Factorio

It is hard but fun.

DOESN'T WORK IN WINDOWS 7 I CAN'T PLAY.

The Factorio addiction is real...

Tolles Spiel auch für Genre-Neuling wie mich :-)

Too busy expanding the factory to remember to write a review. They call it Cracktorio for a reason - this game really is addictive. But unlike a lot of other "addicting" games, I think Factorio does it quite well. The game keeps you hooked because there's always something to do and every task leads into another. You might think that the goal of an automation game is to set up everything and then just sit back and wait for stuff to finish, but that's Satisfactory. In Factorio, you always have something to build or redesign or expand. You want to automate the next science pack, but you're low on green circuits so you expand that first, but now you're low on iron plates so you expand that, but now you're low on ore so you expa-- oh, no free ore patches? Go take some more territory from the biters... but you want a tank to do that more efficiently, so you work on that research, but your military science is a bit slow because... And now you understand the feedback loop. You are [i]always[/i] busy. And that's great. One of the major successes of the game is that it manages to keep your todo list full without feeling overwhelming. With your factory humming in the background, you can take your time to grapple with a new problem and work on things one step at a time. For example, a lot of new players stumble at oil processing because there's a whole new fluid system to figure out. But you can break it up and work through it piece by piece; the factory will handle itself (it's automated!) while you work out the details of refineries and chemical plants. The biters act as an antagonist to your growing factory. I'm going to tell you to leave them enabled. They're a great outside pressure that gives meaning to your factory expansion (military science is almost useless without them), and more importantly they provide pushback to prevent you from expanding freely. Too much freedom can make a game dull, so having biters constrain you makes designing the factory a lot more interesting. If you're worried about difficulty, don't be. The game provides plenty of options to turn them down if you really need to, and it's not too hard to set up a few turrets and a wall to keep them out. The biters' strength is modulated by your factory's production, so it scales perfectly for both new players and veterans. Just one bit of advice: restart if you spawn in a desert for your first game. Factorio is also very good at establishing long term goals with meaningful results along that path. The end goal of the base game is to launch a rocket, and you are a [i]long[/i] way from accomplishing that at the start of the game. But it's not all MacGuffins as you work towards it - the science packs you automate are legitimately useful on their own. For instance, the second science pack forces you to automate belts and inserters as ingredients, two core parts of your factory. Later, utility science forces you to automate the ingredients for construction bots, which are very useful for ...construction. That's not to mention the great tech unlocks along the way like trains or modules, which redefine how you build the factory. And if you're the kind of person to really get into the technical side, there's a ton of toys to play with. Trains aren't hard to dip into (there's a short 3-minute tutorial by DoshDoshington if you need help with signals), and they can get very in depth with dynamic routes serving dynamic items, or even fancier if you're so inclined. Absolutely the best train logistics system I've seen in any game. But the real technical draw is the circuit network system. Logic and arithmetic operations on signals coming from items that can be used to control logic in your factory... how about a nuclear reactor that manages fuel insertion for optimal efficiency? Or a computer? Don't worry if you aren't into doing that stuff by the way; the game is perfectly playable without bringing out the spreadsheets. I'd be remiss not to mention Factorio's incredible quality of life. The only bugs in the game are the enemy biters, and everything Just Works when you want it to. Need to find where you produce something? Ctrl F on the map. Need to check some production stats for a machine? Mouse over it and it's in a panel on the right. Installed too many speed boost legs and you're struggling to move accurately? One click to toggle them. I could fill the review's text limit with just QoL features. It's fantastic stuff. Alright, now onto Space Age. Not Pyanodons.

ITS ADDICTING