VGSources / Games / Zachtronics
puzzle video game
SpaceChem
By Zachtronics, released 1 Jan 2011
- Microsoft Windows
- Linux
- macOS
What it is
SpaceChem is a design-based puzzle game from Zachtronics, released in 2011. Players take the role of a reactor engineer tasked with building factories that turn raw materials into chemical products for frontier colonies. Designs must be streamlined to meet production quotas, while sinister threats add pressure to the work. The game includes more than fifty puzzles, an original soundtrack by Evan Le Ny, and twenty achievements. Steam lists single-player, achievements, trading cards, Steam Cloud, leaderboards, and Family Sharing. Zachtronics developed and published the game. Its genres are puzzle video game, Indie, and Simulation. The broader platform list includes Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS; Steam lists those same three systems. The Steam release date is March 2, 2011, and its Metacritic score is 84. Its central activity is designing and refining factory layouts to produce the required chemicals.
What players like, and what they don't
- More than fifty puzzles
- Factory designs transform raw materials
- Twenty achievements
- Steam Cloud and leaderboards listed
- Windows, Linux, and macOS
- Single-player is the listed play mode
Who it suits
Suited to players who enjoy designing production systems and refining them to meet quotas. Its puzzle format and single-player listing suit solo play.
SpaceChem centers on building and streamlining factories under production requirements, with puzzles and threats shaping the challenge. Steam also lists Cloud, leaderboards, achievements, trading cards, and Family Sharing.
