Friday 24 June 2011

KOHCTPYKTOP: Engineer of the People - review

Hi everyone,

I've just finished another flash game on Kongregate called KOHCTPYKTOP: Engineer of the People by Zachtronics Industries (whom you *may* know by a *slightly* more popular game Codex of Alchemical Engineering).
A puzzle game set in an alternate history Soviet Russia, KOHCTPYKTOP (an Anglicised transliteration of the Russian word for 'Constructor', or 'Engineer') revolves around building integrated circuits (more commonly known as microchips) at the most fundamental level of individual BJTs (bipolar junction transistors) using P-type silicon and N-type silicon.

If the above four lines just mindf---ed you, the closest comparison I can draw to another game is Redstone in Minecraft (although they are not entirely the same thing); using PNP and NPN logic gates to control currents in order to output a required current to progress to the next level.

On rating the gameplay side of things:
Pros:
  • Realistic (in a fun way) (or fun, in a realistic way?)
    • (e.g. inclusion of propagation delay - sometimes helpful, sometimes not)
  • An immense feeling of pride/satisfaction when you complete a puzzle (by yourself, that is)
  • It's not an action game, so lag is (generally) not an issue.
  • Some attempt at a storyline?
Cons:
  • WARNING: EXTREMELY DIFFICULT
  • The realistic inclusion of propagation delay D:<
  • Very little in-game motivation (e.g. achievements etc.)
  • A tutorial of questionable helpfulness (uninteractive).
  • Graphics are really (I mean REALLY) bad - but then again, why the fancy graphics?
  • Very steep learning curves to overcome in terms of creating new ideas (e.g. attempting to create pulsers/memory cells for the first time)
  • No diodes :(

I would like to say again that this game is VERY FRUSTRATING and I would guess that approximately 95% of the general population would ragequit in the first four levels (without my video walkthrough). My description of the cons probably do not do justice to the difficulty of the game, but it is very much outweighed by the immense satisfaction of completing a level.

Just harden up, life won't hand you solutions on a platter.

Rating: 3 ± 1.5 / 5 (depending on your mood and perseverance)
~Vincent

P.S. There is a pause button on the tutorial. The shift button is the second most important button after the left mouse button.

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