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.” I can’t say which side of the divide Shapez 2 falls on, but I plan to find out when the game launches into Early Access next month on August 15th.
Here’s the Early Access trailer from earlier this week:
Like most factory games, Shapez 2 is all about arranging conveyor belts to transport items between machines that change those items in some way. The difference is that instead of transforming one type of ore into another, Shapez focuses on… shapes. This allows the game to expand on the possible solutions, without predetermined recipes for the objects you’re trying to create. Instead, it gives you machines that do plain, basic things—cut a shape in half, change its color, rotate it, etc.—that you can figure out how to put together.
The second appealing element for me is that the machines can roam freely and the resources are infinite. It’s more of a pure puzzle game, closer to Opus Magnum than Factorio. 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 version of Shapez (which has very positive reviews and currently costs less than £1 on Steam) but I admit that the switch to 3D presentation makes the sequel seem more accessible. You’ll find Shapez 2 also on Steamwhere the game is set to remain in Early Access for approximately six months.
