Factorio

Factorio is difficult to recommend for every gamer as the gameplay loop would appeal to only some players. Though if management games are your thing, this one will suck you right in. In addition, Factorio is the most intuitive management game I’ve played for a long time, though I’d probably pick the PC version to cut down on eye strain. Fans of management games will fall in love with its easy-to-pick-up and challenging-to-master gameplay.

People who are deeply in love/hate with Factorio should have already made up their minds, but if you haven’t, get it. It takes a bit to get used to the interface, but it does become second nature and makes sense after a short period of time. For newcomers, really consider what the game is and what you want it to be.

Factorio is dauntingly complex, but offers almost endlessly enjoyable depth for optimizers and survival fans if you take the time to learn its systems.

Behind the staid facade of Factorio lies an excellent factory building simulation in which almost everything that is not nailed down can be automated.

Basically, it’s a masterpiece, one of the best management games I’ve ever played, and now that it’s actually, finally finished, a firm contender for 2020’s game of the year. Just make sure that when you do play it, you’ve got some space in your schedule, because when you start, you won’t want to do anything else.

If you enjoy learning systems and refining processes to maximise efficiency, enjoy getting into the weeds with min-maxing numbers, and have a tolerance for or enjoyment of repetition in a gameplay loop then you might be exactly the right person to enjoy Factorio. I understand anyone who would be turned off by Factorio’s slow pace and grind; it’s a core feature here while grinding for most people is fundamentally unenjoyable and a mark against a game.

Factorio is a game that is primarily a construction game, but where you control the builder. By personalizing the player, you also get a touch of survival games. There are no red numbers in a financial business simulator that you fight against. On the other hand, one has exclusively a vested interest in making one's own factories more efficient. The better the foundation, the faster the advanced parts go.

That's the thematic icing on Factorio's stupendously intricate mechanical cake. I can't remember the last time a game swallowed my brain whole in the way Factorio does.