Rogue Factory

Restarting blueprints every time a run restarts doesn't feel too good. As well, progression feels too much regards to spells, there's no flow, were at the very beginning just by testing out different belt paths, got through multiple "fire" spell versions. There needs to be a better/little bit more linear path to get these skills. As well a lot of QoL is missing.

TL;DR: This game is quite hard, slow paced, and the factory elements are definitely the focus here. Tentatively giving it a thumbs up, but I'd give it a neutral if I could. This is a complicated game to review for several reasons. Firstly, this is [b] primarily [/b] a factory game. The vast majority of play time is on the factory screen rather than plodding around the map. In a way, this is a good thing because the factory is where most of the interesting things happen. On the other hand it means that while the action parts of the run are only 20 minutes, in real time each run takes at least an hour (unless you die quickly). The factory controls are pretty rudimentary, no copy/paste, no bulk erase, and no blueprinting system. This isn't terrible because the size of the grid is [b] very [/b] limited and assemblers and splitters do have some filtering options. Totems and charms are a very interesting addition which can drastically change the goals of your factory while permanently taking up space. A big part of the game is the very limited space you have to work with, the cost of buying components, recycling, and the exponential cost of re-rolling (yes, the RNG plays a BIG role in this game). Secondly, the action parts of the game are passable but aren't great. Like Vampire Survivors you don't really control much. You control movement (the starting character is glacially slow), when to dash (quick move + invincible on a cooldown), and using scrolls (if you have any in your factory). Pickups are limited to coins, hearts for health, and every now and then a free rare totem selection you have to stand on for a moment to pick up (and redeem in the factory). On the plus side, every now and then you'll be offered a random perk to skip entering the portal to your factory giving you an interesting tradeoff, and there do seem to be a few "hidden" mechanics so there may be more depth here than it first appears. Thirdly, this game is [b] hard [/b] . In the 20ish hours I've played the demo and the full release I have yet to win a single run. More importantly, I feel as though I've hit a wall around the 4 minutes remaining mark on my runs and haven't progressed beyond that. Part of this is no doubt me, but even after coming to several realizations about how to play better I'm no closer to breaking that 4 minute wall then I was in the demo. As a veteran gamer with 2+ decades of experience, I'm starting to suspect that this may be one of those games where there's a "right way" to play, and every other path is just there to give the illusion of depth and alternative paths as a sales talking point. If I find that to be true, rest assured I'll be switching this to a thumbs down, but for now it's just a suspicion that I hope will prove false. This is a game with potential and I'd like to see it live up to that.