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Zachtronics Games
2011-2022
Zachtronics makes the best coding and puzzle games that are on the market. SpaceChem, Infinifactory, Magnum Opus, TIS-100, Shenzhen I/O, and now Last Call BBS. Each of them is fantastic, unique,
and usually difficult.
Some of their games are harder than others, with Shenzhen I/O, TIS-100, and Last Call BBS's CircuitWizard being arguably the hardest due to involving strict physical constraints and, of the
former two, having coding as the only mean to build and interact with the puzzles.
The music for each of the games is suprisingly good. None of it is jarring or annoying. Sometimes it feels out of place, but each piece individually is well-orchestrated.
The puzzles for each game are challenging and the early puzzles adequately prepare you for the harder puzzles. Never do the games throw you something extremely difficult out of the blue.
There is always a lead to it, but it never holds your hand.
Each of the games contains an interesting story as well. I don't look towards the games for their stories, but they are nice rewards for completing levels and are usually intriguing. SpaceChem, Magnum Opus, and Shenzhen I/O have the best stories, Shenzhen because of how thorough and accurate it is at portraying a programming job.
If you're searching for a competent programming or puzzle game, look to Zachtronics. Their most recent release, Last Call BBS (and potentially their last) has the greatest difficulty range,
and ties with Infinifactory for ease of entry.
12/16/2022