Mother Machine REVIEW
Maschien-Mensch has released its new multiplayer roguelite platformer hybrid, Mother Machine . The Berlin-based indie developer is best known to fans for its previous games Curious Expedition and Curious Expedition 2 , but Mother Machine takes its development in a completely new direction.
The game takes place in the distant future on an alien planet. Humans have abandoned the titular AI supercomputer, Mother Machine, but her very existence is driving her mad. As a solution to this problem, Mother Machine creates life in the form of Chaos Gremlins and sends them out to explore the world.
Mother Machine is a multiplayer roguelite where players take on the role of a Chaos Gremlin created by the titular Mother Machine. As a Chaos Gremlin, you and up to three friends can explore a procedurally generated tunnel system.
Each Gremlin has the basic ability to run, jump, mine crystals, and climb so they can progress through each of the game’s levels. Along the way, the goal is to collect crystals and bring them back to your base or spend them throughout the level for various upgrades.
With these crystals, you can mutate your Chaos Gremlin. In our time watching the game in action, we saw that some Gremlins could create projectiles from burps or secrete a substance that makes climbing easier.
Each of these mutations will encourage different playstyles. If you don’t want enemies to bother you as much, then making sure you’re an offensive style Gremlin will allow you to worry less about enemies spawning, otherwise, if you want to make sure no rock is left untouched, make sure you can climb anywhere and you’ll be able to return to base with even more crystals.
The ability to specialize Gremlins in different ways was also a key aspect of why this game should be more fun to play with other players. With two or even three Gremlins, roles suddenly start to form, with the offensive Gremlins taking the lead while the others search for crystals when the coast is clear.
The real star of the little we saw of the game was the alien landscape the game takes place in. The gremlins alone seem strange and alien, but once you start looking at all the different flora and fauna that appear during escalation, you begin to understand just how strange this world is.
Mother Machine puts a heavy emphasis on customization, with collected currency being spent on new skins, eyes, ears, and more to help differentiate your on-screen gremlin from the other three scurrying around, and to express your own unique style.
Mother Machine is a fun multiplayer platformer that is easy to pick up and a lot of fun to play with other players. There is always a new expedition available to join the party, swinging, burping, and farting, giggling with your buddies while you get the job done. We would recommend this game to any platformer fan.
