Microtopia

This game has some interesting mechanics, but it's hard to call it a factory game when you can't truly automate production. There's no meaningful long-range logistics system, so once you expand beyond the nearby islands, outside of catapult range, progression starts to feel like it hits a wall. By the mid to late game, *Microtopia* stops feeling like a factory builder and starts feeling like a micromanagement simulator. The main problem is the combination of small, finite resource deposits and tiny stockpiles. Once a stockpile fills up, resources are effectively wasted. Aged ants carrying resources either have to leave the work path, or you keep them working until they die. Since ants cost resources to create and upgrade, every lost ant is another resource loss. Instead of spending time designing and optimizing factories, you're forced to constantly revisit every island just to babysit resource patches. I can make one small improvement to a factory on a single island, then have to go around maintaining resource patches on every island before I can make another change. That doesn't feel like meaningful gameplay—it just artificially stretches the game's length. I think this could be improved in a few different ways. An auto-sorting stockpile would be the best solution. Similar to how resources are handled when a building is deconstructed, any resources placed into this stockpile would automatically be distributed to the appropriate storage pads with available space. It would dramatically reduce unnecessary micromanagement without removing the logistical challenge that makes factory games enjoyable. If that isn't feasible, another option would be to make the Colossal stockpile available earlier in the game, or add larger dedicated stockpiles for raw resources. Any of these changes would reduce the constant need to babysit resource patches while still preserving the core gameplay.

This is a hesitant recommendation. Microtopia has a really good clever mechanic (trails, and gates, and lifespans) that's been executed very well, and synergizes very well, but the game is not for everyone. On the good side, it feels a fair bit different from other factory games. Workers have a limited lifespan and are also part of getting more advanced workers. Recycling workers for further upgrades and back into raw materials is a huge part of the game, and that's pretty cool. On the bad side: - The game can feel SLOW at times, or downright tedious. There's no way to increase the game speed. - Resources are limited per island, which means if you don't recycle well, you're punished by needing to discover more islands and pull resources from further away. Basically, it's always "hard mode" compared to other factory games. - The upgrade tree kind needs attention. All too often you're presented with a new technology, and unlock it only to discover it's useless until you research another new technology *which requires more advanced resources*. I was frustrated to find I had spent time aiming to unlock something that ended up being useless for many more hours. The game hides details of future nodes on the tech tree so you can't avoid this mistake, either. Overall, I'd recommend the game for big fans of factory games who are OK with a slower pace and just plain harder gameplay in exchange for a very interesting, different experience.

⣿⣿⡻⠿⣳⠸⢿⡇⢇⣿⡧⢹⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣾⣿⡇⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⡐⣯⠁ ⠄⠄ ⠟⣛⣽⡳⠼⠄⠈⣷⡾⣥⣱⠃⠣⣿⣿⣿⣯⣭⠽⡇⣿⣿⣿⣿⣟⢢⠏⠄ ⠄ ⢠⡿⠶⣮⣝⣿⠄⠄⠈⡥⢭⣥⠅⢌⣽⣿⣻⢶⣭⡿⠿⠜⢿⣿⣿⡿⠁⠄⠄ ⠄⣼⣧⠤⢌⣭⡇⠄⠄⠄⠭⠭⠭⠯⠴⣚⣉⣛⡢⠭⠵⢶⣾⣦⡍⠁⠄⠄⠄⠄ ⠄⣿⣷⣯⣭⡷⠄⠄⢀⣀⠩⠍⢉⣛⣛⠫⢏⣈⣭⣥⣶⣶⣦⣭⣛⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄ ⢀⣿⣿⣿⡿⠃⢀⣴⣿⣿⣿⣎⢩⠌⣡⣶⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣆⠄⠄⠄ ⢸⡿⢟⣽⠎⣰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⠄⠄ ⣰⠯⣾⢅⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡄⠄ ⢰⣄⡉⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠄ ⢯⣌⢹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄ ⢸⣇⣽⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄ ⢸⣟⣧⡻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⡻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄ ⠈⢹⡧⣿⣸⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠗⣈⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠄ ⠄⠘⢷⡳⣾⣷⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣾⣿⣿⢀⣶⣶⣶⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇⠄ ⠄⠄⠈⣵⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄⠄ ⠄⠄⠄⠸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠘⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇⠄⠄

It's interesting, but ultimately falls short. The bottlenecks specifically surrounding ant production and the separate islands make for a frustrating experience, and the novelty wears off quickly. Cannot recommend in current state. There are a LOT of better factory games out there.

Robot ants are very satisfying. I bounced off the prologue ages ago but decided to commit some time to understanding what the game is doing. It's a little different from other factory games, in a good way. You are basically designing a living circuit board, while it's operating. Every time I hit a new problem my first reaction was, "well this is going to be tedious," then I made a terrible solution, learned why it was terrible, made a slightly better one, then learned how to make the proper one. Don't look at guides, don't watch someone else play. Just go in with the intention to be stupid, then learn how to be clever. It's immensely satisfying. 10/10 factory game.

This game is great. It's a little unusual by factory builder standards, both in premise and execution, but it's absolutely an interesting change of pace. I'm only about half way through a game (with 26hrs at time of review, it's not a fast game) Many of the negative complaints I read before purchasing were, inaccurate to my experiences. Once you start recycling old ants, you start having the issue of too many resources, instead of not enough. No time controls is definitely something I would change, but factorio doesn't have the ability to speed up time either. Difficulty getting new resources and eventually running out, doesn't appear to be an issue. Pretty much everything can be recycled with 100% efficiency (greater than for most ants) so you can effectively have a closed economy, as long as you are preventing too many ants from dying of old age (and instead recycling/upcycling them) The logic controls for what ants go where have a tonne of potential, and allow you to pretty much automate everything. The only thing they're lacking in my experience so far is the ability to check how many ants are on a different network (primarily for limiting population growth) However there is no downside to too many ants. It definitely requires completely different thinking to something like factorio. My best advice for new players is that you want to avoid ants dying as much as possible. Once you get the recycler, any ant that can't be upgraded further should be recycled when old. If you do this, you might find you have too much iron and don't need to extract any new resources (except to expand) Overall, absolutely recommend this game. It's weird but definitely a good game

Плюсы: 1. Прекрасная залипательная игра. Затягивает надолго. Управление простое, каждый шаг объясняется. Казуал рад. 2. СПАСИБО, что существуют муравьи-часовые, мои бессмертные ангелочки, с которыми в любой момент можно начать с нуля, просто стерев всё огромным ластиком, не боясь, что популяция вымрет. 3. Разноцветные дорожки очень помогают. А сетка - вообще счастье перфекциониста. Минусы: Моя единственная большая претензия - щебень. Прикол вот какой: когда вы находите второй остров, на него могут летать дроны, но у них малый функционал. А чтоб туда могли ползать нелетающие муравьи, нужен мост. Чтоб построить мост, нужно добыть щебень и преобразовать его в бетон. Чтоб добыть щебень, нужны копатели (нелетающие). И если у вас нет щебня на вашем базовом первом острове, то мост вам будет только сниться. На моём первом пробном сохранении щебень заспавнился, хвала богам. Но это сохранение я бросила и начала следующее, когда поднабралась опыта, потому что обожаю начинать с чистого листа с имеющимися знаниями. И в новой игре щебня на первом острове не было. Когда я это осознала, я полчаса тыкалась во все уголки игры, чтоб найти альтернативу мосту, но увы, ничего не нашла. Я очень хвалю себя за то, что не удалила первое сохранение и смогла к нему вернуться. Потому что я ради эксперимента создала с десяток новых игр - и ни в одной из них мне не дали щебень на базовом острове. То есть, я сделала вывод, что здесь имеется некая вероятность спавна щебня. И шанс этого спавна на первом острове крайне мал. Конечно, десяток новых генераций - это маловато для объективной статистики, но блин, разработчик предлагает мне сутками, что ли, сидеть и генерировать новые сохранения ради проклятого щебня? В общем, новички, будьте бдительны, если у вас нет щебня на первом острове, вы потратите время на развитие впустую. В остальном - игра отличная, я люблю её. Потраченных денег не жалею, однажды изучу всё древо развития, в своём темпе, без спешки и суеты. Спасибо разработчикам за труды!

I have made stuff that looks like microchips or something in this game. It is a tad bit time consuming to compose your ant structure themost efficient way possible. Heck, i've been playing for a bit and i'm still discovering ways to make my trails more efficient. This, in my eyes, is an 'open world' puzzle game, sorta. If you like factory constructing and lots of lines; this game is beautiful. I play it every once in a while when seeing it collecting dust in my steam library and it's refreshing to play it like that. Overall score: 7.8/10

It is just not satisfying. The whole time some supply chains are not working because resources are used. Skill tree is a mess. You think you can progress different routs but then you require some specifics and need to wait again. Later stage are just so boring because you need to wait again for skill points. At the start the game makes you think you can have mulitple queens when they fly up, but that is not the case.