In Opus Magnum I chased this same alchemical dragon by building my first rough machine for each puzzle and saving it as “rubbish”. It also encourages the pursuit for an “optimal” solution, a tight and speedy knot of code that can’t be bettered. Concentration matters in these games, and if your tired brain can’t keep track of criss-crossing lines of code that interfere with each other in nearly invisible ways, then you might also struggle. I even find it harder than Shenzhen I/O sometimes, a game that shares most of its features: a limited programming language to learn, electronic devices to understand, and a booklet to leaf through when you're stumped. Already I’ve found them much harder than the clunking machinery of Opus Magnum (which remains the best opener for anyone seeking to breach the Zachwalls). Whoops.īut the puzzles don’t stay so straightforward for very long. ![]() In that case, I got the instructions in my spiderbots wrong, and red numbers started appearing on my testing display, suggesting that the protagonist’s arm was probably experiencing intense pain. ![]() Another level has you hacking your own phage-infected arm, to relay signals from one nerve to another. It’s your address of course – you’re hacking yourself a free pizza. For example, an early hack sees you copying an address into an order file on the database of a pizza restaurant. You need to type instructions into these little critters to pull off whatever the job requires. They involve sending tiny spider-like bots called “EXAs” across tiled computer hosts. In other words, a motive.Įach hack is a self-contained puzzle. In short, it doesn’t just give you a hard drive full of labelled puzzles, it gives you a zine, a disease, and a little hacker community. Except you also have the benefit of a printable zine full of tutorials and help, which adds some excellent make-believe garnish, similar to the instruction manuals of Shenzhen I/O and TIS-100. It reminds me of the emails exchanged in Hacknet or the robo-tales of Aether Interactive. ![]() Luckily, a strange AI appears on your computer and offers you a deal – hack things for her and she’ll give you dose after dose of expensive medication, delivered by your friend Nivas.įrom the voice acting in the visual novel style cutscenes to the simmering hacker chatroom in the corner of your desktop, it’s clear that these puzzlers are getting better at marrying theme and function. The phage is a degenerative disease that very slowly turns the human body into useless circuitry. You can almost feel the presence of mirrorshades in this line of plot synopsis alone. “You used to be a hacker,” says the game, “but now you have the phage.” Oh man, the phage. Although, if this is your first glimpse into the Zachtroniverse, it might be overwhelming. I’ve been hacking into chocolate factories and university servers for the past week, and I’ve found it as difficult and rewarding as anything that came before. The same studio gave us the alchemical gadgeteering of Opus Magnum only ten months ago, but they’ve already returned with a programming puzzler that’s got more in common with previous Zachlikes. It’s set in the year 1997, which is a very pleasing year to say out loud. Exapunks is the latest hack ‘em up from Zachtronics. ![]() To borrow a wise Klaxian proverb: It is the nineties and there is time for hacks.
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