Why Factorio Excels as a Video Game

Factorio is a game about automation, logistics, and efficiency. You crash-land on an alien planet with the goal of building a rocket to escape. Or at least that's what you'd think, the protagonist doesn't actually escape with the rocket, but rather launches satellites to gain space science, which can be used to research ways of infinitely optimizing the factory. I suppose they become addicted to building the factory, which is almost definitely what you, the player, have long been experiencing by this point. The factory is never finished; there's always something that can be improved, there is always something that can be more efficient, the factory must grow, THE FACTORY MUST GROW!

The game's addicting quality is one of the most iconic aspects of Factorio, so much so that the community often jokingly refers to the game as "Cracktorio". The game achieves this effect by creating a seamless loop of objectives that lead to more objectives, which in turn lead to more objectives... and so on.

Meanwhile, there is a not-so-small-issue living on this planet with you. The native inhabitants of the planet, biters, spitters, and worms, for some reason, don't like the smell of the mass amounts of toxic pollution you're producing, and they will attack your factory (and you) to put an end to your industrial endeavors. How ungrateful. To ensure our progress is secure, we must build defenses, and research new weapons and other military technologies to fend off these creatures. But in doing so, we end up producing even more pollution, which not only continues to anger the biters, but also makes them evolve over time into stronger biters, spitters, and worms. A key part of Factorio is keeping up with this cycle while continuing to expand and optimize your factory.

Mods

And if you manage to launch a rocket, research all technologies, and finally get bored of the infinite space science research, the game still has you covered. The developers have official modding support for the game, and the community has created thousands of mods, from simple quality of life features, to complete overhauls of the game's content, which are typically several times longer than the base game itself. Some overhaul mods are so challenging that they have only ever been legitimately completed by a small handful of players.

Conclusion

Factorio has essentially pioneered the genre of factory-building and automation games, and it does it in such a perfect way. I believe the game was originally inspired by Minecraft tech mods, and as someone who has played modded Minecraft for years, I'm so glad that Factorio has shown this style of gameplay to the world in such a polished and refined way. The developers deeply care about their game and their community, to the extent that they fix even the most minor bugs and little nitpicks that the community has brought up. The developers have confirmed that they will be releasing version 2.0 of the game, along with the long-awaited Space Age expansion, on the 21st of October 2024, and I'm confident that it will expand upon the base game in a truly polished, and well-thought-out way. I hope we continue to this amazing game grow and continue to be updated for years to come.

Tip: If you're unsure about buying Factorio, they have a great free demo available on both their website and on Steam!

Check out / Purchase Factorio:

• Factorio Website
• Factorio on Steam