What is Factorio?

Factorio is a top-down 2D game where you build factories, automate production lines, and defend against alien enemies on an alien planet. The core gameplay revolves around harvesting resources, researching technologies to unlock new buildings and equipment, planning out factory set-ups, automating production through conveyor belts and inserters, and expanding your factory over time.

The goal of Factorio is to eventually launch a rocket into space, which requires scaling up resource harvesting and production to construct all the components for the rocket. This involves mining raw resources like iron ore, copper ore, coal, stone and oil, then smelting or processing them into more useful components, which can in turn be made into even more complex parts through additional production lines.

However, the alien planet is hostile, so you need to build walls, turrets, and other defenses to protect your growing factory from periodic attacks. You also need to manage logistics like inserting fuel into generators and furnaces, bringing ammo to your turrets, and connecting everything together with conveyor belts and trains.

With its emphasis on automation, supply chains, and factory planning, Factorio draws inspiration from Zachtronics's SpaceChem and Infinifactory. The need to defend against alien creatures also brings in elements of a tower defense game. With tons of options for organizing production lines and minimising bottlenecks, Factorio offers great depth and replayability.

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