Did you ever wonder what would happen if humans created a world where they didn’t have to work anymore, and the machines kicked them out? Dog in the Machine attempts to answer that question with one simple twist. Mans best friend was also replaced with robots, but they are still man’s best friend. Studio Chahut was nice enough to hook me up with a copy of this one, and I am glad they did.
The combat here is simple to learn. Your trusty mechanical dog wakes up and has to fight his way out. In true roguelite fashion, every run will teach you something and let you upgrade yourself for the next run and unlock more of the story. Unlike most games, the story actually means something this time around. I enjoyed learning where humans messed up this time around, and it isn’t a simple attempt at saying humans are greedy and evil and treated the machines badly. In fact, the dogs aren’t on your side only because they love humans; they were about to be destroyed themselves. Each new dog you control is taken from a room where they are decommissioned.
You will program your dog each turn in a totally stress-free manner. Take your time, see what the best actions are, and if you don’t like them, start over. The game is designed to let you see the outcome of your turn and, if you dislike it, reset it. This does not make the game easy. More than one of my runs ended early because I made silly decisions early that resulted in me setting off alarms I shouldn’t have or because I backed myself into a corner and let the machines pump out more and more enemies.
Another very nice touch is how you upgrade attacks. It isn’t always as simple as taking something from level one to level two. Sometimes it is taking your simple bite attack and combining it with your poison attack, now your bite attack also deals poison damage.
My one and only complaint is that many of the upgrades between runs feel kind of underwhelming at times. It is sitting at positive reviews on Steam, with one person noting they “came for the puzzles but stayed for the violence,” which honestly seems fair. It is a 9/10 experience that I have put fewer hours than I’d have liked into, but will be putting more hours than I should. Pick this one up, best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
- Dog in the Machine Steam Review
- Moonfrost Steam Review
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