SpaceChem

About

SpaceChem is a single player simulation game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Zachtronics and was released on March 2, 2011. It received positive reviews from critics and overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

SpaceChem is a design-based puzzle game where you build machines to transform raw materials into chemical products. As a Reactor Engineer, you'll face production quotas, sinister threats, and even monsters, all while optimizing your factories for the leading chemical synthesizer in frontier colonies. With its engrossing gameplay, SpaceChem offers a challenging and addictive experience for players.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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96%

Audience ScoreBased on 3,648 reviews

story102 positive mentions

grinding24 negative mentions

Challenging and rewarding puzzles that require creative problem-solving.
Open-ended solutions allow for multiple ways to complete each puzzle, enhancing replayability.
Engaging story and unique mechanics that keep players invested and thinking.

Steep difficulty curve that can lead to frustration, especially in later levels.
Lack of a comprehensive tutorial, making it hard for new players to grasp mechanics.
Some players may find the game feels more like work than fun due to its complexity.

story
328 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
67%
2%
The story in the game is presented through minimalistic text passages between levels, which some players find engaging while others consider it a distraction from the core puzzle gameplay. Although the narrative is not central to the experience, it adds a layer of intrigue and context, often featuring a sci-fi theme with elements of humor and Lovecraftian undertones. Overall, while the story may not be the main draw, it provides a motivating backdrop for the challenging puzzles that define the game.
- “This game has me using every brain muscle I could muster and I still have yet to beat it; the story is great and I have to know how it ends.”
- “The story is intriguing and is interesting and is displayed through text only.”
- “Spacechem offers dozens of puzzles in a story-driven campaign, where you need to design and optimize atomic assembly lines.”
- “The only thing I didn't like is that the story isn't very connected to the puzzles except for defense assignments and the last two planets.”
- “The story is given as text for the player to read in their spare time, which is one of the worst ways to tell a story in games, in my opinion.”
- “Once I got a ways into it, the levels started taking me so long (because by jove they were complex!) that by the time I got another piece of storyline, I'd forgotten the last thing that happened.”
gameplay
236 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
72%
1%
The gameplay is characterized by its unique and complex mechanics that challenge players to solve intricate puzzles involving the assembly and disassembly of molecules. While the game offers a rewarding experience with a good difficulty curve, many players noted that the tutorials could be clearer, and the difficulty spikes significantly in later levels, often requiring trial and error to master the mechanics. Overall, the gameplay is engaging and addictive, appealing particularly to those who enjoy optimization and problem-solving, despite some criticisms regarding the clarity of instructions and the repetitiveness of certain elements.
- “It's a great puzzle game and has very interesting and fresh mechanics that keep me coming back.”
- “The mechanics continually evolve as you work through each set of levels, so while the overarching premise is simple and seemingly repetitive, completing each level is progressively more challenging, infuriating, and rewarding.”
- “The simple mechanics which lure you in are expanded in consistent and interesting ways to create a wonderfully complicated yet approachable puzzle machine that will leave you tinkering for hours, trying to optimize your fabricators.”
- “But this game is less open-ended than the others, the music is somewhat obnoxious, and there is no elegance to the gameplay design.”
- “The main problem with this game is that there isn't enough in-game help to understand the mechanics.”
- “The actual gameplay was a bit bland.”
music
164 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
37%
7%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its quality and ability to enhance the atmosphere, while others find it repetitive or odd. Some players enjoy the soundtrack's charm and motivational qualities, stating it complements the gameplay well, while a few opted to turn it off due to personal preference. Overall, the music is generally regarded as a strong aspect of the game, contributing positively to the experience despite some criticisms regarding variety and repetitiveness.
- “The music is charming and a joy to listen to, with some great ambiance and background noise to get the mind working.”
- “The music sets the tone of curious excitement, with the puzzles getting more and more challenging and rewarding.”
- “The soundtrack is amazing.”
- “The choice of music is questionable, so I turned off the music volume, but the gameplay itself is 10/10.”
- “I just turn off the music because it's weird.”
- “The music is... I honestly have no clue, there's too little of it for how long the game runs on and I had to turn it off and put on my own music after a while.”
graphics
120 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
61%
12%
The graphics of the game are generally described as basic and somewhat dated, particularly in the menus, which resemble early flash games. However, the in-game visuals are noted for their clarity and effectiveness, serving the gameplay well without causing eye strain. While not visually stunning, the minimalist design complements the puzzle mechanics, allowing players to focus on the challenges rather than the aesthetics.
- “The visuals are striking, clear, and super satisfying.”
- “The graphics look primitive in the menus (a few steps above flash game) but in the game the visuals are just insanely clear and crisp.”
- “The austere environment of reactor grids is accompanied by beautiful hand-drawn visuals of various planets and cosmic monsters.”
- “The graphics are very basic, but that doesn't take away from the complexity of the puzzles.”
- “It seems like a great game, but I'm unable to play it due to its graphical/lack of display settings, and just scrolling through the forums and discussions it seems like I'm not the only one with the problem.”
- “Awful graphics but a real headnut.”
optimization
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
78%
11%
The game excels in optimization, offering a challenging experience that encourages players to refine their solutions through various metrics such as cycles, parts, and factories used. While the tutorials may lack clarity on optimization techniques, the game provides a rewarding sense of achievement for those who invest time in mastering its complex puzzles. Overall, it is well-optimized and runs smoothly, making it a compelling choice for fans of engineering and programming-style challenges.
- “It is about optimization and finding programming-style solutions and requires no previous chemistry knowledge.”
- “The bulk of the replay value for this game comes from the researchnet puzzles; which are way harder than the campaign puzzles and may require some unconventional techniques to solve, and secondly from optimization of previously completed puzzles for time, number of symbols or reactors used.”
- “Yet, I have found that some of my most satisfying moments playing the game were getting some highly optimized solution to work (e.g. with just one reactor, or with a tiny number of symbols) after hours of effort.”
- “The tutorials are pretty horrible at explaining a few optimization tricks that are required to get the best possible solution.”
- “Spacechem is a great game if you're not serious about it, but if you like mathematics and optimization, you will get frustrated really fast.”
- “I'm a professional programmer with minor optimization OCD, and these puzzles very quickly ramp up to my problem-solving defcon level titled 'I give up!'”
replayability
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
59%
6%
The game offers significant replayability primarily through its challenging researchnet puzzles and the ability to optimize previously completed levels for better efficiency. Players can also access a vast array of user-generated content, enhancing the replay value even further. While mastering the game may limit some aspects of replayability, the multitude of solutions and the opportunity for continuous improvement keep players engaged.
- “Spacechem has, for all practical purposes, endless replay value.”
- “You build molecule factories in an almost-sandbox environment, with gradually ramping up complexity - all the puzzles have many solutions, and there's great replay value in optimizing your designs.”
- “Because unlike many other puzzle games where you are merely trying to find the single solution that the developers invented, in Spacechem there are hundreds if not thousands of solutions to every level, giving the game a huge replay value.”
- “There is access to user-created content, but the replay value is somewhat limited once you master the game.”
- “One issue with that replayability is that there isn't an obvious way to back up your previous solutions, which made me reluctant to wipe the slate clean on my nicer solutions.”
- “Hard to find something bad to say about this game apart from it not having much replayability apart from making your designs more efficient.”
grinding
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
10%
80%
Reviews indicate that the grinding aspect of the game is overwhelmingly viewed as tedious and complex, often leading to a lack of enjoyment. While some players may appreciate the challenge, many find the puzzles excessively complicated and unrewarding, likening the experience to performing monotonous tasks without sufficient entertainment value. Overall, the consensus leans towards grinding being a significant drawback for most players.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Lots of grinding.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “This 'game' requires you to perform tedious, relatively boring work, with no rewards in terms of entertainment value.”
- “The concept is interesting, but at bottom it is a tedious and unrewarding puzzle game.”
- “Tedious is the only word that can describe it.”
emotional
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players report a profound emotional impact from the game, often describing it as capable of inducing tears and emotional trauma. Many express a deep, intimate connection to the game, highlighting feelings of satisfaction and a unique blend of brilliance and frustration while solving its challenges. Overall, the emotional experience is a significant aspect that resonates strongly with players.
- “I want to cry.”
- “10/10 will induce emotional trauma.”
- “I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy many other games, but there is none I have formed quite such an intimate emotional connection to.”
atmosphere
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The atmosphere in the game is highly praised, with reviewers noting the effective use of music and a sci-fi background that enhances the experience. The integration of a subtle story adds depth, contributing to a captivating and immersive environment that complements the challenging puzzles. Overall, the atmosphere is described as original and well-realized, making it a standout feature of the game.
- “There's also a little story dropped in as you go on to add some flavor and atmosphere to the puzzling.”
- “That and the music makes for a nice atmosphere.”
- “A truly original concept for this hard mind bender with good realization and atmosphere (music, sci-fi background).”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its quirky and offbeat nature, often stemming from the player's failures that lead to unexpectedly funny outcomes. While the story itself is not central to the gameplay, it offers amusing interludes that enhance the overall experience, making it enjoyable for those who appreciate a lighthearted approach to action.
- “Nonetheless, it's those failures that lead to hilariously contrived successes and many more beloved hours of gameplay.”
- “The story is unimportant, but provides some quirky humor and narrative for you to read while taking a short break between levels.”
- “If you like action, can't stand to keep tripping up, and don't appreciate offbeat dark humor, this might not be for you.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
Overall, the game is praised for its smooth performance and lack of glitches, indicating strong programming and optimization. However, some users have noted the presence of bugs and glitches that can be frustrating to navigate.
- “The game was very well programmed, has no glitches, works smoothly, and seems to be very well optimized.”
- “Great puzzles and fun to optimize (though a bit maddening if you try to understand all the bugs and glitches).”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy primarily revolves around in-game purchases, which players have noted as a significant aspect of the game's economy. While some users appreciate the optional nature of these purchases, others express concerns about their impact on gameplay balance and overall enjoyment.