Game profile
Opus Magnum
As an alchemist, mechanical factories of arms and rails are built to transform ingredients into valuable elixirs, with efficiency, speed or elegance chosen as optimization goals. The satisfying click of a perfectly timed machine is the real appeal.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Puzzle, set in a fantasy world. Visually it is deliberately stylised rather than photorealistic, and the overall tone stays light and upbeat. The structure is guided rather than open, so you are moved along instead of dropped into a map. Sessions of an hour or two sit at the sweet spot here.
It is genuinely demanding, and repeated failure is part of how it is designed. Story exists mostly as background texture rather than a reason to keep going. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It is available on one platform. It sits in the budget bracket.
What stands out
- Mechanical factory puzzles
- Optimization of choice
- Satisfying tinkering
This fits you if
- you enjoy being made to think
- you would rather build something than be told what to do
- you want real resistance and are fine with dying a lot
- you play alone and want a complete experience without other people
- you are watching your budget
- you want something light that leaves you in a good mood
Look elsewhere if
- you want to relax and not be punished for mistakes
- you want to play it side by side with someone
- you want something with real weight to it
How long is Opus Magnum?
About 20 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 3 weeks, or 10 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 92 out of 100, which puts it above 93 percent of the 1276 games here and at rank 77 overall. That is a strong score, comfortably above what most releases manage.
For comparison, Puzzle averages 83 points across the database, so this one sits 9 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 40 collected ratings.
Released in 2017, so it has 9 years behind it. Usually cheap by now and the rough edges are long fixed.
The facts
- Release year
- 2017
- Genres
- Puzzle
- Playtime
- approx. 20 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Demanding, punishing
- Story weight
- Background flavour
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Fantasy
- Visual style
- Stylised
- Price bracket
- Budget
- Platforms
- PC
- Critic rating
- 92 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opus Magnum | 2017 | approx. 20 hrs. | 92 | Budget |
| Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator | 2022 | approx. 20 hrs. | n/a | Budget |
| Dorfromantik | 2022 | approx. 25 hrs. | 85 | Budget |
| Besiege | 2020 | approx. 20 hrs. | 88 | Budget |
If you liked this, try these
- n/a Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator Shared: Puzzle, Fantasy
- 85/100 Dorfromantik Shared: Puzzle, Fantasy
- 88/100 Besiege Shared: Puzzle, Fantasy
- 85/100 The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Shared: Puzzle, Fantasy
- 82/100 Storyteller Shared: Puzzle, Fantasy, shorter
- 87/100 Lost in Play Shared: Puzzle, Fantasy, shorter