When it comes to sandbox automation games, Factorio has long been the go-to for that ultimate sense of intricate design, offering a wealth of tools to build out vast industrial complexes, suck up every natural resource in sight, and ultimately launch rockets into space. Now, after much waiting, developer Wube Software finally tells us when we’ll be able to continue our journey, as the Factorio Space Age DLC lets us head out across multiple planets.
With the arrival of Factorio Space Age, you’ll be tasked with organizing interplanetary logistics. You need to set up projects across multiple locations and build and maintain the flying space platforms that act as your primary means of transportation between them. It’s a revolutionary change in pace for the resource-gathering and base-building management game as you deal with the various demands of each region while also handling the dangers of space itself.
Of course, that means lots of new features to look forward to. Your space platforms act as interstellar factories, with cargo bays to shuttle resources between your planets. While you’ll need to stay vigilant for potentially dangerous asteroids, successfully breaking them down allows you to process them into fuel for your cargo and ammunition for your turrets.
Space Age features four new planets – the volcanic, ash-laden lands of Vulcanus; the lifeless Fulgora and its frozen sandstorms; the humid swamps of Gleba; and an enigmatic final planet, far from the sun, that Wube says “promises some of the most unique gameplay but remains shrouded in mystery.” New planets mean all manner of fresh threats, but you’ll have access to a range of new defensive tools to help you out.
The DLC also brings item quality into Factorio, with every item, entity, and equipment now having five possible quality tiers, each one boosting their capabilities. That means faster crafting, more powerful tools, turrets with longer range, and so on.
In addition to this, Space Age introduces features such as elevated rails, which give you entirely new ways to build and open up a whole additional dimension of possibility, allowing you to navigate across hazards, obstacles, and your own existing base infrastructure.
Factorio: Space Age launches Monday October 21 on Steam. Expect to pay $35 / £30, the same price as the base game, which you’ll need to use the expansion. You can wishlist it right here, where you’ll also be able to see even more details on the individual planets and the challenges you’ll face.
Arriving alongside the expansion is a free update titled Factorio 2.0, which will introduce plenty more improvements for everyone, regardless of whether or not you buy the DLC. Wube teases that these upgrades include new rails, smarter worker robots, a new fluid system, improved terrain generation, a remote view feature, and even more besides.
Alternatively, here are more of the best city building games to satisfy all your micromanagement needs. The best sandbox games, meanwhile, are perfect to fulfill your creative impulses in whatever way suits you most.
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