Behind ‘Rumu,’ the game where you play a robot vacuum cleaner with feelings

You are a robot vacuum cleaner.

That’s the premise of Rumu, a point-and-click game developed by Australian indie studio Robot House. Set in an intimate, dollhouse-like smart home, you control RUMU, a robot vacuum cleaner which becomes self-aware.

Guiding RUMU on its journey is Sabrina, the home’s artificial intelligence, a cast of semi-intelligent devices, and Ada, the cat. Something draws RUMU away from cleaning up after its owners David and Cecily, leading to it exploring the house, and examining the question of life itself.