Hey folks! I’ve been playing Factorio for a few weeks and am absolutely obsessed. Here I’ll share what I like about it, what I’ve learned so far, and what I’m most looking forward to as I continue to play it.
TLDR: Cool factory management game with a sci-fi setting that is perfect for people who like problem solving. Available only on PC.
Factorio is a game about building and maintaining factories. I heard about the game from an engineer friend. As a relatively new PC owner and fan of anything management-simulation, I immediately became obsessed. It is only available on PC as of this writing.
A few things I really like about the game:
- The sci-fi setting. You play as an engineer who crash-landed on an alien planet. You process resources and build facilities with the ultimate goal of launching a rocket to get you home.
- Gradual progression of technology. First you start with basic resources such as coal-powered mining drills before graduating into electricity, science, and more advanced technology trees.
- Focus on automation. You simply can’t scale your production without clever use of automation. It’s a fun puzzle trying to work out techniques to process and build new things.
- Base defense mechanics. As you scale your production you start to produce more and more pollution. This attracts a native species called Biters to your base, where they aggressively work to destroy the source of the pollution (rightfully so, IMO). You can either find ways to live in peace with the Biters or enhance your military capabilities to defend your base.
- The community. This game definitely attracts a certain type of person, who in my experience has been very helpful and practical. Everyone who has hopped into my Factorio stream chats so far has been very generous with sharing tips and tricks.
Most looking forward to:
- Advanced technology trees. In the tutorial you only play a bit after discovering rail automation. I can’t wait to see what’s beyond that.
- Mutliplayer mode! There’s a mode where you can build with other people. I haven’t tried it yet, but the concept itself is super cool
This is one of those games where I could easily blow an entire day on it, so I’ve been pacing myself and limiting to 5-10 hours a week. I’m really looking forward to finishing my first Free Play mode though so that I can start playing multiplayer with friends.
If you’re interested in trying Factorio for yourself then I definitely recommend spend a bit of time in the tutorial. It took me ~10 hours to finish all the tutorial levels, but it was time well worth it. I picked up a lot of tricks and techniques that made my first free play game much smoother.
Thanks for reading my quick share on Factorio! Do you play Factorio? Interested in picking it up? Reach out and let me know!
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