It’s been a little over two years since we released SpaceChem. In that time, a lot has changed; thanks to everyone who supported us, Zachtronics Industries is now a proper full-time game studio! As a way of saying thanks, we’re putting everything SpaceChem-related on sale that we can – including things that, up until now, were not even purchasable!

Thanks to the magic of Kickstarter, we did a small run of a limited edition of SpaceChem. In addition to being physically manufactured and signed, it includes the 63 Corvi DLC, a miniature periodic table, and an exciting “paper edition” of SpaceChem that reimagines the game as a Sudoku-like pencil and paper puzzle game. Since the Kickstarter these have been completely unavailable for sale, but they are now available until the end of January!

SpaceChem: Limited Edition (USA shipping) – $25
SpaceChem: Limited Edition (international shipping) – $30

If you or someone you want to inflict SpaceChem on has somehow managed not to purchase a digital copy of SpaceChem by now, we’re running a 70% off sale on our own store until the end of the month as well. As if there was a need to sweeten the deal, copies purchased through the Zachtronics Industries store can also be activated on Steam!

SpaceChem (includes Steam activation) – $3 (70% OFF!)

Did you know that SpaceChem is also available for iPad and Android tablets? Typically $6, we’re slashing the price by 50% until the end of the month. Play SpaceChem EVERYWHERE!

SpaceChem Mobile for iPad – $3 (50% OFF!)
SpaceChem Mobile for Android (Google Play) – $3 (50% OFF!)
SpaceChem Mobile for Android (Amazon) – $3 (50% OFF!)

Finally, we’re also putting our SpaceChem shirts on sale until the end of the month. We’ve marked them down to cost, so they couldn’t possibly be any cheaper!

SpaceChem Teeshirts – $11 to $19 (10-25% OFF!)

A SpaceChem-themed CoD:BO2 emblem, submitted by Todor.

There were three challenges, each with their own rules. If you want to play along at home, post your scores in the comments.

Challenge 1: Speed Challenge

Complete the following puzzle as quickly as possible, regardless of how bad your solution may be. The top times were ~12 minutes (MrBlarney), ~14 minutes (Xander), and ~60 minutes (Illix).

H4sIACA0R1AA/3WQT2vDMAzFv0rRaYMEJDcrIz6VXHYZ23Fs7OClShNw7eA/hy60n312skFLGY
YHfnqSfvYEgxljKL+tYQ/1BJhl9tL1Y4KD1dxGzVDDM4deGZbN0xkriUSEkjAdSbShpIIQpUg2
QgGtjSZATeL0eSqA/h/bKPdljWzylJvO1GpjuCW86N+2HFJN3mWu9f0ZRfMixfoxsdB6IxJXtd
DNSplXzKSYUSVWWUWVHXq4Zse8v1e+1MrtuVxIoA4ucgEJeseu/M1WS9Cz8dZB3SntebG66Nn9
Nc2ZUQ8h8HUqsObRuks7HMf8PseelWv7xGXUITuv27dV0yut2ex5RamgYujzWnhXc3A3dN2Q/i
ccocbTDx92+MzlAQAA

Challenge 2: Optimization Challenge

Work on the following puzzle for 35 minutes and submit the stats (cycles/symbols) for your best solution. You must choose a single solution to submit. The top scores were 151 cycles (Kat) and 26 symbols (Adam).

H4sIAHE0R1AA/3WQPWvDMBCG/4q52QZJTkOwpuAM3dKtpaWDap9jgSIZfUBT4/72nu0OTUI1HO
jV8dxzGkHbIcXiy1kMUI3A5rJkdH0b4ewMNskgVPCsInr5+M3EUXI6TAq+Y1wKwRmDHBqXbISK
i+l9yoH/D6qV/3A2O2j3qVuU9ZGQxNoKJksiMqLvxC2RkC7Fe9c7rm6yfaPbRXRGl1KUW9LkJU
FJdlHeLJV2oPpwrc/mUb0KhVH+hMU6FKroE+ZA/BZ98du7WRsD2uA8VJ0yAdeoSwGvkzAYHeNN
GNHg4PzfOF6GeRePAZVvehKz6jwnT/uXrO6VMWhPmAl6UCn281x4VUtjq7tO01/EC1Rs+gEdE/
n22wEAAA==

Challenge 3: Mystery Challenge

Work on the following puzzle for 30 minutes and submit the stats (cycles/symbols) for your best solution. You must choose a single solution to submit. The top scores were 125 cycles (MrBlarney) and 28 symbols (Xander).

H4sIAIg0R1AA/3WQTW+EIBCG/4qZsyaAbWrgtPGyN3ts2vRAdVQSFgwfSa2xv7249mB30wuEZ4
bnHVhAmSmG4ssa9MAXINtyZen4tsDFamyjRuDQfM4DGtEISitCIIfWRhOAU7a+rznQ/2+e587Z
dtTWqTY7taoT51onDaVEMEqf7mxJZ2O4H+zgrG90zTcpBXukJCkfKkIFK5M4bawiTNCyYscQsk
WM0hdaugGLPQx4cBFz+LCmQ1f89lZ7o0fjrQPeS+1xR330+Jf4SasQbmBAjZN1RxzmaXuDQ4/S
tWMazMjLRp5PL1k9Sq3RDJiVqSBjGLdceJXXxk71vUp/EGbgZP0BUbgpnMABAAA=

For more information, visit www.ironcladtactics.com or come play the demo at our booth at PAX!

I hope so, because we’re going to be there, and you won’t want to miss it!

HOW TO FIND US

Apparently, PAX is quite popular. We were unable to secure a booth on either Expo floor, so our booth is located in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt adjacent to the convention center. Although this sounds like a strange and faraway place, I can assure you it is not; we are right by registration, a PAX theater, and numerous other exhibitors.

An added bonus of this location is that, since we are not actually in the convention center, you don’t even need a PAX badge to get in!

SPACECHEM TOURNAMENTS

We’ve never done this before, so I have absolutely no idea how well it will go, but we’re going to be holding three in-person SpaceChem mini-tournaments during PAX. If you’re interested in participating, you’ll need to bring something capable of playing SpaceChem, such as a laptop, an iPad, or an Android tablet. The tournaments start at the times listed below and will run for about half an hour each.

Friday, 7:00 PM: Speed Challenge – Solve a puzzle as fast as possible

Saturday, 7:00 PM: Optimization Challenge – Design the most-optimized solution

Sunday, 11:00 AM: Mystery Challenge

Also – there will be prizes! In addition to some copies of the new SpaceChem: Limited Edition, we’ve got a few other unique SpaceChem goodies to give away. If you’re going to be at PAX or just happen to live in the Seattle area, you won’t want to miss it!

Lately we’ve been getting a lot of requests to purchase physical copies, so something had to be done. Behold – SpaceChem: Limited Edition!

Unlike last time, we’re using Kickstarter to fund this round of manufacturing. This will allow us to scale based on interest and hopefully save me from making daily trips to the post office. Also unlike last time, this edition includes the 63 Corvi DLC (previously available only on Steam and GOG!) and an attractive SpaceChem periodic table.

This limited edition will likely not be available for sale on our website, so if you’re interested in a copy you should go to Kickstarter and pledge in at one of the two reward tiers (for one or two copies). Since we need to meet the minimum threshold of $600 to manufacture a single copy, please share the Kickstarter link with your friends and SpaceChem colleagues!

Have any questions? Feel free to post them in the comments!

Still can’t get the game working? Let us know in the comments!

The game is designed for tablets with a resolution of 1280×800 or greater, although it’s possible it will run on smaller resolutions. If you’ve got such a tablet, give the demo a try and let us know how it goes!

• Available on Google Play for $5.99, with a free demo version also available
• Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) or later required
• Minimum resolution of 1024×800
• Includes all non-defense levels and all ResearchNet puzzles

It should be noted that, just like SpaceChem Mobile for iPad, this version of SpaceChem is targeted at tablets. While you might be able to run it on a phone (provided it meets the requirements), being able to actually play the game (i.e. selecting tiny things) is highly unlikely.