Infinifactory is a peculiar puzzle game which sees you snatched by a non-English speaking alien race, and tasks you with constructing production lines to manufacture their various contraptions. The game plays a little like Minecraft in create mode, whereby you have the ability to float around a 3D space in order to meet the assembly needs of your extra-terrestrial abductors.
Each level – which is accessed through a prison cell terminal – whisks you away to a floating island which consists of a finished product specification, as well as the materials needed to construct it. You'll then need to assemble different parts – conveyor belts, pistons, buttons, and more – to meet the whims of the cosmic captors who have "recruited" you.
You can build different layers, meaning that it's up to you to come up with creative solutions to the tasks that you're assigned. This is a unique prospect for a puzzler, as the resolutions are not set in stone – it's up to you to figure out how your production line is going to work. It's tough and demands patience, but there's satisfaction to be found when your production line works exactly as planned.
The problem with the game is that it has a gigantic learning curve. There is a simplistic tutorial at the start, but seeing as your abductors speak in gibberish, it's tough to follow. Instead, unintelligible block diagrams are employed to explain exactly what each piece of apparatus does, and it doesn't help that the controls are extremely fiddly, making it tough to place and rotate objects as you want.
As such, the beginning levels are by far the best – they are well designed and satisfying to solve – but as soon as you start messing with the more complex conundrums, it all becomes a bit of a headache. This is not simply because of the complicated specifications of the machinery that you'll be constructing, but also because the awkwardness of the controls are well exposed.
Conclusion
Infinifactory certainly has the building blocks of something great, as it's uber-satisfying piecing together your own production line and watching it all work as intended. Sadly, while there's real satisfaction to be gleaned from craftily concocting your own creative solutions, the cumbersome controls and occasionally unintelligible explanations mean that this game has ultimately failed to pass our rigorous quality assurance test.
Comments 7
I didn't realise this was like a factory sim. Shame about the controls being fiddly, but it sounds very interesting. Bit too expensive, though.
Sounds generous obtaining a 5.
"the cumbersome controls and occasionally unintelligible explanations mean that this game has ultimately failed to pass our rigorous quality assurance test." - Cool ending very befitting. No sale from me.
@themcnoisy It has a great concept and it can be very enjoyable, it's just poor in execution.
@get2sammyb a picture or a short video makes it a lot easier to explain what this game is.
It's a shame that this game has been ported badly, because I played this on PC last year and it was one of my favourite games from 2015 (Admittedly, though, I did enjoy a lot of last year's games)
I actually I liked the game but I only played it on Pc. Sad that the Ps4 version's controls aren't great. Hope that they'll fix it.
Yes, this is massively niche and won't be for everyone.
The diagrams showing you what to do can be a bit vague, but a little experimentation soon reveals what each block does. I found the controls a pleasure to use once you've got used to them and think it is much easier to navigate around levels and edit your creations than it is in the PC version.
The further you get the more intricate the puzzles become and the more rewarding it gets.
Felt compelled to sign up and give my thoughts (hi!).
@Birdorf Awesome! Welcome to the site, it's great to see new faces and great to hear some other opinions too.
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