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Factorio > General Discussions > Topic Details
Misa Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:15am
Whats the appeal of the game?
I see everyone praising the game but I dont see whats so interesting about it?
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Originally posted by Malidictus:
It's a game about building large, complex and - crucially - functional structures. The fun is found in designing ways to do efficiently, and in a way that's both repeatable and scalable.

You start off with very simple problems - mine ore, smelt into resource, use resource. Eventually, though, you start needing more complex items which require multiple steps to build, so you have to worry about getting resources to the right buildings and results back out of them. Then you start needing resources in larger quantities, which means you need to expand and find more, then figure out how to get them where they're used. Eventually you realise that you can't do everything all in one place, so you start designing components and a system for linking them together. It goes from there.

A friend of mine described Factorio as "programming for non-programmers", which is not far off. Factorio is a game about building tools, using those tools to build components, then incorporating those components in larger components, and so on. This is both true in-game, in that Iron Ore is smelted to Iron Plate, then Iron Rod, then combined with Steel and Stone to produce rails (for example), as well as out-of-game in that a "megafactory" is comprised of segments, each of which is comprised of smaller facilities, each of which is comprised of smaller manufacturing components, etc.

And hell - some of us go one step farther and start designing our own mods. I spent the last... week, probably updating my Alchemy mod to 2.0 and adding new features to it. Factorio is a game for people who like to make functional stuff that gets used.
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Showing 1-15 of 43 comments
The Renderer Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:17am 
Maybe it just isn't for you? No shame in that.
#1
Nightwolf Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:18am 
its only for a certain type of player. it was the best of the real engineering simulations. where math actually mattered. obviously there are tons now but factorio was the best of them early on.

combined with the combat its pretty fun if you are that type of player
#2
Nailfoot Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:18am 
That's the joy of gaming. You dont have too! Go play a game you do see the appeal of.
Last edited by Nailfoot; Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:18am
#3
Euphytose Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:18am 
It's appealing because the factory must grow.

But seriously, you start with nothing, and you slowly build a massive factory that extends into infinity. And yes, it's actually an infinite and randomly generated map.

Edit: Whoops, didn't mean to quote here, my bad! :D
Last edited by Euphytose; Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:19am
#4
Torgonius Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:37am 
Solve the initial problem
Solve the next problem, and fix (or at least learn from) any errors from the previous step
Solve the next problem, and fix (or at least learn from) any errors from the previous steps
Solve the next problem, and fix (or at least learn from) any errors from the previous steps
Solve the next problem, and fix (or at least learn from) any errors from the previous steps
Solve the next problem, and fix (or at least learn from) any errors from the previous steps

If this doesn't appeal to you, that's totally fine. It does appeal to a lot of people.

There's a free demo you can download and play to see if the game is a good fit for you.
#5
MrGergoth Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:44am 
Originally posted by Klaatu:
I see everyone praising the game but I dont see whats so interesting about it?
It's hard to explain if you haven't played games of this genre (dsp, satisfactory), it's better to just try it - factorio has a demo. And in general, think question gonna be like *Whats the appeal of the genre* if you didnt play games like this. I mean, if this was a shooter and you've ever played shooters, it could be easily explained - shooting fels good, lots of weapons, etc. In this case, factorio just best in *automation* genre (well, at least for me).
#6
Khaylain Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:50am 
As others have said; try the demo to see if it's interesting to you at all. If it isn't then don't buy it. Use that money on a game that does interest you instead. But if it does end up feeling like something you will enjoy after having tried the demo then you may have to figure out if it's worth 35 USD (or regional equivalent, with some fudging by Steam currency charts) to you or not. And it may not be worth that much to you. If it's not then just forget about it since they're not doing sales. No shame in finding the price a bit too much for you, everybody has a different financial situation.
#7
Simon Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:54am 
Automation, trains, genocide, space.
#8
Euphytose Oct 25, 2024 @ 11:12am 
Originally posted by rgarrett:
Originally posted by Klaatu:
I see everyone praising the game but I dont see whats so interesting about it?

a loser of a question
question yourself maybe

No need to be rude, it's a legitimate question if he's never played an automation game before.
#9
Brown V. Board of EducaZYN Oct 25, 2024 @ 11:18am 
I'd say the appeal is having a goal, and all of the tools to achieve that goal, but you have to use trial and error, and a whole lot of thinking to actually get to that goal. I'd relate it to playing any other puzzle game, the whole point is to challenge your mind to do something that once seemed impossible. When you start out you have no idea what is going on or how to even progress, but by just messing around and discovering new ways to do the same thing you have a constant dopamine rush of "holy crap I actually did it!"
#10
Shurenai Oct 25, 2024 @ 11:27am 
2
To me it's the same kind of appeal as something like sudoku, or other such logic puzzles. You problem solve yourself from start to finish. If you end up picking up the game, I would strongly recommend you do not watch 'how to' videos, and don't pick up other player's blueprints from online either. You only get one chance to learn the game yourself, Don't squander it.
#11
MCNacho-ナチョ Oct 25, 2024 @ 11:33am 
if you dont like it, it is not for you. i didnt liked it at the beggining too, because i didnt understood many things and learnd from trial and error and didnt got fast succes. after that its got somehow addincting.
Last edited by MCNacho-ナチョ; Oct 25, 2024 @ 11:34am
#12
Takovacs Oct 25, 2024 @ 3:44pm 
It is my factory. It must grow.

Repeat.
#13
Wilhelm Oct 25, 2024 @ 3:52pm 
i´d say that this game is for everyone with an IQ>80. average people should be able to enjoy that game.

only mastering vanilla and big mods like space exploration have higher requirements.

just play it and you´ll see.
Last edited by Wilhelm; Oct 25, 2024 @ 3:54pm
#14
KashanCzechs Oct 25, 2024 @ 4:07pm 
The appeal to me is getting to watch all the moving parts that I designed and built. I don't use blueprints from the web, I design everything myself. This means I get to constantly redesign and curse my past self for being lazy or dumb. This motivates me to design better, so it works smoother, so it builds faster, so I can do more coke.
#15
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Factorio > General Discussions > Topic Details
Date Posted: Oct 25, 2024 @ 9:15am
Posts: 43

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