Opus Magnum

82%
Game Brain Score Based on 2,684 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Opus Magnum Game Cover
Opus Magnum encourages creativity without ever telling you you’re wrong, making it an endlessly replayable puzzler.
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Master the intricate, physical machinery of the transmutation engine— the alchemical engineer’s most advanced tool— and use it to create vital remedies, precious gemstones, deadly weapons, and more. Design Machines - Design and build machines that carry out alchemical processes using a variety of components.Open-Ended Puzzles - Compete against your friends and the world to build the simplest, fast…

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

82%
Audience ScoreBased on 2,684 reviews
story208 positive mentions
grinding40 negative mentions
  • Opus Magnum offers a unique and satisfying puzzle experience with open-ended solutions, allowing players to approach challenges creatively.
  • The game features beautiful graphics and a charming aesthetic, making the process of building and optimizing machines visually rewarding.
  • The inclusion of leaderboards and the ability to compare solutions with friends adds a competitive element that enhances replayability.
  • The user interface can be clunky and unintuitive, making it frustrating to manage complex solutions and navigate the timeline.
  • Some players find the story and dialogue to be lackluster and not engaging, feeling it detracts from the core puzzle gameplay.
  • The game lacks certain quality-of-life features, such as zooming in/out and better copy/paste functionality, which can hinder the building process.
  • story572 mentions

    The story in the game is generally considered a light but engaging backdrop to the puzzle mechanics, providing context and motivation for players as they progress. While some players found the narrative to be minimal or even tedious, many appreciated its charm and humor, with a few noting that it enhances the overall experience without overshadowing the gameplay. Overall, the story is seen as a pleasant addition that ties the puzzles together, though it is not the primary focus of the game.

    • “Opus Magnum takes alchemy as its central theme, builds a lightweight but decent story on it, and inserts its puzzles as crucial products to progress the story.”
    • “Strangely, Opus Magnum manages to be more than just one of the all-time great puzzle games; it also has a fantastic story set in a fascinating cyberpunk-by-way-of-Paracelsus world.”
    • “The story is simple, yet more than you'd expect from a puzzle game.”
    • “There is not really much to say about the story, but thankfully it is not truly important for the gameplay.”
    • “The story is thin and pasted on.”
    • “The story is pretty boring but no one is buying this game for the narrative.”
  • gameplay317 mentions

    The gameplay of "Opus Magnum" is characterized by its intricate puzzle mechanics that allow players to design and optimize machines using programmable mechanical components. While the game starts with simple mechanics, it gradually introduces complexity, providing a satisfying challenge for both newcomers and experienced players. Despite some criticisms regarding its interface and story relevance, the overall experience is praised for its engaging problem-solving, beautiful visuals, and the freedom to explore multiple solutions for each puzzle.

    • “Experimenting with the game's mechanics is quite the pleasure, and then you can choose to romp through the game and optimize wherever optimization looks fun, or optimize the heck out of every puzzle, and only stop when it's not fun any longer.”
    • “The gameplay revolves around designing intricate machines using a variety of mechanical components, precision timing, and creative problem-solving.”
    • “The mechanics are fun to learn and the basics are deceptively easy to get, but the potential to optimize for speed, size, cost, or aesthetics is practically limitless.”
    • “Repetitive and tedious gameplay, poor UI, primitive and dull plot.”
    • “Unfortunately the systems surrounding the core gameplay don't reflect on Opus' different (presumed) design goals, and so the process of actually solving each puzzle usually feels like a formality, especially in comparison to other Zachtronics titles where both solving and optimization are consistently engaging.”
    • “I really like this game concept and I want to play more but I'm spending way too much time fumbling with the unintuitive interface and ill-defined instruction mechanics.”
  • graphics167 mentions

    The graphics of "Opus Magnum" are widely praised for their stunning aesthetic and intricate design, featuring beautifully animated alchemical machines that enhance the gameplay experience. Players appreciate the clean, steampunk-inspired visuals and the captivating animations that make watching their creations a mesmerizing experience. Overall, the game's visuals are considered a significant improvement over previous titles, contributing to its charm and accessibility.

    • “The game boasts stunning graphics, with intricately designed machines and mesmerizing animations that bring your creations to life.”
    • “The visuals are gorgeous; watching your perfectly-designed clockwork finally getting alive with dozen-or-so rotating and sliding arms in steampunk-styled machine tops off the Zachtronics experience.”
    • “Opus Magnum features pleasant graphics, a catchy ambient soundtrack, and ties the puzzles together with a story good enough at times that it is worth solving one more puzzle to see what happens next.”
    • “The graphics are quite simplistic, and your visual cortex will be very idle when you play this game.”
    • “I expected more :( it's like someone said to them, hey SpaceChem was good n'all but if you make the graphics shinier and add in a shite, thinly disguised wizard academy story, you can charge twice as much money for it.”
    • “The visuals and UI design weren't much compared to modern offerings and there was no story at all (good music though), but already there was that addictive problem-solving and optimizing gameplay that people would love in later games.”
  • optimization120 mentions

    The optimization aspect of the game is highly praised, offering players multiple metrics to improve upon, such as cost, speed, and area. While the core puzzles are generally accessible, the real challenge lies in refining solutions for optimal performance, which can be both rewarding and addictive. However, some players feel that the optimization opportunities are less complex compared to previous titles from the same developer, leading to a more mechanical feel overall.

    • “Experimenting with the game's mechanics is quite the pleasure, and then you can choose to romp through the game and optimize wherever optimization looks fun, or optimize the heck out of every puzzle, and only stop when it's not fun any longer.”
    • “The game does a good job of encouraging optimization beyond basic solutions.”
    • “It's an optimization game, but it feels like making art.”
    • “What should be a game about relatively high-level logical optimization becomes a chore whenever you try to do anything even slightly complex.”
    • “The cost and footprint optimization are nearly the same in every level, and the cycle optimization is mostly about figuring out some positions for the arms where they don't block each other and then enter a hundred or so repetitive commands to complete the level.”
    • “It's certainly entertaining and there's tons of room for optimization, but I don't think it is nearly on the level of SpaceChem or Shenzhen I/O in taxing your brain.”
  • music85 mentions

    The music in "Opus Magnum" is widely praised for its captivating and ambient quality, enhancing the overall gameplay experience without being intrusive. While some players noted that the soundtrack can become repetitive over time, many found it relaxing and well-suited to the game's aesthetic, contributing to an immersive atmosphere that complements the intricate puzzle mechanics. Overall, the combination of engaging music, sound design, and beautiful visuals creates a charming and memorable experience for players.

    • “Combined with a mesmerizing soundtrack that complements the gameplay perfectly, Opus Magnum creates an immersive and enchanting atmosphere that pulls you deeper into its alchemical world.”
    • “The atmosphere, the story, the music, the puzzles themselves, the extremely satisfying physical look and feel of the mechanical system executing your program - all of this is just perfect.”
    • “To accompany the masterfully crafted puzzle mechanics and the nice storyline, there is an excellent soundtrack that manages to evoke a certain magical feeling without getting in the way of concentration, and satisfying sound effects that are triggered by the transmutation engine's many mechanisms.”
    • “The game only has 1 music track and it plays over and over, and even though it's long, it does eventually become annoying, so I muted it allowing me to appreciate the sounds of the machines more.”
    • “The music is repetitive, as one might expect in this situation, and sometimes distracting, but well done nonetheless.”
    • “The presentation is also excellent, the graphics, the music just sucks you in.”
  • replayability78 mentions

    The game boasts exceptional replayability, with players praising its vast content, diverse puzzle-solving approaches, and optimization challenges. The inclusion of leaderboards and community-created puzzles further enhances the experience, allowing for endless opportunities to refine solutions based on various metrics. Overall, it is regarded as one of the most replayable puzzle games available, appealing to both casual players and those seeking deeper challenges.

    • “The game's replayability is enhanced by the inclusion of leaderboards, allowing you to compete with other players and showcase your alchemical mastery.”
    • “Because of this, the game has nearly endless replay value because there are so many puzzles for you to go back and find optimal solutions for as well as user-created puzzles.”
    • “The replay value of this game is amazing, and it's pretty much endless if you count the workshop support.”
    • “The few downsides are the story, which is fun at first but soon gets tedious and very disengaged from the actual gameplay, and that there might after all be limited replayability, especially if you don't find the fine-tuning part entertaining.”
    • “The only thing would be the price tag might be a bit high for the amount of content, but I'm not the kind of person to spend loads of time reworking something to be more efficient so that would add a lot of replayability.”
    • “It was quite short, with no real replay value.”
  • grinding41 mentions

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often overshadowing the enjoyment of gameplay. Many reviews highlight that while some elements can be satisfying, the lengthy and monotonous tasks required to progress detract from the overall experience, making it feel more like a chore than a challenge. Additionally, issues with user interface and controls contribute to the frustration, leading to a consensus that the game could benefit from improvements to reduce the grind.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “Grinding in this game is incredibly rewarding and keeps you engaged.”
    • “The grind is satisfying and offers a real sense of progression.”
    • “The game is tedious more so than difficult.”
    • “Repetitive and tedious gameplay, poor UI, primitive and dull plot.”
    • “Starting from the 2nd chapter, the game becomes nothing but a tedious chore.”
  • humor29 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by witty dialogue and amusing character interactions, particularly between the arrogant protagonist and their more grounded friend. Players appreciate the lighthearted tone that complements the puzzle-solving mechanics, with many finding the humor genuinely entertaining and capable of eliciting laughter. While the story serves primarily as context for the gameplay, it adds a humorous layer that enhances the overall experience, making the game both engaging and fun.

    • “I like that you play as an arrogant prick; it's hilariously fitting for a puzzle game.”
    • “The dialogue is a little fun to read; there are definitely a few rather funny lines.”
    • “The story line of Opus Magnum is humorous: a nice idea to give a campaign feel and a sense of continuity to puzzle solving.”
    • “The jokes fall flat and feel forced.”
    • “I expected more clever humor, but it just didn't land.”
    • “The attempts at comedy are cringeworthy and miss the mark.”
  • atmosphere22 mentions

    The atmosphere of Opus Magnum is widely praised for its enchanting and immersive qualities, enhanced by a mesmerizing soundtrack and aesthetically pleasing art design. Reviewers highlight the game's ability to create a relaxing environment that complements its intricate puzzles and light story elements, making for an engaging and satisfying experience. Overall, the combination of visuals, music, and gameplay mechanics solidifies a charming and cohesive atmosphere that captivates players.

    • “Combined with a mesmerizing soundtrack that complements the gameplay perfectly, Opus Magnum creates an immersive and enchanting atmosphere that pulls you deeper into its alchemical world.”
    • “Opus Magnum does it over a relaxing atmosphere and subtle alchemical elements, blending light story elements with puzzles that will never frustrate you.”
    • “Opus Magnum does it over a relaxing atmosphere and subtle alchemical atmosphere, blending light story elements with puzzles that will never frustrate you and making you review that last solution just slightly differently to get it a bit faster, a bit better.”
    • “But I would be remiss if I failed to mention the soundtrack, which, although fairly minimalist, really adds to the atmosphere of the game.”
    • “The art, music, and UI design really solidify the atmosphere and pull this together into a complete package.”
  • emotional8 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its surprisingly strong narrative and character development, which evoke genuine feelings and moments of humanity. While some characters lack depth, the overall experience is enhanced by clever puzzles that make players feel intelligent and engaged. However, the protagonist's blandness contrasts sharply with the more exaggerated antagonists, creating a mixed emotional landscape.

    • “The story, as well, is surprisingly good, with solid emotional beats and some clear character arcs, leading to a well-rounded experience in a game that could do well even without a plot.”
    • “Some moments were very touching and brought a lot of humanity to some of the characters.”
    • “Made me feel like a big dumb baby less often than other Zachtronics games.”
  • stability4 mentions

    The game's stability is mixed; while some users report frequent freezing on startup requiring a full PC reset, others have experienced a polished and bug-free experience, particularly those who purchased it at the end of the early access period. Overall, the game appears to be well-optimized for many players despite some significant issues.

    • “I bought the game at the end of the early access period, but I had no glitches or bugs.”
    • “The price is low for the amount of fun, and the game, though in early access, is not buggy and seems very polished.”
    • “3 out of 4 times the game freezes on startup and needs a full PC reset.”
    • “Troubleshooting, undoing, and redoing are a joy.”
  • character development2 mentions

    The game excels in character development and world-building despite its brief length, effectively utilizing a limited number of still images and dialogues to create an engaging narrative. Players appreciate the depth and richness of the characters within the concise storytelling format.

    • “Also, as an added bonus, it's a puzzle game with an engaging story that manages to do an impressive amount of world-building and character development in a small number of still images and dialogues.”
    • “The game (and therefore story) isn't terribly long but it accomplishes some admirable world-building and character development in that time.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    The monetization strategy effectively leverages user-generated animated gifs of solutions as a clever advertising tool, enticing players to share their achievements and attract new users. This approach not only enhances user engagement but also serves as a compelling incentive for potential buyers.

    • “The monetization strategy feels overly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
    • “I was disappointed to find that many features are locked behind a paywall, which detracts from the overall experience.”
    • “It's frustrating that the game constantly pushes in-game purchases, making it feel more like a cash grab than a fun experience.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

92% average critic score

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Play time

10hMedian play time
17hAverage play time
5-21hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 9 analyzed playthroughs

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