Automate an Interstellar Mining Empire in Facteroids

Automation and factory games have been becoming quite popular. We have seen recent gems like Factory Town, Mindustry, and Dyson Sphere Program bring quite a lot to this genre. It’s one that has always grabbed me. I love aiming for max efficiency in these games (all while wishing I could make beautiful factories). They are often the kinds of games I will be up late playing, not realizing it’s 1 am and I have to work in 4 hours. Today Facteroids launches into early access and I can honestly say this game has kept me up late and will keep me up for many nights to come.

The Game

In Facteroids you will be mining asteroids and planets of their resources and building your colony. Building your deep space mining empire is the ultimate goal here. explore and prospect asteroids and planets throughout the solar system. Mine for precious minerals to build complex factories and trade for those you’re lacking. It’s a simple concept from afar but upon a closer look, there is an incredible amount of depth to the game.

Facteroids takes the 3D aspect to a level different than I have seen in other games. Every asteroid is a 3D object. When building your factory you are able to place on every surface of the asteroid. This allows for a layer of complexity that sets this factory game aside from its peers. A great example of using this was when I set out to make my solar farm. I was able to build panels pointing in various directions to maximize solar input. As my asteroid spins various solar panels are able to generate electricity and as that spin continues I maintain that level of electricity because of this 3D placement.

As your factory grows you will need more resources and not every asteroid or planet will have what you need. There is a trading system in place that allows you to sell excess minerals and components to gain minerals not present in your setup.

As you progress you will eventually be able to begin colonizing your factories. Buildings will need to be erected that can support life and other inhabitant needs will need to be maintained.

There are various ways to play in Facteroids. Campaign scenarios that send you to pre-built worlds, random free play, or the ability to create, share, and play other user-generated levels with the campaign and mission editor.

My time with the game so far has been quite an enjoyable experience. My only real complaint is that the camera can be tricky to get comfortable with. I’m hoping that during its early access this can be refined. I wish I had a roadmap to see what more is planned but that has yet to be posted. I look forward to when it does fully launch and when that day comes you can expect a review.

Facteroids launches into early access on Steam on April 28, 2022.