I love a good factory game, but there’s a fine line between “I like this” and “I’ll uninstall this before it ruins my year.” There’s no telling which side of that divide Shapez 2 will fall on, but I plan to find out when it launches into Early Access next month on August 15th.
Here's the Early Access announcement trailer that was released earlier this week:
Like most factory games, Shapez 2 is all about laying down conveyor belts to move items between machines, which in turn change the items in some way. The difference is that instead of transforming one type of ore into another, Shapez is all about… shapes. This allows the game to expand the range of possible solutions, and there are no predetermined recipes for the objects you're trying to create. Instead, it presents machines that perform simple, basic actions – split a shape in half, change its color, rotate it, etc. – and you can figure out how to combine them.
The second attraction for me is that the machines can be placed freely and the resources are unlimited. It's more of a pure puzzle game, closer to the Opus Magnum end of the spectrum than the Factorio end. That's where I live. (Ollie, who lives in every possible factory, loved the Shapez 2 Next Fest demo.)
I haven’t played the original Shapez (it got very positive reviews and is currently less than £1 on Steam) but I admit the switch to a 3D presentation makes the sequel more approachable. You can also find Shapez 2 on Steam, where it aims to remain in Early Access for around six months.