Atom by Atom

Atom by Atom is a minimalist factory automation game about extracting elements and bonding them into molecules. You build a factory around a hungry black hole, which requests specific molecules, and complete its contracts to advance.

Build the factory

Discover elemental clouds in a seeded world, place Extractors and connect them with continuous Matter Tube networks. Dividers balance materials between production lines, automatic bridges let routes cross without mixing, and Wormholes connect distant parts of the factory. You can trace long Tube paths, rotate and flip machines, and copy and paste production blocks.

Create molecules

Molecules retain their atoms, bond orders, connectivity and open valences, so a formula alone does not determine what a machine can produce. Visual markers show unused valences, machine inputs and outputs, and moving molecular structures. Exact step-by-step recipes are available when each new reaction is introduced.

You begin by producing H2 and H2O, then unlock machines that cleave, substitute, oxidize, cyclize, polymerize, condense and hydrolyze increasingly complex matter.

Fulfill contracts

Deliver molecular contracts to the black hole, which accepts deliveries from every side. Completing them advances you and unlocks new elements and machines, as your production grows from a simple extraction line into a sprawling chemical factory.

Plan and track production

You can save reusable Blueprints and share them with anybody. The game also includes seeded maps, minimap markers, factory statistics, machine efficiency readouts and portable save codes.