SpaceChem on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information

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Zachtronics is back with an ambitious new design-based puzzle game. Take on the role of a Reactor Engineer working for SpaceChem, the leading chemical synthesizer for frontier colonies. Construct elaborate factories to transform raw materials into valuable chemical products!

SpaceChem is a puzzle, difficult and programming game developed and published by Zachtronics.
Released on March 02nd 2011 is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux in 8 languages: English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil and Spanish - Latin America.

It has received 4,992 reviews of which 4,605 were positive and 387 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.9 out of 10. 😎

The game is currently priced at 9.75€ on Steam, but you can find it for 2.18€ on Gamivo.

The Steam community has classified SpaceChem into these genres:

Puzzle Difficult Programming Indie Logic Singleplayer Automation Sci-fi Great Soundtrack Science 2D Space Simulation Illuminati Casual Addictive Education Strategy Touch-Friendly Building

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at SpaceChem through various videos and screenshots.

SpaceChem screenshot
SpaceChem screenshot
SpaceChem screenshot
SpaceChem screenshot
SpaceChem screenshot
SpaceChem screenshot

System requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows
  • OS *: Windows XP SP3 / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
  • Processor: 2.0 GHz Processor
  • Memory: 1GB RAM
  • Hard Disk Space: 300MB
  • Graphics: frame buffer support recommended
MacOS
  • OS: macOS 10.9 Mavericks or later
  • Processor: 2.0 GHz Processor
  • Memory: 1GB RAM
  • Hard Drive: 300MB
  • Graphics: frame buffer support recommended
Linux
  • OS: glibc 2.17+, 64-bit only
  • Processor: 2.0 GHz Processor
  • Memory: 1 GB RAM
  • Hard Drive: 300 MB
  • Graphics: frame buffer support recommended

User reviews & Ratings

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

April 2025
I bought this game in 2011 to craft the TF2 cosmetic. It kicked my azz. In 2025 I spent 3 weeks getting my azz kicked again (even when cheating with YouTube hints). This IS the hardest puzzle game EVER! I hated it and I LOVED it! After nearly 15 years, I'm done with it!
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Oct. 2024
I much prefer opus magnum, from the same developers. This game is more crude graphically and does not communicate how to play nearly as well. I feel like the difficulty on this game quickly surpasses Opus magnum, which may or may not be for you. Surely a good head-scratcher and worth to grab it on sale.
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Sept. 2024
A true game for engineers at heart (same goes for all zachtronics games), and an odyssey that took me several years of slow progress and many long sleepless nights starting from my high-school years up to university, just tuning away at my horrible un-optimized solutions to see how it'd be possible to beat the level. Because of this i also journeyed through it without any kind of hint. This puzzle game is all about open-ended puzzles, where you have to craft your own solutions; you get some input molecules, one or more molecules you have to output, and with the help of 2 "waldos" (circles that go around a circuit, triggering commands when they go over them), you have to craft circuits with commands for them so they can achieve the required outputs, you also have to ensure that your reactors can work for a very long time without breaking along the way. There can be many, many solutions, but getting to any of them in the first place is genuinely hard past the first planet. This game also keeps histograms of how efficient the solutions of all players were, so there's a bit of an incentive to improve upon your previous solutions. Suffice to say this was the hardest but especially most satisfying puzzle game i've ever played and completed so far.
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Sept. 2024
80 hours in ... and only now I realized that you change the grab/drop function to grab or drop only. Was a 10/10 before...but now it is still a 10/10,
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June 2024
This is one of my all-time favorite games. This should be taken with a grain of salt, because it very closely mimics the joy I get from writing code. If that doesn't bring you joy, you probably won't like this game. Please not, I'm not saying that you should buy the game if you *can* write code or if you will enjoy the game if you can write code, but only if writing code brings you joy.
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More games like SpaceChem

Frequently Asked Questions

SpaceChem is currently priced at 9.75€ on Steam.

SpaceChem is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 9.75€ on Steam.

SpaceChem received 4,605 positive votes out of a total of 4,992 achieving a rating of 8.90.
😎

SpaceChem was developed and published by Zachtronics.

SpaceChem is playable and fully supported on Windows.

SpaceChem is playable and fully supported on MacOS.

SpaceChem is playable and fully supported on Linux.

SpaceChem is a single-player game.

There is a DLC available for SpaceChem. Explore additional content available for SpaceChem on Steam.

SpaceChem does not support mods via Steam Workshop.

SpaceChem does not support Steam Remote Play.

SpaceChem is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.

You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for SpaceChem.

Data sources

The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.

Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.

Last Updates
Steam data 09 June 2025 07:20
SteamSpy data 10 June 2025 20:56
Steam price 14 June 2025 20:43
Steam reviews 13 June 2025 07:49

If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about SpaceChem, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.

  • SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about SpaceChem
  • SteamCharts - Analysis of SpaceChem concurrent players on Steam
  • ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck SpaceChem compatibility
SpaceChem
9.75€ -78% 9.75€ 2.18€ -52% 9.75€ 4.76€
8.9
4,605
387
Game modes
Features
Online players
14
Developer
Zachtronics
Publisher
Zachtronics
Release 02 Mar 2011
Platforms
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