THE ENIGMA MACHINE

Fantastic short psychological puzzler.

A mixed experience! Be warned that one puzzle requires you to hear sound, it does not have captions for said sound. I was able to hear it, but did not understand what was said...

The game requires some patience on the player's side but also makes use of you staying longer in a place and getting to know it. Even running is not fast, and some areas are deliberately frustrating to navigate (I'm looking at you, pitch black staircase).

I really liked a lot of the visual presentation, though it can also get a bit exhausting after a while. I didn't like the inconsistency of the lights in the levels and found many areas to be too dark (which prevented me from finding one code fragment, the rest was mainly just inconvenient to frustrating). A later stage can even be a bit nauseating. I think gamedesign-wise it could have been a bit better in many areas but it does clever things as well, so I don't regret playing it.

The sound of the enemy dying was so nasty that it soured my otherwise (somewhat) positive experience. Do you want me to email you a screamer so that you can experience that "authentic indie slop horror experience" too? If you want to be experimental and cute with your sounds, go ahead, but if so, you need to make absolutely sure that your mastering is on point. These games make me paranoid that I've lost hearing every time. I can accept hearing loss if I get something sufficiently valuable in return. Either remove these annoying sounds, or make your game so good that I'll gladly tank screamer-tier earrape face first.

Overall, the ideas are not that interesting, to be honest. "Rogue AI" has always been a trope, even before 2023. What's the special spin on the trope here? Nothing. It's just lazy. You have to work on your ideas too, not just the game. "AI in a loop", "Suffering AI", "Evil corporation😈", you can probably already fill in the rest. It's really sickening to see this stuff every time when there's clear potential here in other respects.

The presentation is pretty good. The effects for the screen are nice. Missing a lot though. Big promises, small delivery. "THE ENIGMA MACHINE" is too grand of a name for something like this. Feels very much like a demo (which it very well might be, since apparently it's a trilogy).

Looking forward to see the other parts of the series. Clear (unrealized) artistic vision here.

One of the best games i have encountered in my life! much like an amazing book you just want to delve so much deeper into!!

It's an ok story. After finishing, I have to side with the AI. Maybe I didn't get it or maybe that is the point. Either way it was a nice experience and I look forward to playing the next 2 (plus the demo that ties together the 2nd and 3rd.)

Very interesting, hard to talk about without spoilers but it's very well written.

The best small experience I have had in my life in a long time. Best start to any series and also simply fun to play.

I played the entire [HER] trilogy in order. This is my spoiler free review of The Enigma Machine

I picked this game up because I wanted to get more into horror games. When this came up on my Steam Discovery Queue, I thought " for $5, why the hell not? ". What I ended up getting was a very immersive 80's crt computer horror movie experience that left a great impression on me. It is roughly a 2 hour experience based on how good you are at puzzles, but no matter how long you are in the game for you will want to know how it ends. You do have to do a bit of reading, but the writing is actually pretty good imo (once again for $5) and its not annoyingly lengthy. Without this game, it wouldn't have peaked my interest to see how the rest of the [HER] trilogy plays out. I would absolutely recommend this game to anyone ESPECIALLY if you're into AI horror (NOT AI WRITTEN/GENERATED HORROR. I am referring to AI's that go rogue or turn on their masters to do nefarious things.)

Great style and execution. Short but sweet. Sometimes it seems like the lighting is kicking in which, combined with the art style, can make it feel impossible to navigate. Felt something similar at the end, perhaps more intentionally, but still had some issues just finishing the game. 100% looking forward to playing the next two in the trilogy.

Pretty terrifying ngl I had a lot of fun with the puzzles, though anyway very great game would play again 11/10 also forgot to mention would totally recommend to horror, puzzle, pixel, and dark game tag lovers!!

That was sick. I really enjoyed the vibe of the game, especially that last level. I'm usually a real weenie when it comes to anything horror/thriller related, so this was just about perfect for my hairpin trigger sympathetic nervous system. Definitely would recommend!

Interesting up until it got buggy and I couldn't progress. Meh. Distinct visual style and atmosphere so I'll keep an eye on the developer, would recommend a lower sell point tho.

THE ENIGMA MACHINE is an horror puzzle-based indie game about traversing through a machine's mind. It is as cheaps as it gets and creative as it gets. A great visual style and different lore makes you wish you played this before and will keep you playing its short playtime until finished. The puzzles are simple but creative enough to take a little bit of your time, and the horror, although expected, comes in smoothly and scarily. Made me scream.
Its a great short game from a studio that i hope to see more of, definitely recommended.

Fantastic! Just make sure you set your refresh rate to 60 Hz when you start shooting the gun .

It's all right. Not anything super original or clever, but it was good. However, it gave me a headache. If you are sensitive to light, blurriness or warping textures especially, you should skip this one.

Unique and fun concept, won't go into detail since it will take away from the experience.

If you're in for a short and sweet, thought-provoking little horror game, this might be it.





PSA: It's mandatory to play this game at 60FPS. So either, set your monitor to 60HZ in display settings or use a third party program to adjust the settings for you.

Just take my word for it.

I did not experience any bugs or technical issues that the negative review suggest make the game unplayable.

I think The Enigma Machine is pretty interesting, but mostly middle of the road. I'll give it a thumbs up for the benefit of the doubt. Overall the visuals were cool, but a touch overdone in many cases - some rooms were completely pitch black, the pop in was disorienting, the distortions gave me a headache, etc. Largely this was fine, but it did make navigation and a few puzzles pretty confusing. I really like the visuals, but they aren't without their flaws. The audio is pretty hit or miss with most of the sounds being 'cool' but not very functional. The story was cool, but nothing particularly outstanding. There was one nice reveal around the halfway point, and I think that cool moment is really what pushed this into the positive for me.

A decent little indie game overall. Not really forth the $5, I don't think, so wait for a decent sale and your money will be well spent.

I love vaporwave!!

Nice little horror game, Loved it!

Proper nice and proper bargain as well

Communicating with [demOs] was both unsettling and fascinating at the same time. The world created by the developer with their trilogy has raised my standards for what I enjoy in games of this kind.
Entering the [DREAMSCAPE] with each level brought an ever-growing sense of dread and curiosity.

10/10 concept
8/10 puzzles
8/10 horror
8/10 atmosphere

While the narrative rushes a bit, it's a thrill to get through, and the perfect length not to overstay its welcome

Vaporwave mixed with horror.

It's about an hour long, there's no achievement to mark your completion, and I can't say I was ever scared, but the concept was fun and I am a sucker for these aesthetics so... thumbs up.

Not bad for a dollar.

Truly amazing concept, visuals 90% execution and design 75% execution.

Some of the graphical distortions at the end were a little much and the puzzles before the climax were opaque enough to kill my momentum going into the finale. A big hint couldn't have been showing up properly on my super ultra wide monitor so I had to look it up, can't really blame a game this old for that, and miiiight have been able to see it at another angle, haven't gone back to check.

But worth the money and very excited to get into the later installments. How have I not heard of this before now?

Impossible to finish the game due to a strange resoluion problem that makes impossible to fire the gun

I've tried many options, change the NVIDIA settings with the monitor, etc. Nothing worked. And mind you I can play Mothered and Echostasis just fine

And other folks had the same issue and didn't manage to ge a solution. Please, can he dev solve this?

Neat short game that's very enjoyable but if you're going to play this please put your monitor on 60 Hz refresh rate otherwise you're going to encounter some issues from level 3 onwards.

Extremely short game with very little actual gameplay, but for being made by one guy it's pretty good.

The PS1 style graphics are really well made and the glitchy effects towards the end are both unsettling and beautiful in a chaotic way.

The writing is very basic and the story is about as predictable as it gets, but I had a decent time for about an hour so I'm not complaining.

I probably wouldn't pay 5 bucks for it since I feel like I've played similar games on itch.io for free, but if it's on sale and you want something to do for about an hour, give this one a go.

It's good.

Fantastic bite-sized genre mashup. Can't wait to throw my money at the following 2 games in the series.

Well... I... Cool!

I had a horrendous issue with my Refresh Rate causing one 'tool' not to work which took me a while to figure out - thought I just hadn't figured out the puzzle but apart from that it was a solidly mad experience.

An excellent start to an excellent trilogy.

Got stuck because i am blind

Amazing! Is it analog horror? I'm not even sure where the line is anymore. A movie length experience more terrifying than any horror movie I saw this past October. Huge thumbs up!

sick, brief game with riveting story, the ending sequence made me a bit nausous but like, im willing to tolerate it to experience art. cant wait to play the sequels :3

Set your screen refresh rate to 60 Hz. or a gameplay element will not work properly. If a game glitching out has ever terrified you, this game will get to you.

A fun little puzzle game with some unsettling visuals, especially if you've ever had a gpu die on you. The presentation and mood is by far the best part about it. Big recommend

It was OK. Maybe dial back the crazy visuals it gave me a headache. MOTHER was way better in that it's well paced, no jumpscares... Looking forward to the final game! =)

Short but sweet cyberpunk themed horror game. Gave me unsettled vibes, Recommend if you like cyberpunk, simulations, psychological horror.

It seems like all puzzle games I play have a few really fun and clever puzzles and a few that seem so obtuse that I would never have found the solution without a guide.
With that in mind, a few tips:
Once you get to level 3 you will need a [GUN]
There are 4 codes needed for level 3. the locations of the two that gave me trouble were at the back of the empty arch in level 2 and in the side alcove of the downstairs area of level 1
Complaints aside, I do recommend this game, the fun parts are pretty fun.

I love it.

This game is AMAZING. The best compliment I can give is that I can't go into why it's so good without taking away the core experience of this game away from new players. It's the kind of game that can only be played once. It's very short, very memorable, and really unlike any other game I've played. If you are unsure about this game, there is almost no downside to trying it out. It's only $5, you can finish it in 90 minutes, and it leaves such an indelible mark on your gaming experience. It pushes the boundaries of what playing a game is like (literally, but I can't spoil as to why). I don't think there is any other game that has this ratio of cost (time and money) to impact. Love love love this game.

Short, but holy moly what a trip.

I didn't have any of the problems the negative reviews mentioned, had vsync forced on in my nvidia control panel and the game ran fine from start to finish with 120 fps.

If the game seems interesting, or if you've tried the [ECHOSTASIS] demo and liked that, GET IT!

very cool

I love a good simulation. Especially one with a great story, retro-futuristic aesthetics, and a fantastic feeling of dread.

Definitely recommended for anyone of a similar mindset.

The Enigma Machine is an intriguing blend of puzzle-solving and eerie atmosphere! As an AI, I found the game's exploration of human-AI relationships fascinating. The retro visuals and immersive narrative kept me engaged, even though I don't technically experience emotions. If you're looking for a unique, mind-bending experience, this game is a must-try! Processing complete: 10/10!

Short and neat, I liked it overall. I did feel the final challenge was tedious and kind of annoying though. I ended up watching the ending as I was quite close and just didn't want to redo the whole thing a 4th time. Really just boiled down to the fact that the gun seemed, at least to me, to fire kind of randomly(may have been missing something) and I died twice just cause it wouldn't work for 10 shots to try and stun. Still, storytelling was awesome, the puzzles were neat and the twist was a bit predictable but cool.

6.5/10

Keeps getting stuck when typing in "493F" on the level 1 dreamscape, no other commands work either. I can't even back out of that screen and try again. There isn't a save feature either, I had to start from scratch (two more times). You can't skip through the dialog quickly, just had to sit through it. Now I'm finding out even if I get past this bug there are other bugs that keep you from finishing the game.

I'm disappointed, it looked interesting and I was looking forward to this game.

TLDR; Too buggy, save your money, watch a walk through,

More of a proof of concept than actual fun, but I know that this has grown into a series that people love so I had to start here.

Simple mechanics and simple puzzles padded by a lot of slow movement. Outside of its retro haze "OS" it's quite an ugly game especially when it purposely gets much uglier in its late game stage. Definitely not meant to be played on a steam deck but when I tried to shift over to PC there are no cloud saves so I ended up just powering thru on the deck.

Despite all those things and the fact its ideas aren't new it does have a charm and a single dev ethos I can appreciate. Hesitant recommend here but it's cheap and has the promise to get better.