SpaceChem and other engineering games from Zachtronics Industries
I want to talk about five indie games of the Logic / Puzzle genre from one developer. These games are noteworthy in that they not only make you think, but also have a rather unusual gameplay and engineering component. Two of them have a chemical background, two are electrotechnical, and one is steam. Most of all I was hooked by SpaceChem, and initially I wanted to talk only about her. But natural curiosity brought to the developer's site, and as it turned out, Zachtronics Industries has all the games.Spacechem
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux
Cost: $ 20, there is a demo version of
SpaceChem - the name of the company in which we have to work as a "reactor engineer" in remote colonies. Actually, the name of the company speaks for itself - "Space Chemistry". To provide the colonies with the necessary substances, we will change the available natural resources (methane, nitrogen, and others) in a somewhat extraordinary way - by designing reactors and building chains from them. Each reactor has inputs, outputs and two waldo (a molecule manipulator, one can say a nanorobot), which we will program. You’ll have to think a lot, because sometimes the puzzles are not easy. Trailer:
Game website: www.spacechemthegame.com
The Codex of Alchemical Engineering
Platform: Flash
Cost: Free
Codex of Alchemical Engineering has common features with SpaceChem: there is also a source of “atoms”, there are connections between them, there are programmable manipulators and there is a task - to get certain combinations from elements. Differences in the programming of manipulators and in the alchemical theme, untied from real chemistry. In addition, the game has an addition of 15 levels (The Magnum Opus Challenge). There is no trailer for the game, there is no tutorial in it, so the following video is recommended for familiarization:
Game Page: www.zachtronicsindustries.com/the-codex-of-alchemical-engineering
Ruckingenur ii
Platform: Windows (.Net 2.0)
Cost: Free
In this game, it is proposed to do reverse engineering at the chip level. Various military devices will have to be hacked by measuring / setting voltages, reading / writing MS registers, and the like. The artwork in the graphics schedule, and between missions show plain cut scenes. Unfortunately, there are only 4 missions, but there is Ruckingenur CE (level editor + 5 missions).
Game Page: www.zachtronicsindustries.com/ruckingenur-ii
KOHCTPYKTOP: Engineer of the People
Platform: Flash
Cost: Free
Another game on the topic of electrical engineering, the name and logo of which the author decided to connect with the USSR (What does it have to do with communism? You'll have to play to find out!). Here we will design the IC logic using semiconductor junctions. We have two layers for applying silicon, one for metal, as well as vias, the task is to get the necessary signal at the output. The game has an internal video tutorial, but for a look you can see a “brief” review (10 minutes) in English:
Game Page: www.zachtronicsindustries.com/play-kohctpyktop
The Bureau of Steam Engineering
Platform: Flash
Cost: Free
This game is dedicated to a couple, or rather a
Game Page: www.zachtronicsindustries.com/the-bureau-of-steam-engineering
PS:
I like the games of such a plan, of such can only remember Pontifex 1 / 2 . Having decided to find out a little more about the developer, I found the following:
Zachtronics Industries is developed by one person - Zach Barth. I can’t pretend to say that he did everything all alone: there is information on the Internet that he was not the only one working on SpaceChem, plus the music in the games was taken from Jamendo (Creative Commons). But that Zach is a locomotive is for sure, for which honor and praise be to him!
If someone is interested, more information is here:
Of. Zachtronics Industries website and forum
Old site on wp (there are some projects that are not on the new site)
