suitably creepy atmosphere. Then they introduced the stuff about teleportation, alternate dimensions, relics from forgotten civilizations, strange futuristic technology of an unknown source, etc., and the first game just seems sparse in comparison.
• Ghost City-You never encounter any people or animals whatsoever, and if This Troper remembers correctly, only one piece of vegetation.
• Leaning On The Fourth Wall – One of the notes you find in Submachine 4 (by someone who stumbled into the submachine network and can’t find their way out) reads suspiciously like a call for help on an escape game discussion board, complete with description of how far they’ve got and cute username.

• Master Computer – In Submachine 3, the “Loop” was a Matrix-style sort of computer in the sense that it separated people’s consciousness from reality, engaging them in puzzles to keep them from questioning their surroundings.

• Mind Screw – Becomes particularly prominent in the second installment.

• Nightmare Fuel – This walks hand-in-hand with Your Mileage May Vary, as stated above. People who have solitude issues should probably think a bit before playing this game.

• Nothing Is Scarier
• Ontological Mystery
• Or Was It A Dream – Not in the exact sense, but some well-placed comments about being part of “the loop” made for some interesting thoughts after having completed one of the games.

• Pixel Hunt – Quite often.
• Portal Network
• Red Herring – Quite a few in Submachine F L F.
• Shout Out – Submachine 2 opens woth the words “I didn’t wake up. And I do remember”, parodying the opening of “The Crimson Room”.

• The Wiki Rule – Submachine Wiki.
• Zeerust – You can tell that some of the abandoned technology is old both because of the dust and rust and also because much of it just looks dated otherwise.

Guia de Submachine 32 Chambers:

1. coge el jade #1 del suelo

2. click en el boton de la maquina… se rompera

3. izquierda, click encima de la caja… coge un plato de otoño

4. click en el panel de la pared… coge el jade #2

5. abajo, derecha, izquierda, coge una palanca y el jade #3 de la arena

6. click en la parte superior de la pared… coge el plato de invierno de la parte superior izquierda

7. abajo, derecha 2 veces, veras una cabeza de piedra, coloca la palanca en la ranura, accionala…

8. izquierda 2 veces, baja por el agujero, coge el palo

9. derecha, coge el cuenco de madera

10. derecha, lee la pista de los feroglificos… aire, viento y fuego atraviesan la arena

11. derecha, click en el panel de la pared hasta que leas AIR

12. derecha, ajusta el panel a WIND, coge el jade #4

13. derecha, ajusta el panel a FIRE… abre la caja y coge una piedra redonda

14. izquierda 3 veces, baja, coge el jade #5 de uno de los peldaños, luego coloca el palo en el agujero… coge el topacio #1

15. baja, derecha, coge el jade #6

16. derecha 2 veces, coloca el cuenco en el suelo debajo de la cara… click en el circulo… coge el cuenco lleno de arena

17. izquierda, usa el cuenco de arena en el vaso de la estatua

18. izquierda, sube por la cuerda, coge el plato de primavera de la parte superior de la pared

19. derecha 2 veces, ajusta el circulo derecho con 1/4 abierto abajo a la izquierda, y ajusta el circulo izquierdo con la mitad abierta hacia abajo

20. izquierda, click en el suelo debajo del panel de la pared, coge el topacio #2, luego arrastra la puerta hacia arriba y entra

21. coge la piedra con forma de cono

22. derecha, abajo, coge la piedra cuadrada… la arena no deja bajar mas

23. sube, izquierda 3 veces, baja por la cuerda, izquierda, sube 2 veces, izquierda, usa la piedra cuadrada en la palanca de la pared…

24. derecha, baja la escalera, derecha, sube la cuerda, derecha, entra, derecha, baja 2 veces, ajusta el circulo con el 1/4 abierto abajo a la derecha… sube la escalera, pulsa el panel… baja otra vez, izquierda, coge otra piedra redonda

25. derecha, click 1 vez en el circulo (el 1/4 abierto abajo a la izquierda)…

26. regresa a la sala de la cabeza de piedra (punto 7 de la guia), coloca las piedras redondas en los ojos… coge el topacio #3

27. regresa a la sala del ultimo circulo que ajustaste (punto 25 de la guia), derecha 2 veces, coge el jade #7 de la estatua

28. izquierda, entra por el arco, derecha, coge el plato de verano junto al pie del relieve, luego click en el panel inferior derecho… coge el jade #8

29. izquierda 2 veces, click en la caja, coge el topacio #4, luego coloca la piedra con forma de cono en el agujero…

30. derecha, sube los escalones… veras un panel redondo:

– coloca los 8 jades en las ranuras exteriores… mueve el circulo de jades y ajustalo (oiras un sonido)

– ajusta el siguiente circulo (oiras otro sonido)

– coloca los 4 topacios en las ranuras que se han formado

– coloca los platos en las ranuras cuadradas

– fijate en el triangulo junto a los platos, ajustalo mirando hacia arriba (oiras otro sonido)

… mira esta imagen

– ajusta la cara del centro… mira la animacion final

Click here to download for free.

reviews: jayisgames | gameshelf

Submachine Universe is probably the first ever MSO (massively singleplayer online) created in 2010, extended ever since. You can freely travel between different locations, read theories about submachine and observe how things work inside this network. There are locations that you might recognize from previous games, there’s a lot of new yet undiscovered content, there are even locations that you think you know, but they’re somehow different.  Surely worth a look. The best part – it’s an open project, which means I can add more locations later on and it will all work together smoothly. So, tinfoil hats on and start exploring if you dare, because there are some dark places inside.

[meanwhile, seven years later…]

In January of 2017 this project stopped being “online” and morphed into “free HD downloadable” – remaining my only project in Adobe Flash that was still active and open in 2017.  Enjoy!

Audience participation in single-player adventures

By Andrew Plotkin

For the past few years, Mateusz Skutnik has been publishing a series of mini-graphical adventures (in Flash) called “Submachine”.

The games are spare on storyline, but each game has a little bit. Even if the pieces don’t fit together tidily… yet. As you might expect, there’s been lots of ongoing forum discussion about the series.

Now the author has put up a new Submachine site: Submachine Network Exploration Experience. This is explicitly not a game; it’s a set of interlinked mini-worlds, slices of the other games. The only “puzzles” are exploring and discovering new coordinates to explore. (Earlier games introduced a coordinate-based teleporter system.) But — this is the cool part — each mini-world contains some printed notes: forum transcripts, giving different people’s theories of what’s going on and what various parts of the game mean.

This is a lovely way to include the player community in what is, mechanically, a series of solo adventures. It incorporates player contributions; it acknowledges that player response is part of the story, without throwing “canon” (whatever that means) out the window (whatever that means). The Exploration site is clearly expandable — the creator can add new mini-worlds whenever he wants. Or add new transcript notes. It’s not part of the series (there will be more Submachine games) but it’s part of the world.

You know my kinks, Watson, so you know this immediately reminded me of Myst Online. Cyan’s project was a hugely ambitious MMO, of course, whereas Submachine is one designer’s tightly-scoped project. But with SNEE (do I call it “SNEE”?) Mateusz Skutnik is tackling the same issues: ongoing story and the fan community. And, I must admit, he’s now a step farther than Cyan ever managed.

(I don’t recommend you start with the SNEE site — it won’t mean much if you haven’t played the earlier games. Start with Submachine 1: the basement. The whole series is accessible from the Submachine World web site.)