Factory Games are fast becoming the best gener in gaming.

[Tragic]

So every now and then, we see a new genre emerge in gaming. It’s not as rare as you might think. Even if we ignore the birth of mobile gaming, we observe brand new genres popping up fairly regularly. While games like Doom, Heroes of Might and Magic, Master of Orion, XCOM, Space Invaders, and others are lauded, people tend to forget that many game archetypes, such as Hidden Objects, Meme Games, Job Simulators, Board Game Conversions, Idle Games, Survival Games, etc., are actually quite recent additions to the gaming landscape.

Back in 2013, one of these new genres came into being with a game called Factorio, known as Factory Games or Automation Games. The defining characteristic of these games is the player building vast networks of objects that form a production chain of some kind—taking an input and outputting another kind of thing, usually to feed as an input into a different chain, and so on.

These games are ridiculously addictive and extremely fun. I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that they are easily my favourite type of game at the moment.

There are no AI issues, as the point of the game is the mental puzzle of creating the production lines. There are no "old man reflex issues," as there is usually no combat, or at least minimal combat. There is no monopoly of attention; you can walk away from the computer at any time, take a phone call, or whatever, and the game simply sits there until you return, without change. I could go on, but the genre as a whole bypasses almost all the pitfalls that other forms of "strategy" games encounter.

Then there are the positives. The games provide a steady drip-feed of dopamine, with small but continual achievement milestones. There is a creative aspect, as much of your playtime is devoted to building the "perfect" base. They are mentally stimulating, almost like puzzle games. They tap into a fundamental human desire for creation. The construction of a functional "factory" that takes days to build—not merely aesthetic but actually operational—brings an incredibly satisfying feeling as you sit and watch it do its thing.

I liken these games, particularly the 3D ones, to a "train set," much like the one your grandad used to have in his garage. You build these worlds, set them up, make them beautiful, and then watch them go. I think that’s key: unlike Lego or, say, Minecraft, there is a function to the form.

These games have come a long way since Factorio was released in 2013, and we’re just beginning to see the genre branch out, expanding beyond the base core concept. For example, there’s Hero Factory, where you construct RPG-style heroes from statistics like Strength, Intelligence, skills, and the like, then send them to fight in automated battles. This flips the genre on its head, allowing the player to design and optimise their own "products" to fulfil a task rather than the game providing a product for them to build.

This genre is quickly becoming the most addictive and, consistently, the best value for money in my library. I love these games.

So whether you’re playing granddaddy Factorio (a new game-sized DLC is just launching), Satisfactory (the breakout game that mainstreamed the genre), Shapez 2 (the game that strips the genre to its very core), or one of the newer titles like Desynced, which doesn’t use belts and instead employs a visual programming language—this genre is something special.

My Top Recommendations

• Satisfactory
  
• Shapez 2
  
• Factorio
  
• Astro Colony
  
• Mindustry

Games on "Buying and Playing Next" list

• Oxygen Not Included
  
• Dyson Sphere Program
  
• The Crust
  
• Final Factory
  
• Block Factory
  
• Desynced

Some Other Games

• Foundry
  
• Block Factory
  
• Techtonica
  
• Facteroids
  
• Infinifactory
  
• Infraspace
  
• Oddsparks
  
• Plan B Terraform
  
• Starground
  
• Autoforge
  
• Hydroneer
  
• Atrio : The Dark Wild
  
• Kubifaktorium
  
• Factory Town
  
• Captain of Industry

[AK_icebear]

By far my favorite that is over half factory-game, under half colony manager, is Oxygen Not Included. My hours in that game are embarrassing - its a factory game with personality.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/457140/Oxygen_Not_Included/

[Tragic]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2162800/shapez_2/

is probably my favriout so far.

Originally posted by AK_icebear:

By far my favorite that is over half factory-game, under half colony manager, is Oxygen Not Included. My hours in that game are embarrassing - its a factory game with personality.

can't believe I forgot to list that one!, adding it to OP.

I have been meaning to play that forever!

[CyMonk]

some nitpicking. the first automation game was a zachtronics game named "manufactoid". this is from the guy who made "infiniminer" which inspired notch to make minecraft, which itself had automation mods before factorio existed. the 2nd "automation" game was fortresscraft. but, yes, factorio made the genre popular.

http://thesiteformerlyknownas.zachtronicsindustries.com/manufactoid/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/254200/FortressCraft_Evolved/
(this isn´t the original, but a newer (evolved!) version.)

[Tragic]

not so much nickpicking as incorrect thinking... .. first does not mean definitive. Kings Bounty was before Heroes of Might and Magic, Wolfenstine, and Eye of the Beholder were before doom, there are even other sudo 3D games before that if you go back further, there was rts games before dune 2... That dose not take away that Heroes, Doom, Dune 2 and in this case Factorio are the games that made the genre what it is and being the game all others look to and emulate.

[Nasarog]

I could never get into these types of games.

[Army Pea]

Factorio Space age is amazing. The dev's only produce quality content and support it throughout the years. Last time i enjoyed a game on this level was early/mid Stellaris except Factorio is polished as F.

[Nasarog]

Originally posted by Army Pea:

Factorio Space age is amazing. The dev's only produce quality content and support it throughout the years. Last time i enjoyed a game on this level was early/mid Stellaris except Factorio is polished as F.

Hmm, how does the Stellaris of now compare to it?

[Tragic]

They aren't comparable. Be like comparing Super Mario to Doom 2. Just completely different games.

Factorio is a factory game through and through. Unlike Satisfactory or Shapez, where the main goal is the creation of products, Factorio is all about creating science packs and feeding them into research trees.

Space Age is a ok expansion, it basically add a new game phase after reaching Rockets, which was the previous "win" point. You fly to other planets. There are a few types with different resources on them and their own productions lines as well as a kind of "space ship" where you strap rockets to your factory and fly it around.

I think it adds a lot for experienced players, but for new players... all you need is the base game.

Here is a good youtube on the expantion from a "factorio pro"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz8cLNEnTsQ

I love factorio and have a lot of time in it, but for newbie players I would recommend one fo the pretty 3D ones, like Foundry, Satisfactory or Shapez 2

[Nasarog]

Originally posted by Tragic:

They aren't comparable. Be like comparing Super Mario to Doom 2. Just completely different games.

Factorio is a factory game through and through. Unlike Satisfactory or Shapez, where the main goal is the creation of products, Factorio is all about creating science packs and feeding them into research trees.

Space Age is a ok expansion, it basically add a new game phase after reaching Rockets, which was the previous "win" point. You fly to other planets. There are a few types with different resources on them and their own productions lines as well as a kind of "space ship" where you strap rockets to your factory and fly it around.

I think it adds a lot for experienced players, but for new players... all you need is the base game.

Here is a good youtube on the expantion from a "factorio pro"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz8cLNEnTsQ

I love factorio and have a lot of time in it, but for newbie players I would recommend one fo the pretty 3D ones, like Foundry, Satisfactory or Shapez 2

I wasn't comparing Factorio to Stellaris. I was referring to the Stellaris comparison of then and now. Consider my post a type of thread derailment of sorts.

[Tragic]

Well, like Stellaris, Factorio is the best in game in its genre. Also like Stellaris, the new dlc dose not really effect how the game plays. As all balance and game tweaks is released in the free patch. The dlc just adds new stuff.

[Army Pea]

Originally posted by Nasarog:

Originally posted by Army Pea:

Factorio Space age is amazing. The dev's only produce quality content and support it throughout the years. Last time i enjoyed a game on this level was early/mid Stellaris except Factorio is polished as F.

Hmm, how does the Stellaris of now compare to it?

As tragic said they are two very different games. Full disclosure pal, I stopped playing Stellaris a long time ago. It just got to bloated for my taste.

[Nasarog]

Originally posted by Army Pea:

Originally posted by Nasarog:

Hmm, how does the Stellaris of now compare to it?

As tragic said they are two very different games. Full disclosure pal, I stopped playing Stellaris a long time ago. It just got to bloated for my taste.

I see, not a problem. I haven't played it in years either, maybe one day.