Failure Machine is a prototype of a robot-building game exploring wonky physics and unexpected sound generation.

It is a game about making things, those creations not always working out, and the unexpected results of failure.

It is also an interactive journal game made in Twine, an art-writing piece documenting the experience of the game’s creation and the impulses behind it.

Created in Unity and using FMOD. The player can assemble a “robot” from a selection of materials, each with their own physics quirks and sound. Objects can be duplicated, enlarged, or destroyed. Once built, the player has limited control over their “robot”, applying force to their creation and watching it bounce or flail around the world, each different mix of body parts creating its own strange soundscape.