$35Factorio Build the machine that builds everything
You crash on an alien world with empty hands and end up running a continent-sized factory. Chop trees, mine ore, craft belts by hand, then automate everything from smelting to oil refining to construction robots, while the locals object to the pollution. Precise, endlessly expandable, and hard to put down.
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From bare hands to a self-running factory
You start the way survival crafters do, chopping trees and mining coal, stone, copper and iron by hand. Your first furnace turns ore into plates, your first miners feed belts that feed more furnaces, and suddenly iron and copper flow without you touching them.
From there it keeps compounding. Research unlocks better infrastructure, solar fields, oil refining and cracking, trains for long supply lines, plus construction and logistic robots to build and carry for you. You design the layout, fix bottlenecks, tear down the ugly parts and rebuild them cleaner. Watching hundreds of machines hum along on work you planned is the whole reward.
Pollution has consequences with teeth
Heavy industry angers the native biters and spitters, and they attack you and your buildings. Smelting and mining create pollution, pollution spreads, and the locals evolve and push back harder as it grows.
So survival here means walls, gun turrets and keeping ammunition supplied alongside your iron lines. You can tune the pressure with map settings, from near-peaceful building among forests and lakes to constant defense of remote mining outposts. Either way, every new branch of the factory is also a decision about how far you can defend it.
Good to know before you build?
Can you play it solo or with friends?
Both work. The core freeplay scenario supports singleplayer and cooperative multiplayer, where you build one huge factory together and split tasks between friends. Solo play is deep on its own, with research and expansion always pointing to the next job.
How does a run start and where does it lead?
You land with almost nothing, gather by hand, craft basic tools, belts and mechanical arms, then automate mining, smelting and production. Research leads toward complex goods, oil processing, robots and, in the base game, building a rocket to leave the planet.
Does it support mods and custom maps?
Yes. Built-in mod support covers small tweaks and helpers up to full overhauls, with an in-game way to add them. There are extra scenarios and challenges beyond freeplay, plus a map editor where you place entities, enemies and terrain and add custom scripts.
What does it look and run like?
An infinite 2D world with detailed pixel graphics and a retro, minimalist feel. The ambient soundtrack suits long building sessions. It is known for staying smooth at 60 frames per second even with very large factories, and it runs well on modest machines until bases get truly enormous.
