ComPressure is a deceptively difficult game that accurately represents what circuits would look like if they were built out of STEAM!! (Steam that conveniently acts just like electricity.) We start with a simple valve, and work our way up to a CPU that can calculate Fibonnaci's sequence! All from a game that looks like Pipe Mania.
If it were just the puzzles though, I might not have finished it. Interwoven in the puzzle prompts is a complicated story involving STEAM politics, romance, and ransacked laboratories. At one point, you're frantically defusing a bomb under city hall, and in another, you're intercepting messages to prevent the culprit from escaping the city in a dirigible.
The characters should all look familiar as they're VERY LOOSELY based on historical figures in computing history.
character photos here
Lord Charles Chavvington believes only in the power of HIGH-PRESSURE STEAM!!
His dearly departed wife Lady Ada Chavvington is significantly more level-headed.
Lady Easley seems to be the calmest of the bunch, despite her codebook being inverted.
Lord Moorehouse is a bit high-strung, but his low-pressure steam works just fine.
Cogsworth of the High-Pressure Steam society.
Speaking of Lady Easley, and her inverted Codebook. There's a secret language of steam pressures in this game! Have a look at this abbreviated guide:
pressure
meaning
My experience playing ComPressure is probably different from most! The creator of the game, Charlie Brej, reached out to me on Twitter and asked if I'd try out the game. Because he was there in chat while I played it, we were able to contribute different ideas and suggestions that made the game easier to play. Do you know the colors on the component icons? That was me! I couldn't remember North, South, East, and West. Despite the help, I still found solving the puzzles frustrating, which made it all the more satisfying when I finally cracked one!
I'm releasing a YouTube series with my level solutions, so when you get stuck, you don't have to feel as frustrated as I do.
Youtube
Each level is a different circuit or component made out of pipes. As long as you don't create a circular dependency, you can use components you've made in previous or future levels. There are custom components as well! The levels are all based on real circuits and components, so you can actually learn the underlying principles of CPU design, and the simulations are accurate down to an atomic level. I'm not optimizing anything down to an atomic level, but the folks on the leaderboard certainly are! The ComPressure Discord is quite active, and folks are using the 4 digits of accuracy mode to push their designs to the limit!
For me, I'll just bob along to the absolutely fire soundtrack, and accept my low scores where I can't boost them. Difficult and easy are relative to your experience, but I will say that sometimes a puzzle would take me by surprise. I'd spent 10 minutes on one, then 3+ hours on another, then go back to 10-minute puzzles.
Overall, I'd say that beneath its Pipe Mania exterior is an incredible circuit design game with fantastic steampunk theming, and since the demo is now the full game for free, you should give it a try! I've heard there's a hall of fame for those who finish it.
Title:
Description
ComPressure is a deceptively difficult game that accurately represents what circuits would look like if they were built out of STEAM!! (Steam that conveniently acts just like electricity.) We start with a simple valve, and work our way up to a CPU that can calculate Fibonnaci's sequence! All from a game that looks like Pipe Mania.
If it were just the puzzles though, I might not have finished it. Interwoven in the puzzle prompts is a complicated story involving STEAM politics, romance, and ransacked laboratories. At one point, you're frantically defusing a bomb under city hall, and in another, you're intercepting messages to prevent the culprit from escaping the city in a dirigible.
The characters should all look familiar as they're VERY LOOSELY based on historical figures in computing history.
Speaking of Lady Easley, and her inverted Codebook. There's a secret language of steam pressures in this game! Have a look at this abbreviated guide:
My experience playing ComPressure is probably different from most! The creator of the game, Charlie Brej, reached out to me on Twitter and asked if I'd try out the game. Because he was there in chat while I played it, we were able to contribute different ideas and suggestions that made the game easier to play. Do you know the colors on the component icons? That was me! I couldn't remember North, South, East, and West. Despite the help, I still found solving the puzzles frustrating, which made it all the more satisfying when I finally cracked one!
I'm releasing a YouTube series with my level solutions, so when you get stuck, you don't have to feel as frustrated as I do.
Each level is a different circuit or component made out of pipes. As long as you don't create a circular dependency, you can use components you've made in previous or future levels. There are custom components as well! The levels are all based on real circuits and components, so you can actually learn the underlying principles of CPU design, and the simulations are accurate down to an atomic level. I'm not optimizing anything down to an atomic level, but the folks on the leaderboard certainly are! The ComPressure Discord is quite active, and folks are using the 4 digits of accuracy mode to push their designs to the limit!
For me, I'll just bob along to the absolutely fire soundtrack, and accept my low scores where I can't boost them. Difficult and easy are relative to your experience, but I will say that sometimes a puzzle would take me by surprise. I'd spent 10 minutes on one, then 3+ hours on another, then go back to 10-minute puzzles.
Overall, I'd say that beneath its Pipe Mania exterior is an incredible circuit design game with fantastic steampunk theming, and since the demo is now the full game for free, you should give it a try! I've heard there's a hall of fame for those who finish it.
Rough Draft of Content
As a player, I want to know:
Quick Guide
steam id: 1528120