WAtomic

Title: WAtomic
Author: ironfede
License: GNU Public License
Website: http://watomic.sourceforge.net/

WAtomic looks harder than it is. The goal is simple: reconstruct the molecule shown on the right somewhere in the field on the left. You slide the atoms around to form the molecule. Once an atom starts moving, it does not stop until it hits a wall or another atom.

The mechanics are very similar to that of OrbitZ and Fire. One difference, though, is that the molecule can be formed anywhere that it fits. At first, this makes the game seem a lot harder. To solve a level, I first choose where I am going to form the molecule, and then I work on getting the atoms there. Until I finish level, I am not quite sure if my choice of location will work or not. In the back of my mind while moving the atoms, I am usually wondering if all these moves are for naught. In practice, it is rare that a given location does not work for some deep reason.


Oddly, the more complicated molecules are actually easier because there is often only one or two places on the screen where they would fit. In screen shot, there are only two places where Malic Acid can fit: the lower-left corner or the lower-right corner. This makes solving a level much easier.

WAtomic has 85 levels with the last one being a bit different. The levels can be played in any order. The levels are definitely not ordered by difficulty. The game keeps track of your best score (fewest moves), but I could not find a list of best scores in world or par scores on the Internet. There is a level editor, but I did not see any user made levels, however 85 is probably enough.

One fun thing in WAtomic is the "about" button. By clicking on it, it opens the Wikipedia page for that molecule. I always enjoy reading Wikipedia articles. A word of warning: I did notice that the Malic Acid molecule in the game is not correct. It should be C₄H₆0₅. I didn't notice any others that were wrong, but you should not use WAtomic to study for a chem exam.

My only complaint about WAtomic is that it always crashes when I exit. It never crashes during the game.

WAtomic is a fun game, everyone who reads this blog should give it a play if you have not done so already. If you enjoy WAtomic, you will also like the web-browser flash game TubesMix.