ZACH-LIKE

Indie· Puzzle· Free to Play· Programming

Released Jun 2019

ZACH-LIKE is a book of behind-the-scenes design documents from Zachtronics. The digital version of ZACH-LIKE contains the full contents of the book, a bunch of terrible games that Zach made before SpaceChem, and some prototypes and early builds of Zachtronics games, both released and... not.

96% positive · 158 reviews

Done

All announced content has been released

High confidence

Done

All announced content has been released

High confidence

Where to get it

Free on Steam

Steam Free

Evaluation

ZACH-LIKE is a digital book and archival collection released on June 17, 2019. It contains design documents, pre-SpaceChem games, and prototypes — a fixed set of content by nature. There is no DLC, no roadmap, and no announced future content. The two developer posts on record are purely technical: a small launcher fix for non-English locales on June 20, 2019, and a launcher rewrite on July 16, 2023 to address a Windows Terminal crash. Neither post references new content. The store description presents the product as a complete package with no indication of additions to come. This is a finished archival release that shipped complete on its launch date.

Evidence

Store description presents ZACH-LIKE as a complete archival package: a book of design documents, pre-SpaceChem games, and prototypes. No mention of future additions.

description · Jun 17, 2019 source content shipped

high

Developer rewrote the launcher to fix a Windows Terminal crash — purely a technical maintenance update with no new content.

news post · Jul 16, 2023 source ambiguous

low

Media

Details

Developer

Zachtronics

Publisher

Zachtronics

Achievements

—

Platform

Windows

Controller

—

Steam Deck

Not rated

Players

Single-player · Multiplayer · PvP · Local/Split Screen

Indie Puzzle Free to Play Programming

About this game

ZACH-LIKE is a book of behind-the-scenes design documents from Zachtronics.

The digital version of ZACH-LIKE contains the full contents of the book (in two different PDF layouts), a bunch of terrible games that Zach made before SpaceChem, and some prototypes and early builds of Zachtronics games, both released and... not.

Read ZACH-LIKE in its entirety, either in tablet-friendly portrait mode or widescreen-friendly "simulated book" mode!
Experiment with omnivators, liquids, robots, and more in an early build of Infinifactory with hideous placeholder art!
Play an early version of Opus Magnum where arms stack recursively, and the weird solitaire tactics minigame that was cut from it.
Explore the lost undersea world of Project Typhoon, the submarine-based sandbox game we stopped making a few months into development.
Grab three friends and four keyboards and conquer the network in Hack the Planet, a game Zach made specifically for a party at his house.
Enjoy* the entire back catalogue of pre-SpaceChem Zachtronics games, from Gregor Mendel's Pro Botanist to the infamous Infiniminer.

*Any enjoyment other than ironic is not guaranteed.