Despite bigger games pushing the boundaries of technology, a short little Flash game about robots has more personality and charm than any number of its blockbuster competitors.

As I write, geeks in downtown LA conference booths are drooling at whiz-bang 3D warfare, or sweating to arm-flailing motion-control, both claiming to be the future of video games. Naturally, the purpose of big industry events like E3 is to show how your company is pushing the edges of possibility, breaking new ground, or any other slogan synonymous with doing cool new shit you ain’t seen before. And none of us tech-obsessed game fans are immune to the lure of fancy new gadgets.

Meanwhile, back at home, those of us not invited to the electronic entertainment orgy that’s clogging our twitter feeds are busy finishing up one of the medium’s most impressive achievements in Red Dead Redemption — the game that does sprawling in a way that redefines “open world”. With gorgeous vistas that stretch on forever, ambient sounds of wildlife punctuated by pistol fire, and chance encounters with strangers on dusty roads, the details of Red Dead are so masterfully executed, they create a space that feels genuinely alive. The sensation of being transported to this world eclipses what’s come before. This is a world worth absorbing, worth getting lost in.

And yet after weeks of travel across Red Dead’s wide expanses, and now days of being tantalized by the flashy gizmos of tomorrow, what I find myself wishing for are more games like Machinarium.

Machinarium is short, taking a handful of play sessions to finish, or maybe a full day with some dedication. It’s simple, too. Built in Flash out of of fully hand-drawn 2D art, there aren’t many moving pieces. Players control a cute little robot in a gorgeously depicted steam-punk robot city, progressing from screen to screen by solving mind puzzles. The story, told mainly through animated thought-bubble flashbacks, is equally simple: some robot bullies captured his robot girlfriend and he wants to get her back.

The game works so well with just these basic elements because of its focus. The aesthetic isn’t overstuffed with show-offy level designs; the creators obviously had a vision for a world and they built it beautifully. The controls are classic adventure game style; click to walk somewhere, then click objects to use them. The rest is a matter of brain power, not a raft of complicated moves or tricky interfaces. And the characters, though only animated in the most rudimentary cartoon way, have more personality and charm than any number of action game heroes.

In a strange way, it reminded me of Braid, or even Portal (another game I’ve been replaying recently now that my Mac can run Steam). It’s a tight, short, delightful package that’s over before it starts dragging on with a bunch of dead weight. With Machinarium, I laughed more at a few robots dancing than I did at any of the caricatures in the first half of Red Dead’s wild west tale. In the same way, I was more captivated by the artistry of its static backgrounds than I was by a bombastic trailer for the next Call of Duty game.

Those big companies are more than welcome to keep experimenting with bigger and more impressive things, trying to wow me. I like being wowed too. But what I’m really excited about are the little projects like Machinarium, where a small team with a vision executes a flawless little piece of art.