SpaceChem

SpaceChem
http://www.zachtronics.com/spacechem/
Developer: Zachtronics
Available On: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
Developed Using: Proprietary Engine

In SpaceChem you begin as a “Reactor Engineer” for the SpaceChem mega corporation. You are responsible for solving design challenges that enable you to deliver products and support the prosperity of the facilities and company.

The core game play presents you with input materials, output objectives, and a a set of instructions that can be used to manipulate the input materials in a programmatic way.

At first glance I thought this game was going to have some educational goals that were heavily into the chemistry field, but that has turned out to be a secondary field that can be ignored within the game play. The primary field they appear to be teaching is logic. The tutorial is not too bad when it comes to reading complexity, but it does require the ability to read in the language you are playing the game in. Other required knowledge is peripheral use, concept of sequencing or steps, and an introduction to chemistry would help give context to some of the terms, but they are lightly explained in the tutorial.

SpaceChem does well at making the user think and introduces complex puzzles that can be solved in a variety of ways. The player will be introduced to symbols which have rules associated with how they function and have to use them to complete the tasks. This primarily promotes trial and error and iterative designs. In maps with multiple reactors the player will have to plan ahead and think about which resources are most useful to pipe to specific reactors. The game also benefits from compartmentalizing problems or breaking them down into smaller ones which goes well with the iterative design. Beyond the basic learning of how rules work and how to design for specific requirements, the game delivers everything in a chemistry setting. Players will be exposed to different elements, how atoms can bond, and different compound names. Learning these are not necessary but a few may be picked up along the way. For players that have a desire to flex their design muscles even more, there is the option to replay levels to optimize the challenges for different types of efficiencies like shorter times and fewer instructions used.

The practice the game gives can transfer well to a few subjects directly. Being able to proceed through the steps is akin to solving equations, you are given a problem with variables and need to follow a set of rules to solve the challenge. This and iterative design practice transfers over to programming, circuitry logic, and design of things like assembly lines.

Individually the mechanics are simple, such as rotate this piece, pick up here, drop off there, etc. When the mechanics combine. These rules are placed along a path that the player influences through the use of directional rules. It has a simple drag and drop interface for all of the rules, and setting up a production doesn’t take too long.

Once the mechanics come together the game has tons of possibilities. Given a limited space and two complex input, the player will be crammed for space in each reactor and have to start thinking creatively on how to combine rules, and even re-use the same node more than once. The player can configure their reactor and watch it go in order to test their progress.

Aesthetically the game delivers on challenge through its progressively harder puzzles. There is a narrative to the game, but throughout my own play the story has taken a far back seat. The fellow or community for the game is thriving, and community created content can be found in the games Research Net feature. The sensation of the game is not to be overlooked either, while the game is fairly simple graphically the sound effects and music are impactful and memorable.

Feedback within the puzzles is immediate if you use the time warp tool and in a complex puzzle the game will snap to the point of failure. The player will be able to see an error message detailing what went wrong and can then step through the puzzle to assist with visualizing what might be improvable.Allowing them to quickly act on the feedback.

The practice principle is fairly strong within the game as well. A player is slowly given more tools to accomplish goals and they spend large amounts of time stepping through the puzzles in order to become more proficient with the tools. The complexity of the tools sets is increased with each new interaction that is possible and players are encouraged to explore them while attempting to solve the challenges.

The ability to experiment with the tool sets and become more proficient also lends well to the discovery principle. Each tool is given a brief explanation on the tool tip and the introductory puzzles for the new tools are generally only covering the basic uses. For example through play I discovered that you can deliver items in a sequence from one reactor to another, and as long as that sequence is reliable it can be used to make processes more efficient.

In the context of the EDGE framework the game is cohesive. The educational goals of iterative design and practicing sequencing work well with the immediate feedback provided in the game and simple and visual style. The challenge also encourages the player to keep practicing, experimenting, and coming up with optimal strategies to tackle problems.

Overall the game is good for a specific type of person. The puzzles are well thought out, the game does not hold the players hand through the process, and the game encourages improvements by displaying the performance distribution after the level. Someone who is just starting with logic puzzles may become quickly frustrated with the higher levels and give up quickly. Alternatively a player who is not inclined to learn well through trial and error on their own could also be left behind. As a part time software engineer and lover of logic puzzles, building, and optimizing systems this is a game I am thoroughly enjoying.