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Mother Machine: Everything We Know
Indie developer Maschinen-Mensch recently announced its latest upcoming game, Mother Machine, a roguelike co-op RPG with platforming mechanics. The game looks heartwarming, featuring silly-looking gremlins doing all sorts of silly things. It also features an intriguing story that explores serious real-world issues despite its silly nature.
Mother Machine is still in development and won’t launch until 2025. Fortunately, the developers have released enough information to paint a clear picture of how it will work. Here is a comprehensive preview of everything we know about Mother Machine.
What is Mother Machine?
Mother Machine is a co-op roguelike RPG with a versatile gameplay design that also incorporates platforming mechanics. It is set in a distant, post-apocalyptic future and features a powerful Artificial Intelligence program, Mother Machine, and her creations, gremlins.
The game will offer a variety of fun activities, including cheeky action, exploration, solving environmental puzzles, and storytelling. Interestingly, it has the potential to become one of the most popular co-op games in its niche because of its silly, chaotic fun, stunning artwork, and intriguing storytelling.
Story
Storytelling is one of Mother Machine’s best aspects because of its intriguing plot. It is set thousands of years in the future in a world that is on the brink of dying. Humans and most animals are extinct, and all that’s left is plants and strange wildlife.
Mother Machine, a powerful AI computer, is the only surviving element of technology. However, it starts malfunctioning and risks going obsolete without the resources it needs. It devises a solution using organic filament to 3D-print creatures called gremlins, which she then sends out to the world to explore and gather the resources she needs.
Mother Machine sees herself as a mother to the gremlins. However, it appears to be a case of tough love, as she doesn’t mind putting them at risk when sending them out for resources. The AI’s tough love indicates potentially sinister intentions and raises questions about what happened to the world.
Interestingly, the gremlins start uncovering the mystery and past secrets as they explore the planet and complete various objectives. Moreover, they start piecing clues together, based on the resources they bring Mother Machine, to uncover what she is working on. Notably, the game also uses environmental storytelling to make up for the lack of dialogue.
Gameplay
Mother Machine delivers an incredibly fun gameplay experience. The gremlins cause chaos everywhere they go, behave as silly as they look, and have hilarious abilities, creating many laughable moments. The overall gameplay involves exploration, collecting resources, action, storytelling, and character customization.
Exploration and resource collection are the main aspects of the gameplay design. The gremlins must explore their surrounding environments for the resources that Mother Machine needs for her secret project. You will enjoy your adventures thanks to the game’s beautiful visuals. Moreover, the environments are procedurally generated and appear unique with every run.
Getting around can be challenging, and you must solve environmental puzzles to get around obstacles like gaps in the terrain or walls in your path. For example, you can use vines to climb and swing. You can also use abilities like the gremlins’ sticky substance to climb steep walls.
The world is not completely uninhabited, and the gremlins come across various animals as they explore and collect resources. Some of the creatures are dangerous, and the gremlins must fight to defend themselves. However, some of the creatures are friendly, and the gremlins can even use them to their advantage. For example, the trailer showcases the gremlins riding an elephant-like animal while fighting other dangerous creatures on the ground.
The gremlins have varying abilities that they can use when fighting dangerous creatures. The abilities are hilarious, adding some fun to the gameplay. For example, some gremlins can heal using farts, while others can provide protective shields by belching. Moreover, you can unlock mutations that can expand the gremlins’ abilities, enabling you to customize their playstyles.
Interestingly, the gremlins’ varying abilities make Mother Machine more enjoyable when played as a co-op. The co-op mode supports up to four players. The game’s drop-in multiplayer mechanics enable anyone to join at any time. Moreover, the multiplayer mechanics are balanced to ensure that players with varying skill levels can game together.
Storytelling is also a core concept of the gameplay. Interestingly, the resources Mother Machine needs dwindle over time. As such, the gremlins venture further out, during which they start learning about the world’s grim history. This piques their curiosity, and they start looking for clues to find out what the AI is working on. The story unfolds as you go. Interestingly, Mother Machine could turn out good or bad.
Development
Machinen-Mensch, an indie studio based in Berlin, is the developer behind Mother Machine. The studio has several other noteworthy games under its name, most notably Curious Expedition. Interestingly, the studio was founded by two AAA developers seeking to specialize in games with innovative gameplay designs and generative storytelling.
Trailer
The official trailer for Mother Machine is essentially a collection of cutscenes showcasing its gameplay. Various scenes showcase the gremlins exploring the world, using their abilities, solving environmental puzzles, and engaging with other creatures.
The trailer showcases a few of the gremlins’ abilities, such as acid breath attacks, healing farts, protective belches, and sticky slimes. Notably, you can see multiple gremlins combine their abilities to get out of sticky situations, highlighting the game’s co-op design.
Most of the other scenes in the trailer showcase the game’s environments and wildlife. The world appears overrun with plants. Moreover, the animals look like strange mutations and range from small frog-like creatures to huge giants. Interestingly, some creatures appear hostile while others seem friendly.
Release Date, Platforms & Editions
Mother Machine is still under development and will launch in the first quartile of 2025. It will be available on various platforms, including consoles, PC, and Steam Deck. However, the developers didn’t specify which consoles the game will support. The game will be the first edition of hopefully many other editions, considering its fun gameplay design and huge potential.
So, what’s your take on our preview of Mother Machine? Are you eager to play the game? Let us know on our socials here or in the comments below.
