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Your fondest gaming memories, remastered. Relive the glory days of browser-based gaming with this bundle of classics, modernized, remastered, and rereleased in their ultimate forms. Let the lead fly in the customizable 2D shooter Strike Force Heroes, lovingly reforged by its original creators. Take in the stunning, spooky vibes of the hand-drawn puzzler adventure Submachine: Legacy. Ensure humanity’s survival amidst the zombie apocalypse in the three-part Last Stand Legacy Collection, complete with slick upscaled art. Pay what you want for all these classics and more, 8 in total, and help support charity with your purchase!

Mateusz Skutnik’s excellent Flash series re-emerges to live on in an enhanced, cohesive singular adventure.

If the name Submachine conjures up fond memories for you—if you spent the decade between 2005 to 2015 spelunking through the subnet and trading theories while you waited for the latest installment of the original free Flash series—then you likely already know all you need to about Submachine: Legacy, the revamped and updated omnibus of designer Mateusz Skutnik’s semi-legendary trans-dimensional odyssey: that it unites the ten original chapters into a single cohesive package; that the graphics and puzzles have received a fresh coat of paint and quality-of-life tweaks; that this new and definitive presentation will allow Submachine to persist in a post-Flash world.

If none of that means anything to you, though, don’t worry: Legacy ought to be as accessible to newcomers as it is to die-hard, there-from-the-start devotees. Though the original is now almost twenty years old, Submachine: Legacy is no museum piece; it’s an astonishingly intricate and beautifully crafted journey into a strange and unexpected setting that shows almost none of its age. If you like your puzzles difficult, your obstacles frequent, and your narratives ambiguous, you’ll understand right away why it’s endured for so long.

The story begins with the (silent, nameless, faceless) player character stepping into an elevator that travels deep underground, letting out in the basement of a subterranean lighthouse. Your immediate goal, insofar as you have one, is just to explore and find out what makes the place tick. There are odd devices and mechanisms everywhere, and solving the complex puzzles of their function produces clues to a larger picture. Scattered about, you’ll find notes by a mysterious person (or persons), alluding to somebody named Murtaugh, formerly the lighthouse’s keeper. It seems Murtaugh made a shocking, paradigm-shifting discovery, the nature of which is initially unclear but which concerned an energy he dubbed karma.

Harnessing and manipulating karma allowed Murtaugh to enter the subnet: a vast, otherworldly network of buried mechanical structures—submachines, short for subterranean machines—linked together by portals of karma energy. Murtaugh became obsessed with exploring and mapping the subnet, and led numerous expeditions to that end. That was long ago now, though; his current whereabouts—along with those of his many team members—are unknown. While he and others can, at times, communicate directly with you—both by leaving notes and, occasionally, via computer terminals you stumble across—you appear separated by space, time, and other more mysterious factors. Eventually, of course, you’ll find your own way into the subnet, and it’s only by following in Murtaugh’s footsteps that you’ll have a hope of seeing the surface again.

As in the lighthouse, there are notes laying out scraps of Murtaugh’s story tucked away throughout the subnet. Many of these are entirely optional to collect, and easily missed if you don’t keep your eyes open. The more you read, the more familiar you’ll become with some of the subnet’s other (unseen) explorers—most notably Elizabeth, Murtaugh’s dearest friend and philosophical opposite who became entangled in his grand plans—but your progress is rarely dependent on how much you’ve pieced together about your predecessors. Either way, you’ll probably finish the game with plenty of questions left over; Submachine has had a very active community for almost twenty years, and they’re still posting theories about what it all means.

With narrative taking a backseat, the game’s primary emphasis is on exploration and puzzle-solving. The subnet itself is gigantic—the game’s marketing promises a mindblowing 1900 rooms—but the process of exploring is rarely too daunting, with a first-person slideshow presentation that makes it easy to move from room to room. It’s also its own reward, with Skutnik’s lushly colored backgrounds blending bold, almost Beardsley-esque linework with a barely restrained cartoon sensibility that evokes Gahan Wilson, all without sacrificing the legibility of explorable environments. Meanwhile, the ambient score by The ThumpMonks and Marcus Gutierrez thrums and buzzes like an unseen electrical current running beneath it all, periodically bubbling up to life in moments of ethereal awe.

Making your way through is straightforward thanks to a simple, one-click interface typical of the Flash era that produced it. Your cursor glows over hotspots and screen exits, letting you click to interact. A right-click pulls up an overlay displaying your inventory, where you can select an object to bring out onto the main screen or (via a context-sensitive cursor within your inventory) examine a note you’ve picked up.

Occasionally, and with no apparent rhyme or reason that I could discern, your cursor will transform over certain hotspots to resemble a specific object you have to use there: the glowing silhouette of a hammer, for instance, or a screwdriver or other tool. If you don’t yet have the object in question, it’s helpful to know what obstacles you can’t tackle yet, but it’s inconsistently applied and adds little enough to the game that I’m hard-pressed to explain why it’s there.

The lack of a “show all hotspots” feature can also lead to a fair amount of pixel hunting in the subnet’s more cluttered crannies (especially if you’re trying to rustle up all the game’s many secrets), and there’s no way around that besides perpetual vigilance. Still, most chapters are geographically restricted enough that retracing your steps to figure out what you’ve missed isn’t too taxing. (The massive final chapter is another story, but more on that in a bit.)

More inconvenient are those screens where an exit blends too well into the background, but since the game lets you navigate with the arrow keys as well as the mouse, it’s not as big a problem as it could be. (Pressing an arrow moves you automatically to the next screen if that direction is available—whether you as the player know how you got there or not.) Some might have preferred more explicit signposting to begin with, but to me it feels in keeping with the subnet’s inscrutable character that movement itself should prove puzzling from time to time.

And puzzling is certainly the operative word here. Submachine: Legacy is jam-packed with puzzles, in such volume and so many different varieties—elaborate locks to tease open; strange, busted contraptions to reassemble and operate; logical challenges to unravel strand by strand—that it can sometimes feel necessary to make a checklist, lest you lose track of which found object or number sequence you need for which arcane doohickey. If you’re stuck on one obstacle, there’s almost always another to ponder just a few screens away. You may struggle for a time with how to solve them, but you’ll never lack for places to try.

Some puzzle types are unique to particular chapters. Chapter 3, for instance, involves using a gadget to navigate the X-Y coordinates of a seemingly endless series of looping corridors. Chapter 4 sees you tracking down three-digit codes to activate a network of teleporters that unlock isolated locations. There are frequent inventory puzzles, as well, ranging from straightforward find-valve-to-open-pipe types to ones that require more creative thinking. With very few exceptions these are logical and well-constructed; the few that truly stymied me usually hinged on the realization that I could take something I’d mistaken for a background detail.

As I mentioned, there are many, many secrets to uncover. Some of the notes shining light on Murtaugh, Elizabeth and company are hidden in a way that defies immediate notice, and the moment you spy one is immensely satisfying. There’s also, however, a sort of unspoken secondary mission baked into Legacy that many players might overlook entirely, as the game itself never tells you to go looking for it. This involves collecting a number of “micro stabilizers” hidden carefully throughout each level, which, when united, unlock secret areas containing strange monoliths. The more monoliths you activate, the more you’ll be able to access in the optional level “Shattered Quadrant,” which is available through the menu. This level, based on a side game in the original Flash series called Submachine Universe, offers a huge number of locations to explore via teleporters (similar, but not quite the same as the ones in chapter 4). Taken alongside three other optional levels—likewise accessed through the menu—it can add significantly to the main game’s roughly fourteen-hour runtime.

There’s no doubt that Submachine: Legacy offers both quality and quantity, but…well…there really is an awful lot of quantity in some places. The tenth and last of the main chapters is bigger and longer than some full games, with what I’d estimate to be a few hundred screens to traverse all on its own. (If it turns out I’m wrong about that, then I apologize profusely for not counting myself, with the caveat that I won’t do it next time either.)

While this allows for complex, multi-stage puzzles that span many locations and require thoughtfulness, creativity and careful attention to solve, it also makes for a tremendous amount of backtracking. There’s no map, no fast travel option, and few shortcuts; the game more or less sets you loose and trusts you to figure out for yourself how to keep it all straight. I’d highly advise taking notes and/or mapping it out yourself as you go; it won’t make you have to backtrack any less, but it will help keep you oriented and might make you feel a bit more like a real adventurer.
Final Verdict

Submachine: Legacy asks a lot of the player: a lot of attention, a lot of time, a lot of thought, and a lot of travel. In return, though, it has an incredible amount to offer. The narrative is both intriguing and unobtrusive, allowing you to take or leave as much as you want while you get down to puzzle-solving. The puzzles themselves are almost uniformly excellent, while the art and music are perfectly suited to the aura of mysterious foreboding that infuses each chapter. This is not a game to be approached casually or without the full complement of one’s faculties, but the subnet contains such an embarrassment of adventuring riches that it’s no surprise people have spent so many years jumping at the chance to vanish there.

Submachine: Legacy combines and brings all the episodes of Mateusz Skutnik’s classic Flash series into the 2020s with updated graphics and puzzles, trusting players to overcome its difficult-but-fair challenges and showing the world just how richly deserved its cult following is.

87%

by Will Aickman

Nov 1st 2023 timestamp:
561 reviews
558 positive / 3 negative
99% positive

[ms comment: Is this my very first AI generated review?… :D.
I’m not sure why, but this gives me non-human vibes…
Keeping it as a curiosity].

Introduction
Submachine: Legacy is a captivating point-and-click adventure game that will keep players engaged for hours. With its immersive storyline and challenging puzzles, it offers a unique gaming experience for PC users.

Overview of Submachine: Legacy (PC) game
Submachine: Legacy takes players on a thrilling journey through a series of interconnected rooms and puzzles. The goal is to explore the mysterious world of the Submachine and uncover its secrets. The game features stunning visuals and atmospheric music that will draw players into its enigmatic world. As players progress, they will encounter mind-bending puzzles that require careful observation and problem-solving skills to solve. With its seamless gameplay and intricate level design, Submachine: Legacy offers a truly immersive gaming experience.

History and popularity of the Submachine series
The Submachine series, created by Mateusz Skutnik, has gained a cult following since its inception in 2005. Known for its intricate puzzles and cryptic storytelling, the series has captivated players around the world. Submachine: Legacy is the fifth installment in the series and continues to build upon the immersive gameplay and intriguing narrative of its predecessors. With its dedicated fan base and critical acclaim, the Submachine series has solidified its place in the adventure game genre.

Whether you are a fan of the series or new to the world of Submachine, Submachine: Legacy is a must-play game that will challenge your intellect and immerse you in an unforgettable gaming experience.

Gameplay and Mechanics
Exploring the immersive world of Submachine: Legacy
Submachine: Legacy is a captivating PC game that offers players an immersive and mind-bending experience. The game takes place in a complex and mysterious world filled with interconnected rooms and hidden secrets. Players are tasked with exploring this vast environment, solving puzzles, and uncovering the truth behind the Submachine.

From the moment you start the game, you’ll be drawn into its mesmerizing atmosphere. The detailed graphics and atmospheric sound design create a sense of intrigue and wonder. Each room is meticulously designed, and the attention to detail is commendable.

Puzzles, challenges, and interactive gameplay
Submachine: Legacy is not just a visual feast; it also provides a challenging gameplay experience. As you navigate through the rooms, you’ll encounter a variety of puzzles that test your problem-solving skills. These puzzles range from logic-based challenges to cleverly hidden clues that require keen observation.

What sets Submachine: Legacy apart is its interactive gameplay mechanics. Players can manipulate objects in the environment, uncover hidden passages, and unlock new areas to explore. The game encourages experimentation and rewards players for their curiosity.

Overall, Submachine: Legacy is a must-play for fans of atmospheric puzzle games. Its immersive world, thought-provoking puzzles, and interactive gameplay make it a standout title in the genre. So, if you’re ready to embark on a captivating journey, dive into the world of Submachine: Legacy and prepare to be amazed.

Graphics and Visuals
Visual design and atmosphere of Submachine: Legacy
Submachine: Legacy is a visually captivating game that immerses players in a mysterious and atmospheric world. The visual design is top-notch, with detailed landscapes, intricate architecture, and an overall sense of foreboding.

The game creates a dark and eerie atmosphere that keeps players engaged and on their toes. From the dimly lit corridors to the haunting soundtrack, Submachine: Legacy effectively sets the stage for a thrilling adventure.

Use of colors, details, and special effects
The use of colors in Submachine: Legacy is exceptional. Each location is meticulously designed with a specific color palette that enhances the overall mood and ambiance. The details in the game are also impressive, with intricate puzzles, hidden clues, and interactive elements that add depth to the gameplay.

Special effects, such as lighting, shadows, and particle effects, further enhance the immersion and make the game feel more realistic. Whether it’s the flickering lights in a dark room or the shimmering particles in a magical portal, the special effects add a touch of visual flair to the game.

Overall, the graphics and visuals in Submachine: Legacy are outstanding and play a crucial role in delivering a captivating and immersive gameplay experience.

Storyline and Narrative
Submachine: Legacy is an immersive point-and-click adventure game that captivates players with its engaging storyline and intriguing plot twists. As players progress through the game, they unravel the mysteries of the Submachine, a complex network of interconnected rooms and mechanisms.

Engaging storyline and plot twists in Submachine: Legacy
The game presents a rich narrative that keeps players hooked from start to finish. With each room unlocking new clues and puzzles, players delve deeper into the captivating storyline. The plot twists and unexpected turns make for an exhilarating gaming experience, ensuring players are constantly surprised and intrigued.

Character development and world-building
Submachine: Legacy doesn’t just focus on its storyline but also puts a strong emphasis on character development and world-building. The game introduces players to a vast and immersive world filled with interesting characters and intricate details. As players explore the Submachine, they uncover secrets and learn more about the characters and their motivations, deepening their emotional engagement with the game.

Overall, Submachine: Legacy is a must-play for adventure game enthusiasts who appreciate a well-crafted storyline and immersive world-building. Its engaging narrative and plot twists will keep players entertained and guessing until the very end.

Pros and Cons
Strengths and weaknesses of Submachine: Legacy
Submachine: Legacy is a popular PC game with a loyal fanbase. Here are some of its strengths and weaknesses:

Pros:

Intriguing storyline: The game immerses players in an engaging and mysterious world, keeping them hooked until the end.
Challenging puzzles: Submachine: Legacy offers a variety of brain-teasing puzzles that require logic and problem-solving skills to solve.
Exploration: The game allows players to explore different environments and uncover hidden secrets, adding to the overall sense of discovery.
Atmospheric visuals and sound: The game’s haunting visuals and ambient sound design create a captivating atmosphere that enhances the gaming experience.
Replayability: With multiple endings and hidden secrets, Submachine: Legacy encourages players to replay the game and unravel its full potential.

Cons:

Steep learning curve: Some players may find the game’s puzzles and mechanics initially difficult to grasp, requiring patience and perseverance.
Limited action: Submachine: Legacy focuses more on exploration and puzzle-solving than fast-paced action, which may not appeal to players seeking intense gameplay.
Short duration: The game can be completed in a relatively short time, which some players may find disappointing if they prefer longer gaming experiences.
Player feedback and reviews
Player feedback for Submachine: Legacy has been largely positive. Gamers appreciate the game’s immersive storyline, challenging puzzles, and atmospheric visuals. Many commend the game for its thought-provoking puzzles that require players to think outside the box. However, some players have mentioned that the learning curve can be steep, and the game’s duration is relatively short. Overall, Submachine: Legacy offers a unique and captivating gaming experience for puzzle and adventure enthusiasts.

Conclusion
Submachine: Legacy is a captivating PC game that offers an immersive and intriguing gameplay experience. From its stunning visuals to its challenging puzzles, this game keeps players engaged and entertained throughout.

Final thoughts on Submachine: Legacy
With its unique blend of adventure, mystery, and puzzle-solving, Submachine: Legacy is a must-play for fans of the genre. The game’s atmospheric setting and intricate storyline keep players hooked from start to finish. Additionally, the intuitive controls and user-friendly interface make it accessible to both experienced gamers and newcomers alike.

Recommendation and overall rating
For those looking for a thought-provoking and immersive gaming experience, Submachine: Legacy is highly recommended. Its blend of challenging puzzles, captivating storyline, and impressive visuals make it a standout title in the PC gaming world. Overall, this game deserves a solid rating of [insert rating here] out of 10.

This Flash puzzle games collection is holding a strong 99% positive review on Steam.

Adobe Flash is, of course, dead. It was deprecated back in 2021, putting a scruffy little bow on this particular niche of PC gaming. Line Rider, Happy Wheels, and Bloons all started their careers via Flash, and while some of these games do make a return every so often, as the upcoming Alien Hominid remaster, they’ve certainly fallen out of favour with the younger crowd.

Now, even though Newgrounds continues to exist, the legendary Adobe Flash content repository is not nearly as culturally relevant today as it once used to be. That is not to say, however, that Flash games have been totally taken out of the equation. Notably, Flash developer Mateusz Skutnik – whose name may ring a bell for the older folks – has just released an all-new entry in his Submachine puzzle series. This is, of course, a big deal for Flash fans all on its own, but even more interesting is the fact that Submachine: Legacy has already got a 99% positive rating on Steam.

Submachine: Legacy enjoys a remarkably high review score.
Skutnik’s Submachine titles weren’t quite as incredibly popular as some of the games mentioned in the previous section. They were, however, a mainstay for point ‘n’ click fans due to their satisfying puzzles and a mysterious vibe. All of that seems to have made the transition into Submachine: Legacy, which is basically a collection of 12 previous Submachine releases.

Now fully updated and tied into a single experience, all of Skutnik’s previous work on the Submachine series has been enjoying praise on Steam, with fans being positively thrilled with this new release. “Thank you Mr. Skutnik,” said one reviewer. “Been playing your games since 2005.”

Another compared Submachine: Legacy to Dwarf Fortress in an unexpectedly wholesome way: “You remember when Dwarf Fortress hit Steam and there was a post saying “have you people all been waiting 20 years to give the devs money?” This is a little bit like that. Cheers, M, this is superlative.”

Good stuff all around, then. Submachine: Legacy seems to be a must-have for Adobe Flash veterans, and may even be a sign of things to come for Skutnik himself. Fans may remember, after all, that the mysterious Submachine: The Engine was a thing.

Posted 17 October 2023 by Filip Galekovic

One of PC’s best and spookiest puzzle games has returned from the abyss.

Rage against the submachine.

We talk about retro and throwback game releases being a “blast from the past”, but in this case, it’s more like you’re strolling down a sunny path amid soothing birdsong, and then one particular, innocent-looking paving stone swivels underfoot with a rustle of gears, dropping you into a dingy, yellow-panelled room. There are vacuum tubes mounted on one wall, doors to either side, and a ladder leading further down into darkness.

You click one of the doors and the perspective switches over slide-projector style to a second room with identical proportions. There are pipes emerging from the floor, here, and some kind of antique radio on a pedastel in the centre. Hang on, I know this place. I know this formless sense of dread. I know these machinations. The last time I set foot here, it was 2009 and I was running a Flash game blog, writing up choice submissions to sites like Kongregate. This is Submachine, a 14-part escape puzzle series from Mateusz Skutnik, which Skutnik has now compiled, polished-up and re-released as Submachine: Legacy.

Submachine is one of the highlights – or perhaps that should be lowlights – of the Flash gaming era. It’s clever, compact and menacing, a world of terrible contraptions that must be operated, fixed or broken, from relatively everyday clumps of pistons to eerie, pseudo-magical tech that calls to mind the Amnesia series. There’s a story to follow, too, for those of you who find “pure” puzzles too dry. While deciphering each nugget of ominous gadgetry, you can gather up dropped journal entries that recount the exploits of an unfortunate lighthouse keeper.

The puzzles come and go in terms of consistency and satisfaction, but each Submachine chapter is a wonderful mood piece, and it’s lovely to see them pieced together into a “complete” game. This isn’t just a compilation of Flash ports, mind you: the visuals have been spruced up, new mechanics have been added, and the chapters have been re-interpreted as pieces of a much larger machine. And then there’s Submachine: Universe, which I never played, but which is apparently a Submachine project consisting of over a thousand rooms, with each room containing clues as to the coordinates for the next.

If you’re halfway interested in point-and-click puzzling and good old-fashioned eeriness, I can’t recommend this enough. It’s available on Steam or Itch. If you need a taster, you can still play the very first Submachine game on Kongregate.

by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell, News Editor
Published on Oct. 16, 2023

get from my shop | get on Steam | get on itch.io | get soundtrack

reviews: Rock Paper Shotgun | Destructoid | World of Legions | Adventure Game Hotspot

overwhelmingly positive timestamp | Humble Bundle

remastered graphics: sample 1, sample 2, sample 3, sample 4, the ladder

Become the Researcher
Submachine is a hand-drawn point and click adventure game. You will find yourself in a vast network of desolate locations containing puzzles, secrets, notes and inventory items to collect to help you along the way.

the World of Submachine
The underground world of submerged machines offers you vast variety of locations and structures to discover and repair. While everything is shattered, you will try to put things back together to understand and escape.

Story
You are alone here. You will follow the footsteps of a banished lighthouse keeper discovering his descent into ruins of Submachine. The story is divided into chapters that will unlock for you as you progress through the game. The story is conveyed by series of notes that you’ll collect and read.

Puzzles
There are tons of puzzles, some of which you’ll solve by bringing the machinery back online, tinkering with it, turning off and on again. For others you’ll need to find missing parts, levers that were broken off or stolen, depleted power sources, gears, cogs, lamps, coils and so on. As you move through the structure, you will be putting back together things that were shattered.

Graphics
Entire game is hand-drawn. There’s nothing auto-generated nor procedural. Each location was thoughtfully designed. Stylized drawings give the game it’s eerie atmosphere.

Music
Ambient music for this game was created by ThumpMonks, with chapter 1 ambient by Marcus Gutierrez. The music perfectly emphasizes the atmosphere of lonely exploration.

Home improvement tips! Upgrade your climbing rope to a brass ladder to lighten up the room!