A great indie studio is making a sequel to one of my favorite adventures 17 years later, for one simple reason: 'We're not getting any younger, and the world seems to be ending'

I just made a noise like air being slowly released from a balloon.

It's been 17 years since the original Machinarium, a wordless tale of love in a crumbling city of robots. Amanita Design has put out some great games over that span— Botanicula, Chuchel, Creaks, Phonopolis —but hasn't breathed even a hint that more Machinarium might be on the way. So why now?

"We're not getting any younger, and the world seems to be ending, so if we were ever going to make Machinarium 2, now is the right time," Amanita CEO and designer Jakub Dvorský said—a bit dark, sure, but I can't find any factual fault in his reasoning. "We're also grateful to every player who waited patiently all these years. We couldn't have done it without them."

The new game picks up where Machinarium left off: Having escaped the city, Josef and Berta crash-land in a hidden valley populated by two robot tribes, one in the Elektrona …