Hooray! It’s time for my prediction post for next year’s most popular and well received indie games! Those of you who have been with us here at DIYGamer will remember my 2010 and 2011 editions where I was correct for a few of each prediction posts.

Botanicula is Amanita Design’s newest game and, seeing as how they won DIY’s 2009 Game of the Year with machinarium, it’s pretty safe to say that I absolutely can’t wait to get my hands on this one. If Machinarium is anything to go by, Botanicula will not only be incredibly challenging, but also beautiful… luckily we’ve got some screenshots to prove it.

Last week I asked for your favorite developers and we got quite an eclectic mix of developers! It was really fascinating to see which developers were chosen and why. This week, however, I’m looking for your favorite indie game and which one inspires you most.

And that’s that. Amanita Design has confirmed to Eurogamer that their indie point and click hit Machinarium will not, after all, be appearing on Nintendo’s Wii console as it was originally confirmed.

According to the Jakub Dvorsky:

Amanita Design, the guys who created the fantastic Machinarium point and click adventure game, were on hand in Nottingham’s GameCity festival to premiere their newest game Botanicula which we’ve already covered a bit in the past.

According to Eurogamer, Botanicula is “more simple and accessible than Amanita Design’s previous adventure games. It is based on humour, not complex puzzles.” Which can be taken either way depending on how challenging you thought Machinarium was.

Amanita Design knows point and click exploration games. They made this amazing game called Machinarium which is available on practically anything electronic. The team has paired up with Jára Plachý to create another point and clicker called Botanicula. The music and sound effects are created by Czech band DVA.

Jakub Dvorsky describes it as the following: “It’s about a bunch of five friends – little tree creatures who set out for a journey to save the last seed from their home tree which is infested by evil parasites.” Sounds like a pretty noble journey!

The animation, artwork, and music all look fantastic, and I imagine they are all representative of what we’ll see when we get to play Botanicula soon!

Check out the trailer below:

Release of Botanicula is planned for early 2012. The dev states its headed for  PC, Mac and probably also for iOS and Android.

The imagination factor seems to have hit a 12 on a 10-point scale, but maybe that’s just me fan-boy gushing. What do you make of the teaser?

[Amanita Design]

Amanita Design announced that its multiple award-winning point-and-click Machinarium has released on iPad 2 today. Since Machinarium has earned a “Best Indie Game of the Year” nod from many sources, it’s probably a good idea to check it out sooner rather than later. The game should be an audio and visual treat, as well; it’s won the Excellence in Visual Art award at the 12th Annual Independent Games Festival and the Best Soundtrack award from PC Gamer in 2009.

To commemorate the release of Machinarium on iPad 2, the developers have released a special trailer:

I think we can all agree that Mirek Zavičar should be hired to play any iPad 2 game and filmed. He makes me want to purchase an iPad 2 all over again, along with more stylish winter caps. Linda Čihařová did a great job filming and editing, as well.

Non iPad 2 owners who happen to have PS3s, you’re the next lucky gamers to receive a Machinarium port later this year. Those who own the latest iPad tablet, go and grab Machinarium for iPad 2 for $4.99 today!

Amanita Design’s Jakub Dvorský has passed on word that in addition to other upcoming console ports, his award winning adventure game Machinarium will see a release on iPad as well. Even better, that version could be out as soon as August. Why, that’s tomorrow!

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, August is also 30 days from now as well. Still, Dvorský sounds hopeful that the title could land on the App Store as long as the remaining (small) bugs are wrangled and it’s properly tested.

The WiiWare (Q3 2011) and PSN editions (August 2011) are presumably still in the works and on track for release; though they were not mentioned.

[via PocketGamer]

If you recall a post I put up in April of last year, Jakub Dvorský of Amanita Design (Machinarium) was working as a production designer on a feature length puppet film with Academy Award-winning director Jan Svěrák.

The film, Kooky (Kuky), has since been completed and they’ve even dubbed an English language version for all to see (soon). Hopefully we’ll be able to nab NTSC copies of the film soon, as you can already order PAL versions from the company’s store on ebay.

You can also find more information on the official website.

Check out the dubbed trailer now!

Great news everyone, Machinarium is finally coming to consoles. While the game hit a road block trying to land on XBLA and is still in negotiation with PSN, XGen Studios has announced alongside Amanita Design that the ‘about a robot’ title is being prepped for a WiiWare release.

XGen, the team behind the well received WiiWare title Defend Your Castle, will be handling the porting duties of Amanita’s multiple award-winning point-and-click puzzle adventure game. No release date or pricing details were included in the release so we’ll just have to twiddle our thumbs and wait for more info. Ah shucks.

You can check out more on Machinarium on the official site for the game and purchase the title on PC and Mac via Steam. Or stick around and read our interview with Amanita’s Jakub Dvorský if you’d like.

[Press Release]