These games really come into their own when they don't just allow the player to brute-force their way through, I think.
The bonus puzzles severely restrict the player's area of operation which makes them so much more satisfying to navigate and solve. Thankfully however, Zachtronics kept at least one more trick up their collective sleeve for the endgame. Their early games look a bit too dry for my tastes so I think I'll try Exapunks next. A really good game all around despite lacking its predecessor's raw impact for me personally. So yeah, Opus Magnum does not quite hit the same heights as Infinifactory for me, but it is more polished, has higher production values and is probably the one I would recommend to new players out of the two since it is definitely more accessible.
Or maybe I've just gotten used to the type of internal logic that these games are built around. I suppose there is only so much that they could do when designing a pseudo-physics based puzzle game on a 2D plane. Unfortunately, this game lacks the delightful contrast between feeling completely overwhelmed at first and the heart-pounding satisfaction of finally arriving at a coherent result after hours of fine-tuning. Oftentimes the solution would reveal itself to me within a few seconds of opening a new one, which made the rest of the construction process feel laborious as a result. I had a good time with it, although I lament what I perceive to be a lack of complexity to the vast majority of the puzzles. I saw the credits roll on Opus Magnum earlier today. A really annoying one at the moment where I can't get the timing right for the final block Not sure I will optimise much myself, I'm feeling sated just getting out of the level.
INFINIFACTORY GIF LOCATION FULL
I was wondering if these achievements were designed to be doable straight out of the gate, or if you were supposed to go back to them with a full arsenal? I guess it doesn't really matter. I was looking at some of the achievements on the early levels, which were about optimisation, but when I went back to try them out, I still had all my unlocks (rather than just the one block type I started that level with, for example). Mark my words, you'll soon be surprised by your own ingenuity. Once you become more accustomed to the intricacies of the game's mechanics, you'll be looking back on your initial solutions in utter disdain. The game really comes into its own when optimizing puzzles, not merely "solving" them. That's to be expected and I was thinking exactly the same thing at first. I get how impenetrable it may look at first glance, but trust me: it's worth it. Here's an excellent video by Mark Brown dedicated to puzzle games:Īnd here are four different gifs from the exact same early level that perfectly exemplify the insane mechanical diversity this game allows: Here's the recent Matthewmatosis video that first introduced me to this game: I think my syntax is even poorer than usual, but I've been playing this infernal thing the entire evening and now my brain is completely mush. Far from a graphical powerhouse, no story to speak of - and yet I can't wait to get back to it tomorrow. I'm usually not too fond of systemic game design, but the end result here is truly special. The learning curve is a bit steep, but it's an incredibly satisfying feeling to see your precious little machine that you've put so much thought and effort into finally work as intended after hours of planning and fine-tuning. Instead of thinking with portals, this time you're thinking with conveyor belts and challenges that once seemed flat-out insurmountable will soon look ridiculously easy in hindsight. This game also does what a lot of great puzzle games do: It actively rewires your brain to better operate within the game logic. It's Minecraft with a purpose, basically. I've looked at some other people's solutions to contrast with my own, and I couldn't believe what I saw and how stupid it made me feel in comparison! In fact, it's the amount of creativity this game allows that fascinates me the most. Thankfully, the game is always perfectly fair. Everything else depends on your understanding of the various systems and ability to come up with creative solutions. The puzzles are composed of resource containers and an end goal, sometimes also minor terrain elements. Apart from some of the tutorials, the player's job is never to find the developers' predetermined solution, but to create their own instead. What makes it stand out from other puzzle games is its systemic nature. It's a first-person logic puzzle game about constructing self-sufficient, three-dimensional factory machines through the use of individual building blocks.
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