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Games Submachine 10: the Exit, Submachine 9: The Temple, Submachine 8: The Plan, Submachine 7: The Core, Submachine 5: The Root | ||
The Submachine (short for Submerged Machine) series is a series of point-and-click adventure games, created by Mateusz Skutnik, that was first released in September 2005.
Contents
- Part of the main series
- Spin offs
- Other Submachine related projects
- Development
- Future Submachine projects
- Community
- Awards
- References
In all the games you play as an unidentified character who explores new locations of the "Subnet", which is a broken and distorted reality that features decaying buildings and abandoned structures. The buildings and structures are categorized into groups called "submachines" based on architectural style. You have to solve different puzzles and examine the environment in order to escape. The series has been generally well received. There are ten installations in the main series as well as four spin-offs. Two of the spin-offs were made for a Jayisgames contest and another for the website of the band Future Loop Foundation.
In an interview with Igor Hardy, Mateusz Skutnik stated that "This series should go at least until Submachine 10. After that, I don't know."
Part of the main series
Spin-offs
Other Submachine-related projects
Development
All of the Submachine games made so far are created in Flash. Each game has regularly been released online (minus Submachine: FLF) to play on Mateusz Skutnik's own website and other popular Flash game websites. Downloadable fullscreen versions can also be bought through the developer's store, and they are known as "HD versions".
In 2016 Mateusz Skutnik formally announced his decision to move away from Flash as a game-building platform and started to use GameMaker to develop his future games. Whether he will still use Flash to create future Submachine games or not is unknown.
Future Submachine projects
In July 2015, Skutnik put "Submachine: The Engine" on his Patreon page as his $2000-per-month milestone goal. The game was at some point taken off the page by Skutnik, but in October 2016 he put the goal back.
When he reached $1400 a month, he announced a Submachine Universe update consisting of 10 new locations. He said on October 26, 2015 on the Pastel Land Forum that if the Patreon goes back under $1400, he will remove the goal. He then clarified and said that removing a goal doesn't mean that he won't make the project. He then said that he is still going to make all the projects that he removed from his Patreon page, like Daymare Town 5 and Submachine: The Engine.
Skutnik also had plans to release a downloadable HD version of Submachine Universe. Because of the periodic updates, a downloadable version of the SubVerse would be more inconvenient for players. However, Skutnik stated that he has made an HD downloadable version and would release it soon. He further said on November 6, 2015 on the Pastel Land Forum that he might not release the HD version in 2016, as he wanted to take a break from Submachine after releasing Submachine 10. He released the HD version on January 26, 2017 for free, and currently only updates that (offline) version.
Community
The Submachine series has drawn a multitude of fans to join Pastel Forum, created by the developer. On this forum the fans have developed many theories, which are the main backing of most people's ideas on the story behind the Subnet, due to the often vague storyline of the series.
Some of these theories are included in the Submachine Universe, which was described as a "lovely way to include the player community in [...] a series of solo adventures" by Andrew Plotkin of GamesShelf in his review of the game.
Awards
The series has won numerous awards, including four from Jayisgames: