Really like the game, played the demo beforehand. Game reminds me of games from Zachtronics. Fun game for people that like to puzzle and make efficient solutions!
I'm enjoying the post-build charts that allow you to compare your solution to other players and see how your time/cost/space compares. There is something thrilling about being on the far right side of that chart. Knowing that I'm doing my very best, and my very best is still terrible compared to nearly everyone else.
Showing that you can be a dumb guy and still enjoy this game. Right now the reviews are around 90% positive - so, it seems the smart ones are also having a good time.
So far still feeling iffy about the main game. it's OK, but doesn't feel as polished as the previous Zachtronics games. Adding some detail after playing through the entire game. Comparing to Opus Magnum(which I think is fair since the trailer mentioned it), going from hexagon blocks to square feels like a step back for being able to lay out and move pieces. Same for not being able to rotate the arms themselves. And a lot of the difficulty in designing solutions was really the arms/welders/riveters themselves being in the way after you connect pieces, and the solution was usually just flipping the piece over the blocking welder/riveter.
I would say the only real upgrade as compared to Opus Magnum is the ability to specify the number of spaces to move, instead of having to do each movement one step at a time. If you could've put the welders/riveters themselves on tracks to move them into position and back out of the way it would've felt better. And being able to make tracks turn would've also been a welcome change, so you could've move to the side to avoid an obstacle and pulled a piece back(beyond the three space arm extension).
What's really pissing me off is the mini-game they included here. The others were always relaxing and fun to play, and relied on the player's logic. This game has some pachinko sh*t in it, and yes pachinko is gambling, but I (and I would say probably most people who liked Zachtronics games) don't want to deal with RNG horsesh*t that arbitrarily decides they're just gonna lose no matter what they do.
It just.... doesnt have the charm of old Zach games. Setting is not as cool, Story is not as cool, Puzzles arent as cool... and there isnt a manual this time around. Those things were some of my favourite part of Exapunks and Shenzen I/O.
So, if what you liked from Zach was Shenzen I/O and Exapunks, its better to sit this one out.
I'm a bit disappointed in this one, this just doesn't hit the same as other Zachtronics games. Excluding the time I messed around with pachinko, I finished all the puzzles in about 10 hours. After the first few puzzles, you've seen everything, they never really open up any new mechanics to play with like they do in some of the other games, which kept that game fresh as you played along. The puzzles just get longer and more fiddly, not harder. I never had that "aha" moment like I would in the other games.
The UI is just clunky. You can shift-drag to select a region but there is no un-select hotkey. It felt like fighting the UI and not the puzzles.
I tried immersing myself in the story, but it just wasn't for me. I much preferred where it was background flavor.
Pachinko is fun, that's the highlight of the game. I'll play more of that. I can't see myself going back to the puzzles to optimize my solutions.
Disappointing to say the least.
Graphics are detailed but ugly.
The mechanics are simple to grasp but don't offer any real depth like other Zachtronics games - the lack of rotation sticks out like a sore thumb.
I couldn't click through the story fast enough, it just read like a bunch of random daily crap with one-dimensional characters strapped together.
This is an extremely underwhelming offering from a team that has a great capacity for brilliant games. Looking forward to the next release, but this one isn't for me.
It LOOKS right at first glance. But it doesn't feel right. It just made me want to play Opus Magnum and then the dialogue got sexist, saying a female character wouldn't have to worry her little brain with work politics if she just got married and stayed at home. KIIINDA wild. Just sayin...
Don't call it a Zachtronics game, but it's totally a Zachtronics game.
If you know what that is, skip to the next paragraph. If you don't, welcome! Zachtronics games are about learning a novel programming or factory design language, then solving puzzles that test your understanding and creativity with them. Each one has its own theme and story, and each design language is unique enough to add interesting twists to later puzzles. Also, there's almost always a Solitaire variant.
To that template: Kaizen succeeds on all marks, but exceeds by having a compelling story that I quite liked. The theme this time is optimism around continuously improving one's craft, and how important it is to not lose sight of that as tools and automation improve. There's some tongue-in-cheek to this optimism given the year of the setting (prior to the decline of the Japanese economy in 1990), but for the most part, it lands as sincere and uplifting throughout the game, with tiny nods here and there to other Zachtronics games and the modern tech industry.
Especially at a time when every piece of business software is integrating AI slop powered by mountains of stolen data, the not-so-subtle message here is that creativity and specialization matters and outperforms in the end. Which, as a professional in this space from before CEOs decided to develop AI brainrot, is absolutely correct. And if you think that nonsense is the future, you might just need the lessons from this game.
The characters are also, for a not-quite-but-quite-Zachtronics game, extremely charming and well written, possibly the best the team has ever written. The dialog sections came away as much more sincere and charming than the reskinned email interface ever could in earlier titles.
And then there's the Solitaire. The variants here aren't bad, and the theme for it this time is really compelling. But it's not going to stretch your understanding of the game or challenge you quite as much as previous variants did. That's fine, as it's not the focus, but it felt somewhat underwhelming.
And that's it! I quite liked my time with this one, and the story left off right where it needed to with its puzzle complexity. As with the others, I plan to come back in some months to see what puzzles they've added in that time. Recommended.
Steam says I played this for almost 5 hours already but that's simply impossible, I only just bought it.... How is it already past midnight??
Anyway great game.
Boring and overly simplified. Bizarre storyline that doesn't make any sense and is irrelevant anyways. You "assemble" items by putting together randomly chopped up pieces, and I mean it's as if someone literally just cut up a picture of a radio into three pieces and asked you to glue them back together. One of the levels uses rivets to assemble glass lenses to a hinge to make binoculars, but the way it's positioned would pierce the lens. Honestly just seems like someone's "least effort" attempt to get in on the Steam automation games sale.
I'm a (very) simple man, I see a Zachtronics game, I buy it, and I play the heck out of it.
"Oh but this is not a Zachtronics game" you might say. And you'd be wrong.
Automation, commands, optimization for time, price or space, it's another amazingly cool automation game which probably only me, Dosh Doshington and a handful of other gamers in the world are actually excited about.
It will scratch that itch, and you should play it!
Really like the game, played the demo beforehand. Game reminds me of games from Zachtronics. Fun game for people that like to puzzle and make efficient solutions!
I'm enjoying the post-build charts that allow you to compare your solution to other players and see how your time/cost/space compares. There is something thrilling about being on the far right side of that chart. Knowing that I'm doing my very best, and my very best is still terrible compared to nearly everyone else.
Showing that you can be a dumb guy and still enjoy this game. Right now the reviews are around 90% positive - so, it seems the smart ones are also having a good time.
So far still feeling iffy about the main game. it's OK, but doesn't feel as polished as the previous Zachtronics games. Adding some detail after playing through the entire game. Comparing to Opus Magnum(which I think is fair since the trailer mentioned it), going from hexagon blocks to square feels like a step back for being able to lay out and move pieces. Same for not being able to rotate the arms themselves. And a lot of the difficulty in designing solutions was really the arms/welders/riveters themselves being in the way after you connect pieces, and the solution was usually just flipping the piece over the blocking welder/riveter.
I would say the only real upgrade as compared to Opus Magnum is the ability to specify the number of spaces to move, instead of having to do each movement one step at a time. If you could've put the welders/riveters themselves on tracks to move them into position and back out of the way it would've felt better. And being able to make tracks turn would've also been a welcome change, so you could've move to the side to avoid an obstacle and pulled a piece back(beyond the three space arm extension).
What's really pissing me off is the mini-game they included here. The others were always relaxing and fun to play, and relied on the player's logic. This game has some pachinko sh*t in it, and yes pachinko is gambling, but I (and I would say probably most people who liked Zachtronics games) don't want to deal with RNG horsesh*t that arbitrarily decides they're just gonna lose no matter what they do.
It just.... doesnt have the charm of old Zach games. Setting is not as cool, Story is not as cool, Puzzles arent as cool... and there isnt a manual this time around. Those things were some of my favourite part of Exapunks and Shenzen I/O.
So, if what you liked from Zach was Shenzen I/O and Exapunks, its better to sit this one out.
I'm a bit disappointed in this one, this just doesn't hit the same as other Zachtronics games. Excluding the time I messed around with pachinko, I finished all the puzzles in about 10 hours. After the first few puzzles, you've seen everything, they never really open up any new mechanics to play with like they do in some of the other games, which kept that game fresh as you played along. The puzzles just get longer and more fiddly, not harder. I never had that "aha" moment like I would in the other games.
The UI is just clunky. You can shift-drag to select a region but there is no un-select hotkey. It felt like fighting the UI and not the puzzles.
I tried immersing myself in the story, but it just wasn't for me. I much preferred where it was background flavor.
Pachinko is fun, that's the highlight of the game. I'll play more of that. I can't see myself going back to the puzzles to optimize my solutions.
Disappointing to say the least.
Graphics are detailed but ugly.
The mechanics are simple to grasp but don't offer any real depth like other Zachtronics games - the lack of rotation sticks out like a sore thumb.
I couldn't click through the story fast enough, it just read like a bunch of random daily crap with one-dimensional characters strapped together.
This is an extremely underwhelming offering from a team that has a great capacity for brilliant games. Looking forward to the next release, but this one isn't for me.
It LOOKS right at first glance. But it doesn't feel right. It just made me want to play Opus Magnum and then the dialogue got sexist, saying a female character wouldn't have to worry her little brain with work politics if she just got married and stayed at home. KIIINDA wild. Just sayin...
Don't call it a Zachtronics game, but it's totally a Zachtronics game.
If you know what that is, skip to the next paragraph. If you don't, welcome! Zachtronics games are about learning a novel programming or factory design language, then solving puzzles that test your understanding and creativity with them. Each one has its own theme and story, and each design language is unique enough to add interesting twists to later puzzles. Also, there's almost always a Solitaire variant.
To that template: Kaizen succeeds on all marks, but exceeds by having a compelling story that I quite liked. The theme this time is optimism around continuously improving one's craft, and how important it is to not lose sight of that as tools and automation improve. There's some tongue-in-cheek to this optimism given the year of the setting (prior to the decline of the Japanese economy in 1990), but for the most part, it lands as sincere and uplifting throughout the game, with tiny nods here and there to other Zachtronics games and the modern tech industry.
Especially at a time when every piece of business software is integrating AI slop powered by mountains of stolen data, the not-so-subtle message here is that creativity and specialization matters and outperforms in the end. Which, as a professional in this space from before CEOs decided to develop AI brainrot, is absolutely correct. And if you think that nonsense is the future, you might just need the lessons from this game.
The characters are also, for a not-quite-but-quite-Zachtronics game, extremely charming and well written, possibly the best the team has ever written. The dialog sections came away as much more sincere and charming than the reskinned email interface ever could in earlier titles.
And then there's the Solitaire. The variants here aren't bad, and the theme for it this time is really compelling. But it's not going to stretch your understanding of the game or challenge you quite as much as previous variants did. That's fine, as it's not the focus, but it felt somewhat underwhelming.
And that's it! I quite liked my time with this one, and the story left off right where it needed to with its puzzle complexity. As with the others, I plan to come back in some months to see what puzzles they've added in that time. Recommended.
Steam says I played this for almost 5 hours already but that's simply impossible, I only just bought it.... How is it already past midnight??
Anyway great game.
Boring and overly simplified. Bizarre storyline that doesn't make any sense and is irrelevant anyways. You "assemble" items by putting together randomly chopped up pieces, and I mean it's as if someone literally just cut up a picture of a radio into three pieces and asked you to glue them back together. One of the levels uses rivets to assemble glass lenses to a hinge to make binoculars, but the way it's positioned would pierce the lens. Honestly just seems like someone's "least effort" attempt to get in on the Steam automation games sale.
I'm a (very) simple man, I see a Zachtronics game, I buy it, and I play the heck out of it.
"Oh but this is not a Zachtronics game" you might say. And you'd be wrong.
Automation, commands, optimization for time, price or space, it's another amazingly cool automation game which probably only me, Dosh Doshington and a handful of other gamers in the world are actually excited about.
It will scratch that itch, and you should play it!
