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A game made for all those who love molecular chemistry or are willing to learn its fundamentals. MOLEK-SYNTEZ made by Zachtronics is now available on GOG.COM DRM-free.

In the far future, as a tenant of a small flat in Romania, you spend time programing a molecular synthesizer and playing solitaire. What sounds monotonous at first, can be quite addictive – molecular chemistry is a science full of surprises. By combining knowledge and imagination you can convert ordinary industry chemicals into something completely new…
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Majnun: I saw this was released on gog and at the same time I realised I was hungry. So I heated some bagel bites. But my microwave decided to die half way through cooking them. 1 star.
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GameRager: I also heated some and also some hot pockets, and burned my tongue on the filling....1/2 star.
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Alexim: It's quite disconcerting that Zachtronics continues to treat as second-class citizens those who buy its games on GOG by cutting achievements for all its games, even now that virtually any other publisher is implementing them.
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GameRager: fair enough, but would such a game even benefit from achievements?
I don't know, since I've never played it, but it's a matter of principle. Zachtronics shows little care for its products on GOG, compared for example to Focus Home Interactive, which has been very attentive to the demands of its customers.
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Alexim: I don't know, since I've never played it, but it's a matter of principle. Zachtronics shows little care for its products on GOG, compared for example to Focus Home Interactive, which has been very attentive to the demands of its customers.
Fair enough, but I myself care less if a game has achievements and more about them adding actual gameplay/content and fixing bugs.

Also as I said this game doesn't seem to fit well with achievements....to me it'd be akin to adding achievements to pong/etc.

For those that want such I hope they get it, as long as people getting that doesn't interfere with addition of content/fixing of bugs(in games I might buy, I mean).
Post edited November 27, 2019 by GameRager
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rjbuffchix: Maybe I am underestimating the amount of chemist-gamer hybrids, but doesn't this description read as being "too niche"?
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HunchBluntley: The last time they rejected a Zachtronics game, there was quite a bit of furor from the sector of that developer's apparently rather devoted fanbase who also are GOG enthusiasts -- enough of a furor that GOG wound up reversing their decision and releasing Opus Magnum after all. They probably don't want a repeat of that, as long as the games haven't been actually unprofitable for them to carry (and I presume they haven't).
I suppose you're right, and full disclosure, I like the idea of curation but personally thought that one should have stayed rejected.

Also, off the top of my head, another developer, Soldak, has most games carried by GOG but not the newest one (thankfully, it is available DRM-free on their site without requiring Scheme). So it doesn't have to be this way. While there was an outcry over Opus Magnum, I'm not sure that this applies in perpetuity to all Zachtronics games from here on out. Then again, it did raise a big stink so I can see why they wouldn't take the risk.

Really my comment was meant as a sort of playful needling, because most folks here seem to agree the "too niche" reason given for curation is ridiculous (and again, I say this as someone who supports there being curation). Additionally, one would think if GOG listens to vocal fan demand, other games that were rejected would also have their rejections overturned. But I guess that wasn't quite as big a "stink" as what happened with Opus Magnum's rejection.

While I have nothing against anyone into it, this game is personally too niche for me, or better stated, is just not my niche.
Post edited November 27, 2019 by rjbuffchix
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HunchBluntley: The last time they rejected a Zachtronics game, there was quite a bit of furor from the sector of that developer's apparently rather devoted fanbase who also are GOG enthusiasts -- enough of a furor that GOG wound up reversing their decision and releasing Opus Magnum after all. They probably don't want a repeat of that, as long as the games haven't been actually unprofitable for them to carry (and I presume they haven't).
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rjbuffchix: I suppose you're right, and full disclosure, I like the idea of curation but personally thought that one should have stayed rejected.
Absolutely not, it's the most polished Zachtronics game and pretty good. Not as good as Infinifactory. But worth playing and if GOG is going to have the other Zachtronics games there's literally no reason to reject it.
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rjbuffchix: While I have nothing against anyone into it, this game is personally too n*che for me, or better stated, is just not my n*che.
Don't mind me, just testing a theory with this reply.
Insta-wishlist.
Thanks, GOG, for bringing the game here (without flaming this time;) and letting us know it exists!
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Green_Shade: As for your other question, usually Zachtronics includes a new Solitaire game, not only a minigame or a copy of an existing game. Shenzhen Solitaire (part of Shenzhen I/O) even got a release as a separate game on Steam.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/570490/SHENZHEN_SOLITAIRE/
Thanks for your reply re the solitaire game.
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Alexim: It's quite disconcerting that Zachtronics continues to treat as second-class citizens those who buy its games on GOG by cutting achievements for all its games, even now that virtually any other publisher is implementing them.
But in the opposite to a lot of other developers and publishers they treat GOG customers as first class citizens when it comes to OS support. Almost all of their games support all available operating systems on GOG! What do the best achievements help me when I cannot play the game on my system? ;) So at least for me the OS support is much more essential than supporting achievements.
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eiii: But in the opposite to a lot of other developers and publishers they treat GOG customers as first class citizens when it comes to OS support. Almost all of their games support all available operating systems on GOG! What do the best achievements help me when I cannot play the game on my system? ;) So at least for me the OS support is much more essential than supporting achievements.
The problem with achievements, in general, is that they are designed to prey upon the need for that brain chemical "fix" many of us crave and cannot get enough of....devs/etc saw this with regards to prior behaviors with precursor trends like secrets/collectible game items and capitalized upon it to great effect....even going so far as to shape how some of us play(some will play the way/amount of time needed to get every achievement possible, and obsess when they cannot get them all...some even alter their usual play style to get as many as possible).

Sometimes I wonder if we'd be better off(as a collective of gamers/etc) if we'd stuck with the old system of secrets and such.
Post edited November 28, 2019 by GameRager
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GOG.com: A game made for all those who love molecular chemistry or are willing to learn its fundamentals...
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rjbuffchix: Maybe I am underestimating the amount of chemist-gamer hybrids, but doesn't this description read as being "too niche"?
That was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the game. This will surely be a hit that sells in the millions since GOG only takes games that sell well so it couldn't possibly be a low seller then.
Is the game similar to Opus Magnum?
Eccentricity is a good thing, so I approve of this release. lol
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IronArcturus: Is the game similar to Opus Magnum?
Molek-Syntez is kind of a mix of Opus Magnum and Spacechem, with the graphics of TIS-100. Difficulty it is close to the production puzzles in the epilogue of Opus Magnum.
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b_smith_81: Molek-Syntez is kind of a mix of Opus Magnum and Spacechem, with the graphics of TIS-100. Difficulty it is close to the production puzzles in the epilogue of Opus Magnum.
Does it use the same engine as Opus Magnum?
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rjbuffchix: I suppose you're right, and full disclosure, I like the idea of curation but personally thought that one should have stayed rejected.
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eric5h5: Absolutely not, it's the most polished Zachtronics game and pretty good. Not as good as Infinifactory. But worth playing and if GOG is going to have the other Zachtronics games there's literally no reason to reject it.
> Not as good as Infinifactory.

WHAT?

Opus Magnum is the best. The bestestestestestest. Amazing. Glorious. Sublime.

Pistols at noon (UTC +2)

(Exapunks sucks, though.)