Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs

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A feverish industrialist follows his missing children down into the machine beneath his meat factory.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Mixed on Steam (70% of 12,222 reviews); Metacritic 72 on PC from 59 critics, who praised the mood but found it lighter on play
Length: about 4 hours
Players: 1
Made by: The Chinese Room
Released: 2013

No. 22 of the Victorian horror games · No. 24 of the factory horror games

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store (Amnesia: Collection)Xbox (Amnesia: Collection)Nintendo eShop (Amnesia: Collection)Official site GOG

What frightens In London in 1899 a wealthy industrialist wakes from fever in a silent house while the ground shakes. Searching for his children, he goes down through his own meat-processing factory into a vast machine, while pig-like creatures patrol the dark and chase him on sight.
Content: gore, violence, strong language, nudity, disturbing imagery, children in danger.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a first-person horror game from The Chinese Room, the studio behind Dear Esther, published by Frictional Games. On New Year's Eve 1899, the industrialist Oswald Mandus wakes from fever with gaps in his memory and his children missing. He follows them down through his London factory into a huge machine where pig-like creatures roam. It is short and story-led, with fewer threats than The Dark Descent.

About Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs

A Machine for Pigs is the 2013 follow-up to Amnesia: The Dark Descent, made by The Chinese Room and published by Frictional Games. It shares the first game's world but tells its own story, with music by Jessica Curry. It came out on Windows, Mac and Linux, and later as part of Amnesia: Collection on PlayStation 4 (2016), Xbox One (2018) and Switch (2019).

Oswald Mandus, a wealthy industrialist, wakes in his London house on New Year's Eve 1899, sick with fever, haunted by dreams of a hellish engine and by visions of a disastrous expedition to Mexico. The house is silent, the ground shakes, and his children are in grave danger. Diary pages and notes help him piece together what he has forgotten.

It plays more like a dark story you walk through than the first game. There is no inventory, no oil or tinderboxes, no sanity meter, and health comes back on its own; the electric lantern never runs out. Puzzles are about working the machinery around you. Levels are larger, with streets and outdoor areas, and the fear comes from the factory, the grinding machine below it and the pig-men who patrol its tunnels.

Critics were split. Some praised its writing and mood, others felt it held back as a horror game. It suits players who want a short, bleak, story-led horror game about industry, cruelty and guilt more than a test of survival.

How to play Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs

Explore the house, the factory and the machine in first person, opening doors and reading the notes and diary pages you find.
Carry the electric lantern to light the way; it never runs out.
Work the machinery around you to open the way deeper down.
When a pig-man spots you, it gives chase: break line of sight and keep moving.

Screenshots

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs screenshot: the brick facade of the Mandus Co. Meat Processing Factory at night, lit by a few windows and lamps

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs screenshot: a dim trophy room with a hippo in a glass case, a stuffed bear rearing up, a leopard-skin rug and a hunting painting

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs screenshot: looking up at huge dark gears and pipes inside the machine, lit by a red caged lamp

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs screenshot: a narrow metal walkway between pipes in a dark machine hall lit by one yellow lamp

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs screenshot: a dim mansion gallery with columns, candle sconces and paintings of horses on the walls

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs screenshot: the player's hand holds up the lantern in a brick-vaulted tunnel with hanging lamps and ducts

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs screenshot: the lantern lights a spiked iron fence on a cobbled street at night, brick buildings behind

Tips

Read the notes and diary pages; they carry most of the story.
There is no inventory to manage, so spend your attention on the place and the story.
Health recovers over time, so back off and wait after a hit.

Questions

Do I need to play Amnesia: The Dark Descent first?

No. A Machine for Pigs tells a separate story in the same world, with a new hero and setting, so it stands on its own.

How is A Machine for Pigs different from The Dark Descent?

It drops the inventory, the oil and tinderboxes and the sanity meter. The lantern is electric and never runs out, health regenerates, and puzzles are about the machinery around you. Encounters with enemies are fewer, and the focus moves to story and atmosphere.

How long is Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs?

About 4 hours for the main story, according to HowLongToBeat, and around 5 hours if you explore everything.

Who made A Machine for Pigs?

The Chinese Room, the studio behind Dear Esther, developed it, and Frictional Games, the makers of The Dark Descent, published it. Jessica Curry wrote the music.

Can I play it on console?

Yes, as part of Amnesia: Collection, which also holds The Dark Descent, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. On PC it is sold alone on Steam and GOG for Windows, Mac and Linux.