Ludography
Mekorama cover

2016 · Platformer · Puzzle

Mekorama

A puzzle game from Martin Magni.

Released
15 May 2016
Platforms
AndroidBrowserNintendo SwitchPlayStation 4PlayStation VitaXbox OneiOS
Genres
PlatformerPuzzle
Developers
—
Publishers
—
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Bird view / Isometric
Themes
ActionKids
Age ratings
CERO ACLASS_IND LGRAC ALLACB GUSK 0ESRB EPEGI 3
Languages
Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish (Spain)

About

Mekorama is a puzzle game developed by indie developer Martin Magni. Players control the movement of a robot through paths and various obstacles to reach the end of a level by tapping or clicking the screen. The game features a level editing tool, where players can create custom levels and share them online. The game was initially released for iOS and Android in 2016 and was later ported to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One in 2020.

Mekorama was created by indie developer Martin Magni for 17 months, and was inspired by Monument Valley and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Mekorama received generally favorable reviews, with critics praising its pay what you want marketing model and level editing feature but noted inconveniences with the gameplay. The game won the Jury's Honorable Mention award at the 13th International Mobile Gaming Awards.

›Story

Puzzling Mechanical Dioramas

Mekorama is a mobile puzzle game where you help a tiny robot stumble home, featuring:

50 tiny mechanical dioramas to explore

Thousands of fan-made levels to collect (FAQ)

Building blocks for making your own levels

Keywords

  • level creation
  • robot

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

In Mekorama, the player controls a robot by navigating through pathways and obstacles to reach the end of a level, described as "mechanical dioramas". Players can tap to control where the player character (canonically called B or Bee), moves, pinch the screen to zoom in and out, and swipe the screen to show different angles of the diorama. Each level implements various gameplay mechanics, such as the ability to spin gears and slide blocks and platforms.

In addition to the 120 built-in levels, the game offers a level editing tool, which allow players to create and share their levels online. Players can access user-generated levels by scanning a QR code featured on their respective level cards. The game also includes a hint system, accessible by paying in-app purchases.

Development

Mekorama was developed by Martin Magni, a Sweden-based indie game developer. He designed and programmed the game over the span of 17 months. In an interview, Magni stated that the game started in development as a "mashup of Minecraft and GTA", looking at "huge procedurally generated cities built entirely from blocks", and took inspiration from Monument Valley and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Mekorama uses the secondary animation motion, which enables the player character to move more realistically.

Mekorama was released for iOS and Android on May 15, 2016. A VR port of the game was released for Android on November 8, 2016, supporting the Google Daydream VR headset. In 2020, ports for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One were announced by publisher Rainy Frog; the game was released for those platforms on March 26, 2020.

Reception

The game received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review score aggregator platform Metacritic. Reviewers praised the game's animation, level editing feature, and marketing structure but criticized its awkward presentation and gameplay mechanics. TouchArcade listed Mekorama as one of the best mobile games of 2016. The game won the Jury's Honorable Mention award at the 13th International Mobile Gaming Awards.

Lian Amaris of Gamezebo praised the game for its design, writing that it is "expertly crafted". She praised the game's implementation of secondary animation through the player character's movement as "thoughtful" and "idiosyncratic", and found the level editing feature to be "inspiring", while noting "how challenging puzzle-making can be". Amaris also viewed the game's pay what you want marketing model positively, writing that it is "one of the best" and "most fair" she has seen.

Awards

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Android14 May 2016Worldwide
iOS14 May 2016Worldwide
Browser14 May 2016Worldwide
Nintendo Switch26 March 2020Worldwide
PlayStation 426 March 2020Worldwide
PlayStation Vita26 March 2020Worldwide
Xbox One26 March 2020Worldwide

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Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.