SpaceChem-like finally?

[DrExK]

I'm not a huge fan of Shenzhen and TS-100 even though I bought them, because both require that I read a manual, and if I dont play the game for 2 weeks, I forget about the instructions.

Opus Magnum doesn't come with a manual right?

[Felka]

No manual.

[RamenAndVitamins]

More like SpaceChem than any of their others. Feels a bit harder.

[Snake]

It's a lot easier to me since you have endless space and endless "waldos" essentially.

[Zelgadis]

There is a single screen in-game cheat sheet that you can open with a button. But even that you rarely need to look at, since most of the components perform a single fixed transmutation.

I think it's easier to get a working solution in this game than in previous games, since there are no hard limits on space or program length. So there are less obstacles to finishing the game, but optimizing your solutions is still really challenging.

[inappropriately_gendered_fungus]

Yeah, this is like a somewhat simplified Spacechem with size and length constraints removed. The real challenge here is optimization, but there's also a lot of resource scarcity.

[Snake]

In a sense, I feel this game is superior to Spacechem because SC was very, very quick to boil down to "oh good god, how do I even do this?", while this game gives you all the tools you need, them some breathing room, then you just enjoy the creative process of solving it at your own pace, then possibly optimizing.

It's a lot less punishing to just sit down and play the game, and it delivers the exact same "stroke of genius" moments SC did.

[DrExK]

thank you very much for the reviews. I'll buy the game soon :).

[Whiplash]

I could have honestly accepted this game as being Spacechem 2. I find it that similar. Just with a different theme. Alchemy vs Chemistry.

I know Zach made the web / flash version of Alchemy first, and it was what Spacechem was based off of. But Spacechem was my first experience with Zachtronics games, and I absolutely love it. It's in my top 10 games of all time, all genres. And this game so far is giving me amazing Spacechem vibes. It's very similar, but different in ways that improve the experience.

This game is amazing.

The only thing I regret is, my favorite Spacechem puzzles are the multi reactor puzzles. You know with the pipelines connecting them, you control all the inputs and outputs, etc. And none of the Zachtronics games since Spacechem have had that sort of upper level management. I wanted to see it in Infinfactory. And I hoped this game would do something like that. Maybe it still could, one day. It really was my favorite aspect of Spacechem. Chaining puzzles together, or breaking big jobs down into smaller puzzles that work together.

[Zednaught]

This is definitely the closest retail Zachtronics game to SpaceChem. It's also probably the easiest, but that's not a bad thing. Part of what makes it easier is that it's so intuitive to place, program, and rearrange new parts. Also, the 'hook' of these games, which is the joy of seeing your solutions execute like a perfect rube goldberg machine, is definitely here.

[Cheese]

It's not as complicated as Shenzhen or TIS, no manual reading required.

[DrExK]

thank you all. yeah zach needs to understand that, in the end of the day, these are games. manual reading is such a turn-off for me.

[Nefarious Zhen]

Originally posted by DrExK:

thank you all. yeah zach needs to understand that, in the end of the day, these are games. manual reading is such a turn-off for me.

No offense meant; if you hate reading reference material then you aren't really Zach's target audience.

[DrExK]

Originally posted by Nefarious Zhen:

Originally posted by DrExK:

thank you all. yeah zach needs to understand that, in the end of the day, these are games. manual reading is such a turn-off for me.

No offense meant; if you hate reading reference material then you aren't really Zach's target audience.

They had games that don't involve manual reading. spacechem, infinifactory didn't come with a manual. Human Resource Machine is also a coding game, but the levels are designed in such a way that you learn progressively, instruction by instruciton.

So in short, they do cater to different types of audience. I just need to make sure that I do my research before buying.

[inappropriately_gendered_fungus]

Originally posted by DrExK:

thank you all. yeah zach needs to understand that, in the end of the day, these are games. manual reading is such a turn-off for me.

I understand what you're saying, but both types of games can exist.

[DrExK]

Originally posted by fungusdude4:

Originally posted by DrExK:

thank you all. yeah zach needs to understand that, in the end of the day, these are games. manual reading is such a turn-off for me.

I understand what you're saying, but both types of games can exist.

I acknowledge that, that's why I said 'for me'. This post is not created to slam manual-dependent games. I did buy the 2 coding games just to support the studio, so that opus magnum can exist.