This is a $6 GOG giveaway. You can get a $5.99 GOG or, wait for a promo and grab 2 $2.99 GOG's.. whichever you prefer.

I'm going to purchase ONE of the following:

-Darwinia
-Machinarium
-The Whispered World
-Legend of Grimrock
-Botanicula
-Trine

In your own words, tell me which one of the above I should purchase and why!!!

Winner will be selected at *RANDOM* from among all posters who make a somewhat convincing case (in other words, if you're only going to type a careless sentence, I'm probably not going to include you in the random drawing.) Also, if I find out that you're just cutting/pasting from someone else's review of a game, I won't enter you in the giveaway either.

Good luck!

***By random, I mean using random.org.

The one that interests me the most right now actually is Botanicula. I wound up looking up some information behind it, the developers also made Machinarium, which was very popular. I suppose if you want proven success and satisfaction, you should go with Machinarium. But, I'd rather take a risk on Botanicula and it's whimsical setting. That trailer was pretty goofy too during the live stream.

Post edit: Since I've had a bit more time now I'm going to follow up.

Botanicula really does interest me. I haven't looked into Machinarium much, but then I'm an oddity for enjoying fantasy a bit more than steam punk. It looks almost like chibi point-and-click Pikmin. The trailer also made it clear that this wasn't a particularly serious game, but then almost everything is now, it's good to have a care-free guilty pleasure with you. In my case that's actually a console game called Animal Crossing, and I think this game would give me the same cutesy guilty pleasure as before. Being point and click it doesn't need very much investment to enjoy, and being from the same studio that made Machinarium means that this one should similarly perform well, and have some good writing at the same time. An issue with Trine that I've heard, is that you can actually beat every level with the same character, which kind of removes the challenge aspect. Whispered World is interesting with some very interesting writing, but the voice acting will turn you off a bit. I can't say anything about the other games though, but I do throw my hat for Botanicula.

Legend of Grimrock -

Good oldschool dungeon crawler and the developers are amazing! They implemented the arrow system on request of the community. I am really looking forward to it.

I would reccomend Trine in your case

It's a great game and as I written in my review on the gamepage: it's pretty much a modern day spiritual successor to Lost Vikings

Thanks for the giveaway and have fun!

I'm gonna say Trine.

It's definetely one of the best platformers I have played lately, and it's got a lot of potential for MP if you're into that (but you need an Xbox controller for it to work.) Anyway, it's kind of like the old game vikings if you've played that: You've got 3 characters and every one of them fullfills a certain role, that you have to use to get trough beautifully designed levels. You'll get to play with physics a lot, there's quite a bit of aciton, and ... well, generally, you'll have a blast.

I'd go with either Legend of Grimrock or Trine.
From your AIV threads, I'd say you are a fan of RPGs.
Grimrock is an RPG that looks very reminiscient of the oldies that I grew up with (such as Realms of Arkania).
Your AIV's also suggest you are fan of co-operative play.
In Trine, all 3 characters need to work together to get anywhere.

On second thoughts, don't get either.
Turn AIV into a co-op CRPG.
I'd buy it!!

;-}

(not entering the giveaway)

You should buy Machinarium. It takes about 6 hours to complete. It is clearly a labour of love, the game has been carefully drawn and planned out. They realised some puzzles were too hard, so added 2 different ways that you could get help, either with a fairly cryptic hint picture, or with a more details cartoon strip walkthrough (though you have a little minigame to stop you abusing that feature).

It's also impressive to experience a game that conveys so much feeling without ever featuring a word (there is no text anywhere in the game). There are brilliant characters, each with a clear visual personality that helps you to understand how they fit the plot.

The plot itself is very good, it starts near the end in some ways, as although your character knows what has happened, it all slowly pieces together for you why he's involved.

Trine, followed very VERY closely by Machinarium.

Why? Because it's absolutely beautiful, and it's loads of fun to play. Also, it's extremely replayable, so your $6 will go a long way. Machinarium is one of my favorite games ever made, but it's only going to appeal to a certain kind of person, it's short, and it's not replayable.

Legend of Grimrock without any single, smallest doubt! And if you do this quick enough you will still get it at promo price :P It is the finest looking dungeon crawler I've ever seen and brings me so many memories from the past. It gets also high scores on reviews so it is not only my own opinion. I'm already great fan of this game even I am not sure if my PC isn't too ancient to run it. I'm so excited waiting for this - just look at my posts here - I do not have much free time but I just couldn't resist to gather all this data myself by pausing review videos. :D

Legend of Grimrock

More games in the style of Dungeon Master need to be made, and supporting developers who are doing this is the easiest way of helping this to come about. That and the fact that a developer releasing a game in 2012 without DRM should be supported by gamers everywhere.

Whoa, high compliments undeserved. If I wasn't a total idiot with computers and programming, I probably would do that. :(

I would say go for Trine,, its an action / puzzle / platformer. You use the different characters to get past certain obstacles on it. Gets you thinking and once you get to grips with it can be hard to actually put down. If you really enjoy it a good thing is that a sequel has recently been released !

For an Indie I found that the production values are also very high, sound and visuals are stunning and very fitting for the created world.

Trine is a fun platformer and looks great, it's the only one of those games I've played. I'm looking forward to Grimrock but probably won't get it for a couple months as I have a few games I want to play first.

Don't count this as entry, +1 for the giveaway!

I'd say Darwinia.

It's one of the most unique things you'll ever see and experience, guaranteed. The art style just doesn't get old and conveys the "zomg I'm inside a computer" feeling superbly, and the sound is spot on.
Plus, it's a sort of homage to Cannon Fodder in places, so that's automatically good.
Also, give money to Introversion, I love those guys. In a world of graybrown shooters and indie-platformers-with-a-gimmick they value originality and rock-solid design.

I want to suggest Legend of Grimrock, because this is a game I desperately want to get. However, since I haven't actually tried that, I'll suggest Machinarium instead.

This game is a joy to go through. The graphic style is nice and atmospheric. The music is beautiful also. The story is generic but has a lot of fun. Although there's no single word explaination, you are always clear what you suppose to do. The puzzles are not too hard but interesting enough. It's a bit short, but you'll enough every minute you play.