Yep, I'd say the folks at Amantia really need to work on a better marketing pitch.

Not to nitpick or anything guys, but it's Amanita ;)

You can't even buy a retail machinarium here where I live, I had to get it from england with a nice postage bill. I can't imagine how this great game has such a high pirate rate. Oh, wait, I can.

I don't really like the tone here, either. I'm sure this was all meant in fun, but it comes off sounding broadly accusatory, and a bit whiny.
The game doesn't interest me, but if it did, I don't think I'd want to buy it this way.

What this really is is repricing. Samarost 2 was donated to the Humble Indie Bundle early on (but after the program started), The Humble Indie Bundle raked in over 1 million bucks (USD). They found their price point was too high and they adjusted. Seeing a 90% piracy rate is just another way of saying, we have X number of pirates. That number may not change at all due to this, but actual sales may increase (which brings down the piracy rate). Piracy rate is only one piece of data, alone it is worthless.
For example, suppose they had 90% piracy rate and 40 million in gross sales, would you say that people weren't willing to pay for your game then? I sure as heck would not.
Remember, the price to the pirate is near zero (depending on how much he values his time), a different price changes demand. Just like 20 bucks versus 10 bucks.
Anyways, I was going to grab Curse of Din and Gratuitous Space Battles this weekend, maybe I'll add this one to the list.

Ditto on not liking the tone much. I'm not offended but naming it a redemption sale it sort of implies I already own a pirated copy. Now I'm supposed to enter my credit card number to the website of the guys who think I pirated their game.
I played part of this game on a friend's house and the few parts I played I liked very much. It's a thinking man's game and a great puzzler. I might buy it anyway to support the developer despite their implications but I also think $20 was a tad much, specially since I feel adventure/puzzle games don't have much replayability once you're finished with them and you know all the puzzles.

My only problem with the price is that it wasn't exactly the longest adventure game ever. Even if it was one of the more memorable. I don't personally have a problem with the idea of paying that much for an adventure game. Just so long as the content justifies it.
Might not be a bad idea. It's a great game. But that's no way to sell it.
That's the downside of being indie, I suppose. You can't really be expected to be an expert in every aspect of the business. Even so, that's a pretty major misstep.

Got a reply from my email.
"I'm sorry you understand our promotion this way. this sale isn't only for pirates but also for everybody who don't have the game yet and is interested in playing the full version. we are trying to appeal to pirates and to inform also others this way.
in any case, thank you very much for your support and also for your opinion, we appreciate it.
best,
jakub"
I am not sure if they really understand that a person would be put off of buying their game after being called a pirate...... but....... I tried to tell them if it had been a normal sale or a combat piracy sale I might have bought several copies to gift...
oh well.....

That was quick. I don't know how much they're appealing to pirates right now, but I think that the sale really isn't going to do as well as it should because of this. But still, it's a beautifully crafted game and one that was well worth the near full price I paid for it at launch. I'd recommend you still get it even if it's just for your own benefit.

what they should take away from the piracy rate is that they've priced the game too high. it's right up my alley but i'm never going to pay $20 for it.

What they need to do is a $10 sale on Steam. That way they are earning the same or a similar amount of money but will get many more sales as Weekend Deals and Midweek Madness' tend to attract a lot more impulse buys and the marketing is basically done for them, they don't need this wacky pirate theme.

I don't think they know what amnesty really means. If they send a few hit-men after pirates, hang 'em, burn 'em, flail and quarter them (not necessarily in this order), then you would see some serious amnesty going on.

Not that it matters because most people who pirate games don't really care about owning it legally or 'amnesty' or anything like that. In any event I agree with the notion that this game, while terrific, is overpriced at $20. I've been waiting for it to get a substantial discount and now I'll probably pick it up.

Bought it now. Still, it leaves a sour aftertaste.