Opus Magnum Review

The fifth in a series of Zachtronics reviews. Start with the SpaceChem one if you're seeing these for the first time. Links below.

Source of the interpreter:

[tristanseaver]

2:25
That feels when you get called out by a YouTuber for using his videos as a sleep aid...

[Michneko]

Opus Magnum is my favourite Zachtronics right now.

I'm not that good at puzzles, so actually being able to solve puzzles without being completely stuck is nice.
It also really helped me going back to other Zachtronics games, going back to Infinifactory after Opus really trained my problem solving and I was able to solve the puzzle that made me quite that game last time.
I'm really glad you made this video series, it exposed me to games that actually made me think after so much mindless work I had to do at work, I haven't felt like it since I learned programming at Highschool, which makes me happy.

[Felicificity]

For what it’s worth, Opus Magnum’s relaxing aesthetic and more beautiful, simplistic presentation make this the only Zacktronics game I’m interested in trying, besides maybe infinifactory. Art and visual design go a long way to selling the package.

[ShyBug]

14:33
G stands for Guilder
In the dialogue for a warming tonic in chapter 3 when asked for more Anateus responds "What, are you trying to make a few extra guilder on the side?" to which Nils responds "Not everything I do is for money[...]"

I know I'm years late but I just now got this game because of this review and wanted to point it out, if you ever read this I hope your game's going well, thank you for all of the top notch analysis over the years, even now it's still vastly appreciated.

[mylittlewhatnow]

I've enjoyed seeing this series paint a picture of this 'genre' of games, despite not playing any of them myself. I can't say i have too much of an interest myself in purchasing them, but I'm glad you're putting out these videos and promoting these games. I've learned a lot by watching them about what makes games- puzzle games specifically- work.

[sportsracer]

Opus did add a secret optimization goal in the form of style. Opus magnum, as the prettiest Zachtronics game, has the most appeal for making aesthetically pleasing solutions. This is hinted at in the trailer with the line "embrace symmetry." The Opus Magnum subreddit is full of beautiful, funny, or stylish solutions. For me, this made it one of the best, while being undoubtedly the easiest of the bunch.

It would be pretty cool to hear your take on Exapunks, since it seemed to me like the first time the story really meshed with the gameplay.

[NeverduskX]

It took me a second view to catch the "Thank you for looking" message at the end, but I really appreciated that. Thanks for this series, Matthew. I've gained a lot of appreciation for a set a games I wouldn't have otherwise given a second glance.

[scottbeale]

Both spacechem and opus magnum had three evaluation metrics. However I think most people would agree that in spacechem elapsed cycles was far and away the main thing to optimize for, unless you were going back to do other challenges.

However in Opus Magnum there is a disconnect between the type of optimization the puzzle mechanics encourage, and the type of optimization encourage in the way players are evaluated. The puzzle mechanics and visual design encourages players to develop *elegant* solutions (similar to your thoughts on your favorite solutions in space chem at 9:40). An elegant solution balances four metrics: cycles, cost, area, and instructions. Balancing all these elements creates very aesthetic rhythmic solutions that are a joy to watch.

Unfortunately, the way that you are evaluated by the game is by measuring the best you have performed in each of these metrics individually. As you've pointed out, squeezing out fewer cycles often involves cheesing with long instruction counts. Other metrics are similar, where marginal improvements often requires massive reductions in the other categories. This means that in order to be evaluated highly players must create multiple inelegant hyper-specialized solutions.

A solution to this disconnect that I would have liked to see is inclusion of "Guilds" who would evaluate solutions as a composite of the various metrics, with each guild weighting the metrics differently. This would allow for more cohesion between the self-directed nature of the game and the gentle spur toward competition offered by the evaluation metrics.

[beansperkins]

And now for the 6th video in this 5 video series: EXAPUNKS

[CustardCream]

Hated puzzle games before seeing this series. So far tried this and Infinifactory. Infinifactory just didn't hook me. I felt like I could be playing minecraft and learning redstone instead and certain things didn't make sense to me in a 3d space. Opus Magnum on the other hand is in my top ten most played games. I'm very close to platinuming it and I pop it on regularly. Such a great game to relax to, or to really puzzle my brain to. Better than that, I was stuck on a puzzle when I was still learning and emailed Zach for a bug report. He watched my solution, emailed me back and pointed out exactly where I'd missed a connection. Absolute legend <3

[NotaSkeleton]

Great series of videos. That ending got a sensible chuckle out of me.
Whatever you decide to do next, I hope you'll enjoy making it as much as we enjoy watching it.

[groxx]

This pretty nicely covers why I use Opus as my "intro to Zachtronics" recommendation for people. If you enjoy it but want harder and deeper, the rest of Zachtronics is an utter joy. Plus then you know the core mechanic is enjoyable, and the lesser UI polish won't put you off.
If you didn't particularly enjoy the occasional struggle / optimization / etc and just solved stuff in brute force ways because you wanted to check the box: it's probably best to stop here.

[deliciousdishes]

I wanna thank you for showing me these games and giving such a passionate analysis. I don't think most of them are for me, but through the analysis I came to understand and appreciate a lot of things about games in general.

[LIES]

Literally love Zachtronics and your Videos. This whole series has been like a whole YouTube series made especially for meeee...

[jdfr]

Matthewmatosis video = detailed, quality content.

One of the only Youtubers who can get me to watch reviews for games that I’m not interested in playing.

[marrowsoup]

Matt when are you reviewing Call of Duty Black Ops 5?

[OrangeLightnings]

Just want to say, thanks for this series Matt. I love Spacechem, and I'm glad you used your skills on a series that's gone under-served by commentators and critics alike. Alchemical engineering is exactly what I needed today.

[JuanPerez-bdoz]

Thank you for making these videos, Zachtronics needs as much recognition as they can get. I think your Zelda/MGS/Mario videos can be watched and understood even if you never played those games, which is something you can't really say for the Zachtronics games, so I hope you don't get discouraged by many of these comments.
As for me, I'm not into optimizing. I'm happy just being able to complete the levels even if the histogram wants to kill itself. So Opus Magnum was a bit disappointing. "Too easy" is something I really never wanted to say about a Zachtronics game.

[coaster]

The pretty visuals, hex grid and less complicating constraints made me try to make a pleasingly symmetric solution for most levels, which is something I don’t have the brainpower for in other zachtronics games at all.

[MattRandomnumber]

Glad you introduced me to this thru the larger Zachtronics video and this one. This is the only one Ive really stuck with after I paid for but only recently claimed from a humble bundle from a whipe back.