Factorio is one of the most polished, optimized, and balanced gaming experiences I have ever had. The development team behind it have a commitment in software quality that no other game dev studio has ever demonstrated. The product reflects this, and is perhaps one of the most well designed games ever created. And it keeps getting better.

This game is built on increasing complexity from layering simple systems on top of each other, and is mostly about expanding your factory while managing the up-scaling process. It is a specific type of person that will be drawn to this kind of game, but if you are that kind of person it will probably capture you for hundreds or even thousands of hours.

I strongly recommend this game to anyone who likes building things.


Pros:

• Amazingly polished product
  The software quality is simply unmatched. The game runs smooth up to very large scales, is almost bug free, and has very intuitive game play.
  
  
• Essentially unbounded maps
  Each world is dynamically created, and, in practical terms, limitless. You can expand for as far as you would like and the only side effect is increased save file size and save time.
  
  
• Unique and attractive art style
  The graphical elements are well designed and contribute to a utilitarian feel that is quite consistent and immersive.
  
  
• Good background music
  You will be treated to a somber musical score that manages to add more depth of immersion without being distracting.
  
  
• Greatest dev team ever
  Wube, the development shop behind Factorio has been consistently the most prompt, reliable, and quality focused team I have ever seen. During development cycles we often see bugs fixed the day after they are reported. This is the kind of team that we should be proud to support.
  
  
• Excellent mod support
  The base game can be expanded and altered via third party mods. There is a vibrant modding community building amazing mods that can expand the game almost without end.
  
  
• Native linux support
  Runs flawlessly on linux. Devs treat linux as a first-class build target.

Cons:

• Takes a lot of time
  The process of planning, designing, crafting, building, altering, upgrading, scaling, and maintaining is a time consuming process. It is of course quite enjoyable, but don't expect to be able to pop in for 30 minutes and accomplish anything. You'll notice a trend that most people who really like this game have many hundreds of hours logged.
  
  
• Map generation can be a bit weird
  This is something that the dev team has been tweaking since the game was conceived. The problem with procedural world generation is that the algorithms can produce unnatural things. While this has been greatly improved as of 0.17, the worlds still have a tendency towards unrealistic water and cliff patterns. For instance, expect archipelagos more than lakes and rivers.
  
  
• Fluid system is unintuitive
  Fixed in 2.0. (You can tell I'm trying to pad cons here.) This is not something that "normal" players will run in to, but once you start scaling your factory past around 400 SPM (science per minute) you will likely begin to run into the fluid system scaling problems. Basically pipes do not work the way you would expect them to work and cause unrealistic and frustrating problems that are difficult to work around.

[h1]Short Version:[/h1] Factorio is one of the most polished, optimized, and balanced gaming experiences I have ever had. The development team behind it have a commitment in software quality that no other game dev studio has ever demonstrated. The product reflects this, and is perhaps one of the most well designed games ever created. And it keeps getting better. This game is built on increasing complexity from layering simple systems on top of each other, and is mostly about expanding your factory while managing the up-scaling process. It is a specific type of person that will be drawn to this kind of game, but if you are that kind of person it will probably capture you for hundreds or even thousands of hours. I strongly recommend this game to anyone who likes building things. [h1]Long Version:[/h1] [b]Pros:[/b] [list] [*][b]Amazingly polished product[/b] The software quality is simply unmatched. The game runs smooth up to very large scales, is almost bug free, and has very intuitive game play. [*][b]Essentially unbounded maps[/b] Each world is dynamically created, and, in practical terms, limitless. You can expand for as far as you would like and the only side effect is increased save file size and save time. [*][b]Unique and attractive art style[/b] The graphical elements are well designed and contribute to a utilitarian feel that is quite consistent and immersive. [*][b]Good background music[/b] You will be treated to a somber musical score that manages to add more depth of immersion without being distracting. [*][b]Greatest dev team ever[/b] Wube, the development shop behind Factorio has been consistently the most prompt, reliable, and quality focused team I have ever seen. During development cycles we often see bugs fixed the day after they are reported. This is the kind of team that we should be proud to support. [*][b]Excellent mod support[/b] The base game can be expanded and altered via third party mods. There is a vibrant modding community building amazing mods that can expand the game almost without end. [*][b]Native linux support[/b] Runs flawlessly on linux. Devs treat linux as a first-class build target. [/list] [b]Cons:[/b] [list] [*][b]Takes a lot of time[/b] The process of planning, designing, crafting, building, altering, upgrading, scaling, and maintaining is a time consuming process. It is of course quite enjoyable, but don't expect to be able to pop in for 30 minutes and accomplish anything. You'll notice a trend that most people who really like this game have many hundreds of hours logged. [*][b]Map generation can be a bit weird[/b] This is something that the dev team has been tweaking since the game was conceived. The problem with procedural world generation is that the algorithms can produce unnatural things. While this has been greatly improved as of 0.17, the worlds still have a tendency towards unrealistic water and cliff patterns. For instance, expect archipelagos more than lakes and rivers. [*][b][strike]Fluid system is unintuitive[/strike][/b] [b]Fixed in 2.0.[/b] [strike](You can tell I'm trying to pad cons here.) This is not something that "normal" players will run in to, but once you start scaling your factory past around 400 SPM (science per minute) you will likely begin to run into the fluid system scaling problems. Basically pipes do not work the way you would expect them to work and cause unrealistic and frustrating problems that are difficult to work around.[/strike] [/list]