Mekorama Guide
You'll control a little robot as he embarks upon a journey to a set goal location, controlling him by tapping where you want to head to. Since each space is broken up in a grid-like fashion, it's easy to figure out exactly where the robot needs to go by tapping an individual square. There's pretty much no room for error, even on a device with less screen real estate. If I had one criticism regarding the camera though, it would be that the zoom function is a little too basic. By pinching to zoom you can get closer to the action, but unfortunately there's no way to focus in on the character itself, so often times zooming in is pointless. There's levels where you'll descend underwater in attempt to locate a goal obfuscated by liquid, and challenges where one might have to take a leap of faith to drop to a lower platform. You can't just tap anywhere and automatically win either -- players will need to flip the camera angle around and look at every possible angle to make their way to the end. When tools and other objects enter the picture, it becomes more than just a point and click affair. As a side note, I really love how the little guy sways his arms and flails around when moving. The best part isn't the official set of levels though (of which there are 50, and last a long, long while), it's the QR custom design aspect. Yep, the game allows you to create a level, create an QR code, and then scan a creation in.
The premise behind Mekorama is that you’re helping guide an adorable lost robot home, through a series of 50 “tiny mechanical dioramas.” Each diorama can be spun 360 degrees to be viewed from each side as you lead your robot through the puzzle. The path you must take toward your destination is made up of blocks, some passable, some not. To move along the path, simply tap on the block you’re trying to move towards. If the direct path is open, your robot will waddle along to your destination. If the path is obstructed, you’ll need to figure out your way around, under, or through. Early levels are somewhat procedural, in that once you figure out the mechanic, you just need to keep doing that thing to make it through. But as you progress, the levels become more complicated, more maze-like, and interesting mechanics start to reveal themselves.Magni’s robot is a virtuosic study in “secondary animation,” which is affective movement that is added to an object as a result of its primary motion such as walking from one point to another. The purpose of secondary animation is to make your object in motion feel more nuanced, realistic or emotive. Consider that when you walk, you place one foot in front of another and then your secondary motion might be swinging your arms; if that action were animated for a person with only their feet moving, it would feel less realistic than if their arms were also swinging.
To see how to best solve each problem, your main on-screen weapon is the ability to spin the screen left and right, flying around the level in a circular fly-by pattern, stopping exactly where you want to, so you can find the secret to solving your conundrum. Like most platformers, the levels start out simple enough, but graduate in both their variety and complexity to challenge you more and more as you progress. Eventually you end up with both allies and enemies compounding your troubles in further levels.The gameplay is very relaxed and simple, allowing quick pick-up and put-down, letting you jump back in on a moment’s notice. This is another advantage (in my opinion) over the likes of Monument Valley, large time chunks of each level is dedicated to scripted, drawn-out animations. You'll control a little robot as he embarks upon a journey to a set goal location, controlling him by tapping where you want to head to. Since each space is broken up in a grid-like fashion, it's easy to figure out exactly where the robot needs to go by tapping an individual square. There's pretty much no room for error, even on a device with less screen real estate. If I had one criticism regarding the camera though, it would be that the zoom function is a little too basic. By pinching to zoom you can get closer to the action, but unfortunately there's no way to focus in on the character itself, so often times zooming in is pointless. There's levels where you'll descend underwater in attempt to locate a goal obfuscated by liquid, and challenges where one might have to take a leap of faith to drop to a lower platform.
The basic concept is you are the keeper of an adorable-y dumb robot and you need to guide it through levels by telling it where to walk and removing obstacles from its way. According to the game creator, the robot is called B because of its bumbling movement and yellow & black paint job. Mekorama’s robot has thoughtful, idiosyncratic motions added to almost every body part, each which is also effected by velocity, inertia and other physical forces. Hands flail and arms extend with a quick drop, feet shuffle while a paunchy metal belly eases forward and back with each step. The robot alone is worth watching as it moves through space and likely deserves its own animation series. Each diorama can be spun 360 degrees to be viewed from each side as you lead your robot through the puzzle. The path you must take toward your destination is made up of blocks, some passable, some not. To move along the path, simply tap on the block you’re trying to move towards. If the direct path is open, your robot will waddle along to your destination. If the path is obstructed, you’ll need to figure out your way around, under, or through. Early levels are somewhat procedural, in that once you figure out the mechanic, you just need to keep doing that thing to make it through.
