July 30, 2023 - Day 211 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 230

Game: Opus Magnum

Platform: Steam
Release Date: Dec 8, 2017
Library Date: May 3, 2020
Unplayed: 1184d (3y2m28d)
Playtime: 23m

Opus Magnum is a programming-puzzle game from Zachtronics. If you've encountered a Zachtronics game before, they're pretty much all along these lines. Well, they were along these lines, because in collecting some details about Opus Magnum, I learned that Zachtronics is no longer making games.

There are only a handful of Zachtronics games I don't own at this point. Infinifactory is on my wishlist, and Last Call BBS is available on Xbox Game Pass.

Opus Magnum is a puzzle game about programming and... alchemy?

Indeed, in Opus Magnum you build and program small machines to make increasingly complex alchemical formulae.

It's also a dangerous game for me, because it features my Kryptonite: systemisation & optimisation.

I've lost countless hours in these types of games just trying to systemise my processes.

But, as I discovered, Opus Magnum has a slightly keener edge. It has leaderboards. Not only am I trying to optimise my designs, but I can see that @tomcat is beating me.

It's a good thing I'm in a shooty shooty mood today instead of an optimisation mood, or I could see the rest of my day disappearing in this quirky little puzzle game.

The UX is a *little* bit confusing at first. It's not entirely clear how to start the first project. I clicked around on screen for a couple of minutes before unintentionally double-clicking on something I'd clicked on several times, but other than that, it seems pretty straightforward.

Opus Magnum seems:

4: Good

#OpusMagnum #Puzzle #Programming #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

I've been debating what five #videogames best represent me, and I'm gonna cheat and do two lists.

Games as I am now:

#BeatSaber
#Factorio
#KerbalSpaceProgram
#HardspaceShipbreaker
#OpusMagnum
#PathOfExile

Games that started me towards being a gamer:

#Adventure
#Zork
#Rogue
#CircleMUD
#Elite
#Diablo

When I have more time, and find a way to do it in 500 word chunks, I'll write more about the "Why these?" It's a shame Plume is dead, a full blog entry on occasion would be nice.