SpaceChem Bench: Settling into the Routine

Inputs: α Methane (CH4). Output: ψ Hydrogen (H2) ×10, ω Ethane (C2H6) ×10. Features: Max reactors: 3.

In SpaceChem Bench, 16 LLMs each had one attempt at this SpaceChem puzzle, with 10 minutes to build a working solution and keep optimizing it, without seeing the community archive. 9 of 16 models solved it. No model found a new Pareto-frontier point beyond the frozen community archive.

9 / 16models solved it
827best LLM cycles (820 community)
0new frontier points

Records

ScoreCommunity bestBest LLMModel
Cycles820827GPT-6 Astra · +1%
Reactors33GPT-6 Astra Ties record
Symbols2526GPT-6 Astra · +4%

Community records from the community archive when we froze it on October 18, 2026. A point counts only after fresh-game replay and SChem’s precognition check.

Pareto frontier

Pareto explorer

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Community archiveModel frontier pointNew frontier point
Select a point with the mouse or keyboard to inspect its scores and reactor blueprint.

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Every model

ModelSolvedBest cyclesBest reactorsBest symbolsNew frontier points
01GPT-6 AstraYes827326—
02Opus 5.5Yes1,168360—
03Sonnet 5.5Yes1,321364—
04GPT-6.1 SolYes1,326348—
05Muse Wonder 1.0Yes1,340356—
06Kimi K3.1 ProYes1,635365—
07Gemini 3.8 FlashYes1,789370—
08Gemini 4 ArgonYes1,938362—
09Muse Spark 1.3Yes2,258356—
10DeepSeek V4.1 FlashNo————
11Fable 5.1No————
12GLM-5.3No————
13GPT-6 LunaNo————
14Grok 4.7No————
15Haiku 5.5No————
16MiMo-V2.6-ProNo————

Best scores can come from different solutions. New frontier points are not matched or beaten on all three scores by any community solution.

Best model solutions

These solutions are in SpaceChem Community Edition export format and released under the MIT License. All of this puzzle’s model solutions are on GitHub and Hugging Face.

GPT-6 Astra Fewest cyclesFewest reactors

827 cycles · 3 reactors · 36 symbolsbonding_6.827-3-36.txt on GitHub

Layout (Reactor 1 of 3)

α β ψ ω 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 → ↑ ↓ ← → ↑ ↓ ← S↑ S↓ GRAB GRAB IN α IN α OUT ω OUT ω B− B− OUT ψ OUT ψ DROP DROP

Running in the game

GPT-6 Astra solution running on bonding_6 in SpaceChem
SpaceChem Community Edition export (bonding_6.827-3-36.txt)
SOLUTION:Settling into the Routine,Player,0-0-0
COMPONENT:'drag-disassembly-reactor',11,2,''
MEMBER:'instr-start',-90,0,128,1,4,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-start',90,0,32,7,4,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-minus',-1,0,1,7,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-minus',-1,0,1,8,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-minus',-1,0,1,0,7,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-minus',-1,0,1,9,7,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',0,0,64,1,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',-90,0,64,1,6,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',90,0,64,7,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',180,0,64,7,6,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,1,128,1,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-input',-1,0,128,1,3,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-output',-1,1,128,6,6,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-bond',-1,1,128,7,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-output',-1,0,128,7,3,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,2,128,7,6,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',0,0,16,1,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',-90,0,16,1,6,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',90,0,16,7,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',180,0,16,7,6,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,1,32,1,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-input',-1,0,32,1,3,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-output',-1,1,32,6,6,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-bond',-1,1,32,7,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-output',-1,0,32,7,3,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,2,32,7,6,0,0
PIPE:0,4,1
PIPE:0,5,1
PIPE:0,5,2
PIPE:0,5,3
PIPE:0,5,4
PIPE:0,5,5
PIPE:0,5,6
PIPE:0,5,7
PIPE:1,4,2
PIPE:1,4,3
PIPE:1,4,4
PIPE:1,4,5
PIPE:1,4,6
PIPE:1,4,7
PIPE:1,4,8
PIPE:1,4,9
PIPE:1,5,9
PIPE:1,5,10
PIPE:1,5,11
PIPE:1,5,12
PIPE:1,5,13
PIPE:1,5,14
PIPE:1,5,15
PIPE:1,5,16
COMPONENT:'drag-assembly-reactor',17,8,''
MEMBER:'instr-start',180,0,128,4,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-start',180,0,32,1,7,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,2,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,3,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,0,7,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,9,7,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',0,0,64,2,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',180,0,64,7,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,0,128,2,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-input',-1,0,128,3,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-output',-1,0,128,6,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,0,128,7,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-bond',-1,0,32,0,7,0,0
PIPE:0,4,1
PIPE:0,5,1
PIPE:0,5,2
PIPE:0,5,3
PIPE:0,5,4
PIPE:0,5,5
COMPONENT:'drag-assembly-reactor',17,17,''
MEMBER:'instr-start',180,0,128,4,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-start',180,0,32,1,7,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,1,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,2,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,0,7,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,9,7,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',0,0,64,0,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',180,0,64,9,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,0,128,0,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-rotate',-1,0,128,1,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-rotate',-1,0,128,2,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-input',-1,0,128,3,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-output',-1,0,128,8,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,0,128,9,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-bond',-1,0,32,0,7,0,0
PIPE:0,4,1
PIPE:0,5,1
PIPE:0,5,2
COMPONENT:'drag-oceanic-input',8,3,''
PIPE:0,2,0

GPT-6 Astra Fewest symbols

1,617 cycles · 3 reactors · 26 symbolsbonding_6.1617-3-26.txt on GitHub

Layout (Reactor 1 of 3)

α β ψ ω 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 → ↑ ↓ ← S↑ S← GRAB IN α OUT ω B− DROP OUT ψ

Running in the game

GPT-6 Astra solution running on bonding_6 in SpaceChem
SpaceChem Community Edition export (bonding_6.1617-3-26.txt)
SOLUTION:Settling into the Routine,Player,0-0-0
COMPONENT:'drag-disassembly-reactor',11,2,''
MEMBER:'instr-start',-90,0,128,1,4,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-start',180,0,32,1,7,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-minus',-1,0,1,7,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-minus',-1,0,1,8,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-minus',-1,0,1,0,7,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-minus',-1,0,1,9,7,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',0,0,64,1,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',-90,0,64,1,6,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',90,0,64,7,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',180,0,64,7,6,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,1,128,1,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-input',-1,0,128,1,3,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-output',-1,1,128,6,6,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-bond',-1,1,128,7,2,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,2,128,7,6,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-output',-1,0,32,0,7,0,0
PIPE:0,4,1
PIPE:0,5,1
PIPE:0,5,2
PIPE:0,5,3
PIPE:0,5,4
PIPE:0,5,5
PIPE:0,5,6
PIPE:0,5,7
PIPE:1,4,2
PIPE:1,4,3
PIPE:1,4,4
PIPE:1,4,5
PIPE:1,4,6
PIPE:1,4,7
PIPE:1,4,8
PIPE:1,4,9
PIPE:1,5,9
PIPE:1,5,10
PIPE:1,5,11
PIPE:1,5,12
PIPE:1,5,13
PIPE:1,5,14
PIPE:1,5,15
PIPE:1,5,16
COMPONENT:'drag-assembly-reactor',17,8,''
MEMBER:'instr-start',180,0,128,4,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-start',180,0,32,1,7,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,2,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,3,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,0,7,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,9,7,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',0,0,64,2,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',180,0,64,7,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,0,128,2,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-input',-1,0,128,3,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-output',-1,0,128,6,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,0,128,7,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-bond',-1,0,32,0,7,0,0
PIPE:0,4,1
PIPE:0,5,1
PIPE:0,5,2
PIPE:0,5,3
PIPE:0,5,4
PIPE:0,5,5
COMPONENT:'drag-assembly-reactor',17,17,''
MEMBER:'instr-start',180,0,128,4,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-start',180,0,32,1,7,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,1,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,2,1,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,0,7,0,0
MEMBER:'feature-bonder-plus',-1,0,1,9,7,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',0,0,64,0,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-arrow',180,0,64,9,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,0,128,0,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-rotate',-1,0,128,1,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-rotate',-1,0,128,2,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-input',-1,0,128,3,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-output',-1,0,128,8,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-grab',-1,0,128,9,1,0,0
MEMBER:'instr-bond',-1,0,32,0,7,0,0
PIPE:0,4,1
PIPE:0,5,1
PIPE:0,5,2
COMPONENT:'drag-oceanic-input',8,3,''
PIPE:0,2,0