Yep, this is yet another Zachtronics game. This one was actually released between SpaceChem and TIS-100, but I chose to play the newer game first as it seemed more unique. This block-based game is a throwback to earlier designs and is actually very similar to SpaceChem except that it is in 3D. Due it having actual graphics and being significantly easier, it’s probably one of the company’s most accessible games.

The frame story is that you’re abducted by aliens who use advanced technology to conquer the galaxy but are too dumb to actually understand it. They therefore abduct members of other species and use a combination of threats and rewards to entice them to build production lines for them. That is of course where you come in and your job is to turn raw materials into finished products by creating factory-like production lines. As expected, the puzzles start out simple but become progressively more complex and you unlock more types of blocks over time, opening more options. The usual features like leaderboards for comparing metrics such as cycles needed to complete a puzzle, footprint needed and number of blocks used are also present.

Many of the blocks available are directly analogous to what you had in SpaceChem, conveyor belts to move stuff, welders to join pieces together, rotators to rotate them, sensors to detect the presence of a block etc. The big difference is that the playing field is now 3D so you can drop blocks or raise them with a lifter. This means that conveyor belts can criss cross one another and interact in interesting ways. Building space is also not really a concern as the game is perfectly happy to let you build stuff out over empty space provided that they are supported at some point. This means that I found the game substantially easier than SpaceChem as you have more freedom to move the blocks as you see fit. In fact I was able to complete all of the puzzles that were included in the original release, the so-called Overlord campaign, by myself, which wasn’t the case for the other two Zachtronics games.

In addition to the way that the puzzles get complex and difficult, I also like how the design of the puzzles themselves tells a story. The audio files that you find on the corpses of your fellow engineers tells you most about what is going on but the projects that you are assigned provoke thought as well. You start with simple training exercises but soon move on to consumer products and weapons systems. When you’re making tanks and guns, you can’t help but think that the aliens are using them to wage war. But the real horror starts when you’re told to make foodstuff and you learn what they’re of and how much waste it entails. It’s wonderful and I love it.

It does have to said that while very satisfying to complete, the puzzles don’t involve innovative, mind-bending mechanics. Some of the later puzzles are just more of the same, being difficult only in that they involve ferrying components across long distances and needing to synchronize their arrival times without the help of an analogue of the sync node in SpaceChem. Those who want more of a challenge can still go for the achievements which mandate solutions within tight limits of space and speed. However this post only covers the original set of missions which are all that I’ve played. After its initial release, the game was updated with a new set of puzzles, the so-called Resistance campaign, which I understand is quite a bit harder and introduces more new blocks. I’ll come back to them later but for now I’m very pleased with myself for finishing the original game and I recommend this to anyone who likes Zachtronics games’ but found them to be too difficult.