Other games (somewhat) casually similar to Factorio; Valve please don't lock

[brian_va]

it was recently hinted that another one of these come about, but lets relax the terms somewhat slightly.

im gonna kick it off with Sweet Transit (the topic of the suggestion). a former wube artist is the dev, so i'm gonna meet them halfway and see if its worth playing. its more of a city builder that the trains feed than a factory that trains feed, but close enough.

i played through most of the sweet transit tutorial and got to the rail signaling one, and it made me quit and come back to this. it basically presented you a small rail setup and had you signal it so that trains didn't deadlock. there were maybe 6 or 8 levels that got progressively harder and requiring a combo of regular and chain signals to clear the level and move on. i'm not gonna say it, but im just saying…

yeah, im liking it. its obviously different being a city builder/logistic sim. i would imagine it scratches alot of the same itches though. its probably not for everyone, and it doesn't seem like there is a story to spoil, so watching some videos might be a good idea.

as for the tutorial, i usually just jump in, but this seems like a pretty deep game and felt appropriate. either way, its a good tutorial and the rail signal one in particular is likely to put most on a good path forward.

i know they did a demo at some point, its a bit of a shame they don't any longer.

another obvious example is satisfactory, and given the recent UE 5 upgrade and dlss support making it a top suggestion (i've never played but i probably wont hold out forever).

[Drizzt]

first ;-)

[Drizzt]

for the last one the OP added links:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1612770/Sweet_Transit/

[brian_va]

i guess i could have done that

[Drizzt]

and of course, everyone knows i love this one:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1013540/Evospace/
as close to 3D Factorio as i have yet seen - no trains - but there is a jetpack ;-)

this was the thread i made about it:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/427520/discussions/0/3874840863851080176/

the dev just added oil cracking - he's running pretty much solo in his spare time - so updates take a while - should be a hotfix for some texture issues soon - keep this one on the Xmas list :-)

[Drizzt]

Originally posted by brian_va:

i guess i could have done that

it's all good - i got your back ;-)

[Drizzt]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/526870/Satisfactory/
so - i still haven't played this one - no demo and still not quite cheap enough based on what i have heard about it

but in the recent sale it was pretty close

and so if the price is the same or less in the Winter sale then i expect it may make its way into my collection

although i am not sure i am thrilled with getting into Early Access bed with this one - still thinking i may wait for 1.0

since i do have planet crafter....

[Drizzt]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1284190/The_Planet_Crafter/
so yeah - this baby has a demo - i know right? finally one with a demo

is not so much a factory builder

is more of an exploration and survival builder, with a unique premise

i won't ruin it since the demo takes you there

and you do build factory type stuff in later game - but early game it is more research producing machines and structures - but they have some cool variety

plus it is very nice looking and feeling - and i personally like the exploration and survival - and it has a few well structured difficulty levels

anyway - demo - got me to buy it - and pretty much told me everything i needed to know

EDIT:
sad fact though - it was recommended to me by a troll :-(
a really bad troll too - the damn duck man
but i guess conversely at least some good came from someone so terrible
either way - great game, with a demo

also - don't ever go near the Fallout forums - i had forgotten how civillized this place is when compared to the zoos that other forums are - with just monkeys flinging poo all the time (as opposed to the occasional raid and psychotic regular here) - and so anyway, yeah - i got covered in poo :-)

[malogoss]

store.steampowered.com/app/1302860/Assembly_Planter/

Assembly Planter.

It's a simpler and smaller automation game, but I liked it.
The base idea is simple, everything can be farmed by growing plants. So yes, you'll grow plants to harvest wood which sounds normal but you'll also harvest plants for iron. It might sound weird but it works very well.

It has one thing that Factorio doesn't have, and to me that's where it was the most interesting. That thing is recursion, or something close to it.

It's pretty much like if you had a smelting array in factorio that produces 1 full yellow belt of iron plates. Then you blueprint that and magically fit the whole thing on one tile. Then you make a new blueprint using 12 times that 1 tile, and make it all 1 tile again. In the end you have 1 tile that can output 180 iron plates per second. Etc...

I did manage to crash the game at one point by shoving things in a building that clearly wasn't able to process them, but that's on me I guess.

The game is super cheap. Less than $6 CAD, so maybe $5 US I guess?

You won't dump 100 hours in it, but still very worth it.

EDIT: I just realised the part I consider a spoiler in my post is made clear if you go read the "about this game" section on the store page. But it was a surprise when I first played the game and that was part of the fun for me.

[Apocalypse]

Honestly, dont get scared away by the graphics and assume it is overly simple, But Factory Town is actually great, automation is really satisfying, you can build conveyer belts overlapping in height, you can transfer stuff by ships, carts wagons, hand, air ships trains etc. Has an extensive tech tree. And it still gets relatively complex in later game, just overall chill and charming automation/city builder overlap, recommended:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/860890/Factory_Town/

[ChillCore]

besides testing if it runs I have not played this much/at all yet

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1318690/shapez/
sceenshots look kinda neat though and I'm sure I will into it more at some point


there is also shapez 2 with nicer graphics it seems but it is early access still and yeah no clue on how far they are

[pat]

Islanders is another low key game for only $5. Essentially, you're given a very small space and you try to make the best of it by placing one of the few structures they make available to you. Once you get enough points, you move on to a new set of islands. Pleasant graphics and a low learning curve.

[Nero]

I very much enjoyed Mindustry.
Its main focus is tower defense and combat units but the factory part is very satisfying

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1127400/Mindustry/

[Drizzt]

Originally posted by malogoss:

Assembly Planter.

hmm - this one looks kind of different - initially i did not wishlist it - then i saw their new game and it looks even more interesting

now going back - i have avoided your synopsis for the spoilers - but it does look like the guy is heavily focused on programming games - and the high level description of this game about being a farmer gradually automating their farm sound like it will be a logic network builder's dream lol

and their next one is even more on the nose with programming a drone to do all the work

so yeah - cool one that i had not head of - thanks :-)

(and is now wishlisted :-))

[SiEgE]

Oh, is that a "share games that kinda similar to Factorio" thread? Sweet!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1062090/Timberborn/
I think this one is good, too.

[Drizzt]

Originally posted by SiEgE:

Oh, is that a "share games that kinda similar to Factorio" thread?

yup - just a good wholesome thread with Factorio fans sharing our love of games

'tis a thing of beauty :-)