Factorio

So I got a new game...  Factorio


I just noticed this one on the Steam store and had a look.  The trailers look really interesting.  It's apparently a game about building factories to process materials, which then are passed onto other factories for further processing, and so on.

The look of the game is what really got my attention; it looks like the later phases of the game get very complex, with a lot of things happening at once.  Besides this, the game has a 99% approval rating at the moment.  I can't believe I haven't heard of this game before.  It looks pretty popular.

I'm off to give it a shot.  Be back soon with my impressions.

Well, this game is really something.  I've only played for an hour or so, but I want to play it some more.  It's pretty addictive.

You play the role of a shipwrecked astronaut, freshly marooned on an alien planet.  All you have is your wits and knowledge of supply-chain management to keep you alive.  For people who love logistics, this game is for you.  Your job is to bend the planet to your will, and automate the heck out of each step in the process.




At first, all you can do is build small mining machines which gather resources for you.  Soon, you unlock the ability to build furnaces to process the resources.  You then manually transfer the materials from one machine to the other.  Before long, you gain the ability to construct conveyor belts to automate the process of moving the materials around.  This seems to be the heart of the game; figure out how to automate the process of whatever you've just done manually.  Make the machines do the work for you.



 Eventually, you wind up with several conveyor belts, robotic arms, furnaces, mining platforms, all working towards generating the raw materials you need for more complex constructions.


 It's not all just fun and games with the factory building.  Eventually, the natives of the planet take notice of your resource consumption and come tell you to stop.  Unfortunately for you, they want to coerce you by killing you.  Unfortunately for them, you're armed, and not going to take their demands lightly.  In other words, your assembly area will soon be littered with the bodies of your overly aggressive hosts.


 In a game of escalating difficulty and complexity, you soon learn how to build better defenses to combat the increasing number of enemies trying to convince you to cease operations.  Machine guns, automated gun turrets, and pistols are available for your protection, and you'll need them to fend off the never-ending waves of native creatures.



Eventually, I built up quite a production facility.  I had several different types of resources being mined, processed, and stored automatically.  I then was given the goal of building radar dishes to locate the wreckage of my mothership.  These radar dishes consume quite a bit of electricity, so production had to scale with demand.  Several electricity generating boilers were constructed to feed the power hungry devices.

While playing the game, the comparison came to me that this game was a little like building Redstone contraptions in Minecraft.  If you've ever built anything interesting with Redstone, this game might be up your alley.

I've seen some videos on the Steam store that show just how complex these mega-factories can become.  Trains convey materials long-distance, conveyor belts going every direction to process materials; it's like giant Rube Goldberg machines.  My meager facility didn't come close to the potential complexity of this game.

What I liked:  The premise is fresh and unique.  The interface took a few minutes to get used to, but eventually I found it was quite good for manipulating your factories.  The graphics are detailed and well done.

What I didn't like:  Having to stop playing and come write this review. :)  I really can't think of anything I didn't like.  Wait, I think I found a typo in a description, if that counts.

This one is well worth a look if you like building games.  It's certainly worth watching the videos out there just to see the game in action.  Pictures just don't do it justice.

Thanks for reading.

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