Ahead of the Curve - The SpaceChem Postmortem

Explore the intricacies of design-based puzzle games in this 2013 GDC session with Zachtronic Industries' Zach Barth. Delve into the unique aspects of SpaceChem, learn how to create engaging design-based puzzles, and discover effective ways to build community features around them. Gain insights into the game's inspiration, genre classification, and the definition of design-based puzzle games. Examine the four key aspects that make these games appealing, including their addictive nature and sense of ownership. Uncover the challenges of difficulty balancing, tutorial design, and the theory of player learning through trial and error. Get a glimpse into post-launch secrets, including platform expansions, revenue insights, and support strategies. Conclude with a look at future projects from Zachtronic Industries in this informative 24-minute talk.

Intro
Let's talk about SpaceChem
What inspired SpaceChem?
What genre of game is SpaceChem?
What is a design- based puzzle game?
Answer #1 A DEFINITION
A design-based puzzle game is a puzzle game where solutions take the form of a design
Four Aspects OF SOME DESIGN-BASED PUZZLE GAMES
Crack for Engineers!
Ownership "Favorite Game"
BONUS: Making puzzles is easy!
SpaceChem Community Features
Histograms
Custom Puzzles
APPEAL
What was the problem?
SpaceChem is ADDICTIVE!
DIFFICULTY
OPEN QUESTION: Is this acceptable?
TUTORIALS
THEORY: Players only learn through trial and error while playing the game.
RAPIDFIRE POST- LAUNCH SECRETS!
Mac + Linux
Android
Revenue
Support How do you handle support?
The Future What are you working on now?