Recent reviews by Timfa

Feels like a mix between Age of Empires and a ltitle bit of Anno. Apparently it's much like Knights and Merchants, though I don't know the game myself so I wouldn't know.
It's basically how I always played Age of Empires--gather resources, build a nice base--which is probably why I wasn't very good at that game.

What I like about Lords of Solgrund is that it gives me a reason to decorate things. Appeal matters for your citizen's happiness, and there's an overlay to show you exactly which parts of your settlement look good or bad. It's the first time I've ever decorated my city in a city builder, because it actually matters here.

Contact with the developer via Discord is also very fast, which makes it easy to follow along with development. Early access doesn't come without bugs, but seeing the progress shared in Discord gives me a lot of confidence that they'll all be fixed in due time.

jib

10/10 would do clean deals again

Factorio is one of the best automation games I know of. Within minutes of starting, you have several tasks running automatically, which you used to do by hand. In time, you find yourself building conveyor belts bringing incredible amounts of raw materials to rows upon rows of furnaces, robotic arms moving the finished product into an enormous machine that builds them into the many products you need.
There's a catch, though. The locals don't much like the pollution your factory is producing and may attack from time to time. With a few turrets, tanks, and a nuke here and there you won't have much trouble with them though.
That being said, it's important to note that Factorio focusses the building of your factory. Those expecting to fend off wave after wave may not be getting all they want here, though combat is a part of the game it is not at its core. Those looking to build massive fully-autonomous factories, though, will be getting all they want, and more.

Whenever I talk about good examples of progression in games, I always refer to Factorio. It does progression in a unique way; I'm not sure how, but the game pushes you to progress by making you feel like you need the next thing in order to build. Often I play games where you research or unlock new things just because you want something to do, which can end up feeling boring as there's not actually a task you feel truly needs doing. This is rarely an issue in Factorio. You'll sooner catch yourself having been so immersed in chasing the next objective you've forgotten about lunch. And dinner.
If you've ever seen the episode of Malcolm in the Middle in which Hal tries to change a lightbulb, you'll see that Factorio isn't much unlike the process he undergoes. You want to do something simple, but to do that you need a thing. And for that thing, you need those two other things, but before you can do those, you need to build another thing somewhere else, and so on. In this way you're constantly moving forward, expanding and improving your factory.

As for performance, the optimization of the game code is extraordinary. You usually have hundreds of individual items moving about your screen, dozens of drones buzzing back and forth, and if you progress far enough you'll have a train network connecting to other factories far away which each also spitting out hundreds of items each minute. Even with all this, you won't experience the slightest of performance issues. And all of this is synchronized flawlessly over the internet when playing multiplayer. If AAA games optimized their code as well as this game has, I'm sure even the worst among PCs could run almost anything.

Because of the above points, Factorio is a game I always keep coming back to, having played a few hours in Steam, but many many more outside of it. It's especially fun designing a large factory with friends, and as such that's how I usually play the game myself. If you like games like Spacechem, Opus Magnum or Infinifactory, I have no doubt you'll have loads of fun with Factorio as well.

"No microtransactions ever, guys!"
"We promise! Never ever!"
"We hate microtransactions too!"

*Proceeds to change free items players won into boxes you need microtransactions for to open, which is basically gambling for Pay2Win items*

Why does this single thing warrant a negative review?

+It's a fun 4-player game with lots of action
+Tons of chaotic moments you'll remember for a long time

-Truckloads of bugs that never got fixed
-Guards can see through 6 walls and spot you 5km away with ease
-Performance issues
-Want the full experience? Sure! Just spend €100 on DLC! Bugs? What bugs? Buy DLC!
-"You guys want the Payday1 levels? Sure, it's possible, but we don't have time. Too busy making paid DLC."

Seriously, it's a fun game. But it's also kinda broken, and on top of that it's kinda screwing over it's customers by repeatedly promising there would never be any microtransactions ever, making an event where you can get items, and then, when players have spent hours getting them, reveal they're actually items you need to open through microtransactions. Naturally, people aren't happy.

Me: "Hey gnomes, our drink supplies are pretty low. Maybe you should build that distillery or well first?"
Gnomes: "Nah, it's fine. We should keep lugging this stone around."
Me: "Are you sure? We have like 6 drinks left."
Gnomes: "Yeah, it's fine."
*Gnomes died of thirst*

-Next save-

Me: "Ok guys build this distilery now before you all die"
Gnomes: "No, we should probably move this pile of stone to over there first."
Me: "Build the damn distillery!"
Gnomes: "Ok, fine, no need to yell..."
*Distillery Built*
*A Stone Golem has spawned*

Be advised: Playing this RTS will make you like other RTS games less, simply because this one is so good.
My favourite RTS at the moment, and it has been since launch!