Transmutation engine editor, first solution: COST 140G, AREA 37

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

The same puzzle, solved. The machine is a diagonal chain of dark berths across the hex grid: reagent atoms enter at bottom left (gold mercury, black mercury, lead), three magenta arms numbered 1, 2 and 3 in purple roundels swing them along the chain, arm 2 riding a short track, and at the top right the finished molecule sits assembled, the blue air atom bonded to its salt and vitae partners exactly as the PRODUCTS panel drew it, with the left panels now dimmed because their contents are all on the grid. The programming is equally visible: the timeline's three numbered tracks, one per arm, are filled with white instruction tiles, rotation arcs and circles and extend marks in repeating groups, because a Zachtronics program is a loop you can read. The readout strip is the scorecard the empty screen promised: PRODUCTS 6/6, COST 140G, CYCLES still ---- because the machine is being edited, not run, and AREA 37, the count of hexes the machine occupies. Cost, area and completion are not a results screen you visit later; they sit on the editor the whole time, updating as you build. Frame at about 0:17 in the Opus Magnum Trailer (Steam), pipeline candidate candidates/v0_0003.png at 17.0s, copied unchanged (MD5 matches the candidate).

Patterns

How the screen is arranged.

side-panel status-row grid-overlay

Components

Parts on screen.

Toolbar Grid Timeline

Screen inventory

• the finished molecule assembled at upper right of the grid: the blue air atom bonded to salt and vitae atoms exactly as the PRODUCTS diagram specifies
• a chain of dark hexagonal berths running diagonally down-left from the product, with reagent atoms seated along it
• three magenta pivot arms numbered 1, 2 and 3 in purple roundels, arm 2 riding a short horizontal track at the bottom of the machine
• a grey glyph plate engraved with four small triangles beside the product berths
• the readout strip reading 'PRODUCTS: 6/6', 'COST: 140G', 'CYCLES: ----' and 'AREA: 37'
• three numbered instruction tracks (1, 2, 3) filled with white instruction tiles: rotation arcs, circles and extend/retract marks laid out in repeating groups
• playback controls at bottom left of the timeline: stop, play and pause buttons under the instruction palette

Top 3 colors

#3f544d 23%#1a1c1c 21%#526a61 17%

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 (assembled product molecule, three numbered arms 1/2/3 with arm 2 on a track, glyph plate, readout PRODUCTS 6/6 / COST 140G / CYCLES ---- / AREA 37, three filled instruction tracks, stop/play/pause controls) 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.