A selection of interesting games in the Automation genre
Among the huge abundance of different game genres, a very specific option called Automation stands out. The gameplay in such projects comes down to automating the process of extracting resources, creating various things and something else to achieve a certain final goal.
Despite the seemingly simple idea, these games often immediately capture the user's attention, absorbing all their free time in the blink of an eye, because it can take more than a dozen hours to create the right, well-thought-out automated chains. In this article you will find a small selection of, in my opinion, interesting games in this genre.
factorio
https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio
Factorio can rightly be called the best game in this genre, perhaps even its progenitor. It combines an isometric camera layout, a very nice old-school design, elements of survival and, of course, production automation, support for custom mods, a simple map editor that allows you to create custom scenarios. In addition, it is especially worth noting the presence of multiplayer up to 4 players, because it is more convenient to play such games together, dividing responsibilities.
The gameplay of Factorio is primarily tied to the automation of production. At the very beginning, you will have to mine and transfer everything manually, but as you develop tools that do a certain job for you, it gradually becomes more and more. However, along with this, the interconnection of resources is also growing, which is why it is important to properly plan production chains, because sometimes this leads to the processing of certain segments of your factory. By automating production, creating more and more advanced things, you have one single goal-to create and launch a rocket. After that, they will show the statistics of the entire game and offer to exit or continue.
The second element of the gameplay is survival. The game world contains not only various resources, but also nests of hostile creatures Zerg (let's call them that because of a certain similarity). At the very beginning of the game, they do not pay attention to the player at all, unless he is near the nest. However, the situation changes as you develop, the more technologically advanced the base becomes, the more attention you attract, causing periodic raids by opponents. To ensure the protection of the base, it will be necessary to build walls and place various turrets, and the latter, depending on the type, may require cartridges, the production and delivery of which, of course, should be automated.
Dyson Sphere Program
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1366540/Dyson_Sphere_Program
From a certain point of view, Dyson Sphere Program can be described as the most large-scale game on this list, because during the passage you have to explore an entire star sector. That is why, from the point of view of the concept, it can also be called the most spectacular and exciting.
The gameplay of the Dyson Sphere Program revolves around one simple task: you need to build a Dyson Sphere-a hypothetical, unimaginable structure in the form of a sphere with a star in the center. To accomplish this task, before starting a new game, the user is offered to generate a random stellar site, within which he will have to build an interplanetary plant for the production of various parts for this very sphere. Actually, this is the main feature of the game, while the rest of the automation elements are pretty standard.
Once a star sector has been created, the player always starts with a basic green planet on which to build the main factory, gradually develop technology from base mining stations to more futuristic structures, and upgrade the capabilities of the mechanized robot character. In the process of all this, sooner or later the player will face the problem of the lack of certain resources on the initial planet, but they are on the nearest planet, moon, gas giant. This is the main stimulus for the creation of an interplanetary plant and interplanetary automatic chains.
Satisfactory
https://store.steampowered.com/app/526870/Satisfactory
Satisfactory can be briefly described as an almost identical clone of Factorio, but already in 3D, without the aspect of survival with an emphasis on exploration and with modern, pretty good graphics. They are similar in many ways, but unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, at the time of writing, Satisfactory doesn't have any end goal at all. In other words, for now, the only goal of the game is to automate the production of everything and everything, gradually adding new chains with the release of updates. Or create truly grandiose bewitching factories, which some players do.
The gameplay of Satisfactory comes down to 4 components-exploring the world in search of new resources, some of which can be hidden deep in caves, mining these resources, automating the production of some resources into others, and gradually unlocking structures / technologies / weapons from their development tree. At the moment, the game has a fairly large assortment of structures, among which you will find standard means of extracting / transporting resources, a nuclear power plant, trains, cars, unmanned drones and a colossal space elevator. The same can be said about weapons, recently nuclear bombs have been added.
Otherwise, it is worth noting only the presence in the world of various hostile living creatures and vile unpleasant arachnid creatures, the models of which, if desired, can be replaced with images of kittens (a kind of filter for arachnophobes).
Automachef
https://store.steampowered.com/app/984800/Automachef
Automachef is a rather idiosyncratic chef simulator and the only non-sandbox game on the list that gives the user specific tasks to complete. Before proceeding to the description, it is worth noting that, unfortunately, the steam page and the epic cart are blocked for the Russian region.
The gameplay of Automachef revolves around the preparation of various dishes by creating an automated assembly line for the ingredients that make them up, in theory everything sounds quite simple, but in practice it becomes difficult. There are only 2 main modes in the game-campaign and contracts, the first consists of about 25-30 missions, which differ in special conditions of passage and premises. The latter just can cause difficulty, because you need to create an optimal chain of mechanisms on a sometimes rather small piece of land.
Mindustry
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1127400/Industry
Mindustry is, it seems to me, a rather unusual and specific game that combines elements of survival and production automation. Although to be honest, I thought for a long time which genre it would be better to attribute it to and still doubt whether it should be on this list.
The gameplay of Mindustry revolves around 3 components-mining resources and processing them into more advanced resources, the gradual development of the technology tree and protection from waves of opponents. All this is to be done in the world of Serpulo, consisting of 250 separate small locations, each of which you have to capture, repel several waves of opponents, and then defend. Moreover, at any time you can move from one location to another, since managing them plays almost one of the most important roles.
It is worth noting that the significance of resources in the game is also performed in an unusual way, because they are used as fuel / ammo for structures and as raw materials for unlocking new technologies. In particular, because of the latter, you will have to create factories in various locations in order to provide yourself with the necessary resources for continuous development.
Shapes
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1318690/shapez
Rounding out the list is Shapez, a fun and somewhat relaxing game built entirely around the very concept of factory automation, without the ancillary elements like resource mining, energy management, etc. You can check out the free online demo here.
The gameplay of Shapez revolves around 3 main elements. Firstly, in the center of the map, there is a giant core that opens up new structures as you level up by completing tasks to deliver X pieces of Y shape. At the beginning, the core requires basic shapes (circle, square), which you mine from the nearest corresponding nodes and deliver using conveyor belts, but after a couple of minutes, with the help of various structures, you will have to modify the basic shapes into more specific ones.
Secondly, structures can be improved by increasing their basic characteristics, such as, say, the speed of conveyor belts. To do this, again, you will need to deliver X pieces of Y shape, but in much larger quantities than for leveling up. Moreover, in most cases, the same resources are required as for increasing levels, which is why you should not rush to destroy production lines.
Thirdly, resources, any currency, energy or something like that are not used at all to build structures. That is, you can completely immerse yourself in the process of designing ideal production lines without worrying about such trifles. In addition, to simplify the design process, there is a function that allows you to instantly copy any section and place its analogue in another place.
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