SpaceChem

SpaceChem has now been added to the Humble Bundle.. bringing the total to six games, a prototype and a pre-order!  I already picked up the bundle, but like Trauma before it, SpaceChem has also been made available to those who bought the pack 🙂

SpaceChem is a puzzle game by Zachtronics Industries, where the player takes on the role of a Reactor Engineer, converting various elements into useful chemicals, meeting production quotas and fighting monsters..

The first level, “Of Pancakes and Spaceships”, has you build a simple circuit using commands and directional arrows for your waldos to transfer a molecule of oxygen from the input to the output of the reactor.

When your reactor has produced the required number of molecules, you are presented with an overview of your performance compared to others.. and the option to upload your solution as a video on your YouTube account.

I noticed here that I’m also able to compare my results against my friends.. which means I have to do reasonably well for pride’s sake 😉

The commands are very specific, and I think most players would need to pay attention to the tutorial, or end up fumbling around a lot.  Using an output command in an output area  is not enough.. you have to use the right output command in each specific output area..

On my first try with the Crossover task, I hadn’t noticed this, so ended up with unflushed atoms waiting to collide with the next cycle’s atoms!  Once I fixed this problem, I then ran into the fact that the red waldo’s cycle was shorter than the blue, and therefore faster.. I fixed this by adding Sync commands just after the input, to make the waldos run together.

Bonding added more complexity to the controls, with the grab/drop command capable of being set as a sole grab or drop command.  I found it rather satisfying to see my newly created molecule heading for the output 🙂

The next level had me creating Hydrochloric Acid, which I managed first time, without any assistance!  I was still pleased with this even when I got to the performance screen, and saw that one friend managed this using only 14 symbols, while I used 19.. 😮

There must be more tricks to learn then.. but I’m probably not going to learn them tonight, as I have work in the morning 😉

The Humble Frozen Synapse Bundle!

The Humble Bundle is a pack of indie games offered at a price set by the individual customer.. literally “pay what you want”.. where the money gets split between the developers, charity and the Humble Bundle site itself.. again as each customer sees fit.

Supporting indies and charity?  I don’t see a downside.. 🙂

This particular offer was headlined by Frozen Synapse, a turn-based strategy game which seems to have rated highly justabout everywhere.  While you could choose to pay just £1 for the game, paying more than the average also nets you some bonus games..

In this case, the bonus pack was the Humble FrozenByte Bundle, including: Trine a puzzle-action game featuring a thief, a wizard and a warrior, action games Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds: Survivor, a pre-order of Splot, a fairytale adventure, and Jack Claw, a prototype game featuring a guy with a rather large claw!

Trauma has since been added to the bundle, and can be downloaded by those who had already paid and redeemed their codes simply by visiting the unique link sent via email.  This one sounds like a different sort of game, described on the site as a “photographic experience” in the mind of a traumatized young woman.. I’m half-expecting something on the lines of Korsakovia, but we’ll see! 🙂