In Factorio, you land on an alien planet. You have to build your way up the tech tree using engineering to design an automating factory to do science. The goal of the game is to build a rocket so you can launch yourself into space ang go home. While doing this, you have to protect yourself from the natives who get very angry at you for polluting their home.
Space Age is a DLC for Factorio that continues the game after you launch your rocket. In the DLC, you still start the game from the beginning, but because building the rocket is no longer the final goal of the game, the tech tree is adjusted so that getting to the rocket is easier.
Factoria was released on Steam in 2015 as an early access build and officially released in 2019. The DLC Space Age was released in 2024.
Fun factor
Factorio is not about doing super hard stuff. Rather it’s about doing stuff that gets more complicated as you progress while optimising it to be efficient but still expandable.
Control and game play
Factorio utilises a large number of controls, but they are very intuitive and most of them aren’t required to play the game. When playing the game, the player must mine resources from the ground and build an assembly line to craft them through multiple stages of intermediate stages to craft science packs and materials for expanding the factory. Eventually building a spaceship to explore 5 other planets and overcome their unique challenges to obtain rewards and better your factory.
Allen, Joseph. “Factorio Expansion Takes You into Space, Aims to Launch next Year.” TechRaptor, 25 Aug. 2023, Factorio Expansion Officially Called Factorio: Space Age, Targeting A 2024 Release | TechRaptor. Accessed 7 Nov. 2024.
Graphics
Factorio uses a semi-realistic art style which looks pretty but is clearly a computer game, the art emphasizes industrialism and destroying the environment because that’s what happens in the game.
Sound
Factorio makes use of music which instils a distinctly alien feeling in the player, it simultaneously sounds nice when you’re safe and building your factory and enhances any feelings of unease when dealing with the natives or “biters” of the planet. Keep in mind that the music doesn’t actually change depending on the situation.
Replayability
Because the fun of the game is learning how to do things efficiently, it’s fun to play again and get through it with a better factory.
I’ve seen alot of people draw similarities between Factorio and software design.
Image reference
- Gamestar.de, 2024, Factorio: Space Age – Screenshots of the big factory addon. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
