Indie · December 7, 2017

Opus Magnum (2017)

trophy5 achievementsgroup100k–1M ownerstrending_up139 peak concurrentrecommend5.1k recommendations
“It is not an exaggeration to say that without alchemical engineering, civilization would not exist.” Hailed as the most promising alchemist of his generation, Anataeus Vaya has just accepted a position as Head Alchemist of House Van Tassen, the oldest and richest of the city’s ancient Houses. But dangers lurk behind the family’s opulent facade, and alchemy alone may not solve every problem. Opus Magnum is the latest open-ended puzzle game from Zachtronics, the creators of SpaceChem, Infinifactory, TIS-100, and SHENZHEN I/O. Master the intricate, physical machinery of the transmutation engine— the alchemical engineer’s most advanced tool— and use it to create vital remedies, precious gemstones, deadly weapons, and more. Design Machines - Design and build machines that carry out alchemical processes using a variety of components including programmable arms, customizable tracks, and more esoteric devices like Van Berlo’s wheel and the Glyph of Animismus. Open-Ended Puzzles - Compete against your friends and the world to build the simplest, fastest, and most compact solutions to the game’s challenges. Export animated GIFs of your elegant designs to show them off. Steam Workshop - Make and share your own puzzles with full Steam Workshop integration and an easy-to-use puzzle editor. Play the top user-submitted puzzles in the prestigious Journal of Alchemical Engineering , curated by Zachtronics! Rich Story - Intrigues and dark plots swirl around the city’s ancient Houses. Alchemists, who hold the power to create almost anything known to science, are highly sought— and highly dangerous. Solitaire Minigame - Alchemical engineering takes focus and concentration. Take a break with Sigmar’s Garden , an original alchemy-based solitaire game. Every game is winnable, but not every game will be won…

Peer Indie titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Indie releases from 2017

20 Indie titles launched in 2017 — top 6 by review volume.

Position in Indie

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume6.0k Steam reviewsTop 42% in Indie
Positive rating97% positiveGenre average: 87% — this title sits in top 9%
Metacritic90/100Genre average 77 — top 7% of Indie titles
Concurrent peak139 playersTop 29% in Indie by live player count
Engagement hours16 h averageTop 39% for session depth among Indie

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Puzzle · 184
  • Programming · 142
  • Automation · 128
  • Indie · 127
  • Simulation · 104
  • Logic · 81
  • Singleplayer · 51
  • Great Soundtrack · 33
  • Steampunk · 32
  • Building · 29
  • Difficult · 28
  • Sandbox · 27
  • 2D · 26
  • Hex Grid · 12
  • Casual · 7

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (12)

  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Japanese
  • Russian
  • Simplified Chinese
  • Spanish - Latin America
  • Korean
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian
  • Portuguese - Portugal
  • Czech

Reception Metrics

Steam community

97%Overwhelmingly Positive · 6.0k reviews

5.8k positive · 180 negative

Metacritic

90/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Curator recommendations

5.1k

Peak concurrent players

139

Press Quotes

“Without a doubt one of the best puzzle games I’ve ever played.” 9.5/10 – IGN “One of the very best puzzle games of the year, if not the decade.” 91/100 – PC Gamer

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

16h

moderate (15–40 hours)

Median

9h

Typical completion time

2-week avg

1h

Current engagement

Achievements

5

Steam unlocks available

Features & Capabilities

Community

  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Workshop
  • Steam Cloud
  • Steam Leaderboards

Other

  • Single-player
  • Includes level editor
  • Family Sharing

Release & Availability

Release dateDec 7, 2017
DeveloperZachtronics
Base price$9.99
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Estimated owners100k–1M
External linksOfficial site · Metacritic page · Support · [email protected]

More from Zachtronics

Zachtronics has 5 titles indexed — all listed below.

Editions & Packages

  • Buy Opus Magnum