Transmutation engine editor, empty: COST 0G

About this game

Developer: Zachtronics · Publisher: Zachtronics · Platform: PC (Steam) · Art style: Minimalist & vector · Screen type: City & Base Management

More Opus Magnum screens in the Gallery

What to study

Every Opus Magnum puzzle starts as this one screen, and the screen is the whole game in miniature. On the left, three stacked panels state the problem: PRODUCTS shows the molecule to build as a bonded diagram (here a blue air atom joined to salt and vitae atoms), REAGENTS shows the three loose atoms provided, and MECHANISMS is a priced parts catalogue, four magenta-pivot arms at 20G to 30G each, so every part placed is already a cost decision. The workspace itself is an empty field of teal hexes with nothing on it but an engraved maker's sigil, 'V. CRITELLI', at top right. Along the bottom sits the second half of the interface: an instruction palette of twelve glyph buttons, each labelled with its keyboard shortcut (Q W E R T, A S D F G, C, V), feeding a timeline of empty dark tracks, one track per arm the player will place. Above the timeline a readout strip holds the three scores the game will judge: PRODUCTS ----, COST 0G, CYCLES ----, AREA ----, all blank because nothing exists yet, and the only sentence on screen is the palette's hint, 'All products must be placed.' Parts on the left, program at the bottom, score at the edge: the editor teaches its own loop before a single hex is filled. Frame at about 0:03 in the Opus Magnum Trailer (Steam), pipeline candidate candidates/v0_0001.png at 2.6s, copied unchanged (MD5 matches the candidate).

Patterns

How the screen is arranged.

side-panel status-row

Components

Parts on screen.

Toolbar Grid Timeline

Screen inventory

• an empty teal hexagonal grid filling most of the screen, the transmutation engine's blank workspace
• left panel 'PRODUCTS' showing the target molecule as a bonded diagram: a glowing blue air atom at the centre joined to two pale salt atoms above and two dark vitae atoms below
• left panel 'REAGENTS' with three loose atoms: blue air (triangle glyph), dark lead (saturn glyph) and gold mercury (mercury glyph)
• left panel 'MECHANISMS' with four magenta-pivot arms priced underneath: two single arms at 20G and 30G, a three-armed mechanism at 30G and a six-armed mechanism at 30G
• the instruction palette at bottom left: twelve glyph buttons in two rows keyed Q W E R T / A S D F G with C and V below, and the hint text 'All products must be placed.'
• the readout strip above the timeline reading 'PRODUCTS: ----', 'COST: 0G', 'CYCLES: ----' and 'AREA: ----'
• the instruction timeline along the bottom completely empty: dark unprogrammed tracks
• an engraved maker's sigil at top right of the grid reading 'V. CRITELLI'

Top 3 colors

#3b5049 23%#191a1a 21%#48635b 16%

Top three palette colors by share. The remaining colors make up the rest.

Source and credit

© Zachtronics, Opus Magnum screenshot: Opus Magnum Trailer (Steam), shown for design study and commentary. PlayCraft is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Zachtronics.

Source tier 2 (publisher-released) · screenshot: Steam store page · Steam page

Source details

Fetched 2026-10-22. verified 2026-10-22: pipeline candidate frame inspected visually at full resolution (1920x1080); real game UI (empty hex grid, PRODUCTS molecule diagram, REAGENTS atoms, MECHANISMS arms priced 20G/30G/30G/30G, instruction palette with QWERTY/ASDFG/CV key labels, hint 'All products must be placed.', readout PRODUCTS ---- / COST 0G / CYCLES ---- / AREA ----, 'V. CRITELLI' sigil) confirmed visible and legible; no trailer caption, watermark or logo overlays the editor

no published policy found (checked 2026-10-22); fair-use study use, takedown honored within 48h

Rights holders: see Copyright & takedown.