Rock, Paper, Shotgun

A new update to SpaceChem has arrived, adding a sandbox mode to the brain-challenging indie wonderpuzzler. I haven’t tried it yet because I can feel a vein beginning to throb in my temple as soon as I think about the possibilities. There is a competition to find the best creation and this quote to introduce it doesn’t help matters:

I suspect that some people will be building molecular computers, but that certainly doesn’t mean that’s the only thing we’re looking for.

So, they’ll be building molecular computers, will they? If I load this up there’s a very real chance that it’s the last anyone will hear from me until I’m found with my entire face clenched into four square inches of pure concentration as new elements spew catastrophically from my motherboard.

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For my money, überpuzzler SpaceChem is still the best indie game we’ve seen in 2011. You can read Wot I Think here, but don’t just take my word for it- even renowned X-Men author Kieron Gillen said that it’d been a long time since he’d played something “so obviously genius”.

As of this weekend, developer Zachtronics has just upended another frothing beaker of content into the deadly vat of entertainment that is SpaceChem. By which I mean they’ve updated it. I’m talking Team Fortress 2 tie-in items, I’m talking 12 new levels, I’m even talking about a new level editor and inbuilt sharing options to make sure there’ll always be some hateful new puzzle that will paralyse your mind like a King Cobra. Details after the jump.
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As long as we’re talking superfine indie games, SpaceChem, the finest puzzle game 2011′s seen to date (and arguably the finest indie game, too) has arrived on Steam. Anyone who hasn’t yet tried the demo (available in Windows, Mac and Linux flavours) should physically drop what they’re doing to do so immediately. Yes, even if it’s tea. I don’t care if it’s tea and you’re drinking it directly above your child. What’s your child doing there! Download this demo!
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SpaceChem isn’t simply the best indie game 2011′s seen so far, it’s one of the best puzzle games ever made. If you haven’t yet partaken of the demo or my review then you certainly should. The game is predominantly the work of one Zack Barth of Zachtronics Industries, who describes the outfit as such: “In the pursuit of clandestine R&D objectives, Zachtronics Industries accidentally releases games from time to time.” I infiltrated his hermetically sealed underground laboratory for a chat.
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When I posted about indie puzzler SpaceChem last week, I wondered if we already had one of the year’s best indie games on out hands. Since then I’ve lost many hours to its incredible chemical conundrums, and I’m very excited to tell you Wot I Think.
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Indie puzzler SpaceChem saw a quiet release on the 1st of this month, and in the two hours this morning that I spent playing it I’m not sure I stopped smiling. I’ll be getting Wot I Think up asap, so for now I’ll be brief: this game is incredible. I think we might have just received one of the year’s best indie games in the first week of 2011.
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Putting the puzzling into puzzle games is SpaceChem. I’ve just watched the indie game’s trailer, and I’ve absolutely no idea what on Earth it’s all about. However, KB who kindly emailed me about it says it does make sense to him. So much so he’s able to conclude: “It looks like you actually design circuits or something to accomplish a task, such as combining molecules, I think.” Crystal clarity! You can watch the trailer below, for what looks like a genuinely intriguing game, by a developer with the best name I’ve seen in ages: Zachtronics Industries.

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