Production Line

About

Production Line is a single player economy city builder game with a economy theme. It was developed by Positech Games and was released on March 7, 2019. It received positive reviews from players.

Production line is the new car factory management/simulation/tycoon game that pushes your organisational and entrepreneurship skills to the limit. Can you build the ultimate optimised, free-flowing car production line whilst beating the competition and still turn a profit?

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83%

Audience ScoreBased on 4,132 reviews

gameplay110 positive mentions

stability88 negative mentions

Engaging and addictive gameplay that challenges players to optimize their production lines.
Extensive tech tree and customization options for vehicles, allowing for strategic decision-making.
Active developer support with regular updates and responsiveness to community feedback.

Frequent crashes and bugs that disrupt gameplay and lead to loss of progress.
Clunky user interface and controls that can be unintuitive and frustrating to navigate.
Lack of depth in economic mechanics and competition, making the game feel repetitive over time.

gameplay
424 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
65%
9%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by a solid core loop of building and optimizing a car manufacturing factory, which many players find addictive and enjoyable once they overcome the initial learning curve. However, several users have noted issues such as a lack of depth, repetitive mechanics, and bugs that can disrupt the experience, leading to frustration. While the game shows potential for engaging gameplay with its unique mechanics and regular updates from the developers, many feel it currently lacks sufficient content and variety to sustain long-term interest.
- “The gameplay loop of starting macro and becoming more and more specialized is addictive, and works very well.”
- “While the initial learning curve might be a tad steep due to a somewhat challenging tutorial, once you grasp the mechanics, the game becomes an absolute joy.”
- “Engrossing gameplay, I like it because you have to constantly keep improving the flow of resources to achieve optimal efficiency in production.”
- “Many of these could maybe be overlooked, but in the end, the base gameplay loop of 'build a boring factory with a clunky building UI' -> 'go AFK as you wait for research and money' -> 'repeat' is just not fun.”
- “Gameplay at the moment is very basic and once you learn the game mechanics it gets extremely boring and repetitive.”
- “This game is full of flaws, poorly explained mechanics, and missing information, not to mention the occasional bug or crash.”
graphics
254 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
59%
4%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the simple, clean aesthetic and decent animations, while others criticize them as outdated or reminiscent of games from two decades ago. Occasional graphical glitches and a lack of polish are noted, but many agree that the visuals effectively support the gameplay experience. Overall, while the graphics may not be the game's strongest feature, they are generally considered adequate for the genre and do not detract significantly from the enjoyment of the game.
- “Fantastic game using such simple graphics to bring all the aspects to life that we expect from a car factory!”
- “Its beautiful somewhat cartoonish-realistic graphics and its great animations produce a pleasant, dynamic atmosphere: you really enjoy watching how your large chain of production flows in an organic way.”
- “The graphics are good enough such that you can zoom in on your factory and see your vehicles being built in reasonable detail.”
- “The only thing I don't really like about it is the graphics look like they are from a game from 20 years ago.”
- “But initial joy in playing is let down by numerous bugs, poor graphics and repetitive gameplay.”
- “Releasing a supposedly finished game with so much instability and graphical glitches made me choose not to recommend it.”
optimization
126 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
68%
5%
The optimization aspect of the game is a mixed bag; while many players appreciate the depth and challenge of factory management and optimization puzzles, significant performance issues arise when scaling up operations, leading to crashes and lag. Some users report smooth performance on smaller maps, but the game's linear optimization path and limited options for component management can detract from the experience. Overall, it offers a rewarding optimization experience for fans of the genre, but it requires careful management to avoid performance pitfalls.
- “If you enjoy strategy, optimization, and the satisfaction of seeing your creations come to life, Production Line is well worth your time.”
- “Highly recommended to anyone with even the smallest interest in kanban, constraint theory, and system optimization who'd like a sandbox to test out all that theory within a reasonable timeframe.”
- “Overall, it is clear the developers have prioritized attention towards what makes games like this compelling and challenging: the focus is on the optimization through building, placement, routing, and light resource/time management for the building of the cars you are creating.”
- “The only problem is if you run this like a non-stop factory on a bigger scale, the performance will drop significantly, and crashing seems to be a common occurrence. It's fine when I run it on a smaller map.”
- “Very, very bad performance issues; it is essentially impossible to build a large factory without getting a really bad experience due to low performance.”
- “Edit January 3, 2022 - I guess I can stop waiting to see if this gets fixed, as the developer abandoned the game way before it was in a playable, optimized, and relatively bug-free state.”
music
104 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
59%
12%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising the soundtrack as enjoyable and motivating, while others find it repetitive and limited, often leading them to mute it. Many appreciate the dynamic volume changes that correspond to zooming in and out, enhancing the gameplay experience, but several users report issues with the music cutting out after extended play. Overall, while the music is seen as a positive aspect by some, it lacks variety and can become tiresome for others.
- “The music is good - quite motivating and provoking at the same time.”
- “More than once I finished a big factory upgrade and zoomed out a bit to look at the big picture - and the music matched the robotic arms and forward march of the factory floor.”
- “As you zoom out to the extreme, the factory floor is inaudible, but the soundtrack is going so hard that you feel like a floating car-factory deity.”
- “Not enough music tracks.”
- “The only negatives I found were a couple of bugs – the music would stop after a few hours, which was also a kind of handy way to tell me I needed to take a break (and go to bed).”
- “The soundtrack is awful, though this may have been updated since I muted it.”
stability
96 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
92%
The game is widely criticized for its instability, with numerous reports of bugs, crashes, and graphical glitches that significantly hinder gameplay. Users frequently mention issues with placing and managing conveyor belts, leading to frustrating experiences and a sense of an unfinished product. While some players see potential in the game, the overwhelming consensus is that its current state is too buggy for a positive recommendation.
- “Game runs great.”
- “Production line has a pleasing aesthetic and runs great on PC.”
- “If you are absolutely okay with the current state, the game will likely motivate you for anywhere between 7 and 12 hours. What is here is complete and so far almost bug-free, and if you enjoy resource management games, then you will love the new style of this one.”
- “There are a lot of bugs; it can even happen that the game freezes and you lose everything you made.”
- “The game is incredibly buggy and crashes very often.”
- “Releasing a supposedly finished game with so much instability and graphical glitches made me choose not to recommend it.”
story
92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
74%
17%
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its absence, with many users noting that there is no campaign or narrative to engage with. While some players appreciate the gameplay mechanics and challenges, they express a desire for more missions and a structured storyline to enhance the experience. Overall, the consensus is that the game focuses more on gameplay efficiency than on storytelling.
- “What a fantastic game, I lose all sense of time while trying to beat the mission targets.”
- “Big Pharma had interesting missions, had a fairly nice visual style, and had much more strategy to the building of lines, with some being massive using dozens of machines to upgrade different things.”
- “Future, I would hope that for this game the future would bring more scenarios or maybe a story-style mission where you take over a failing company.”
- “There's no campaign, no story, no competition whatsoever, barely any challenge or something to do.”
- “There is no story, no career, no intuitive competition.”
- “There's no clear story here, except that you've got a helicopter view of a grid-based factory floor and it's your job to direct the action.”
replayability
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
70%
19%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with some players finding it highly replayable due to its depth and complexity, particularly in factory optimization, while others criticize it for being linear and lacking user-generated content. Many reviews suggest that once the core gameplay is mastered, the replay value diminishes significantly, with some players only finding a few additional hours of enjoyment. Overall, the game may appeal to those who enjoy continuous optimization, but it may not sustain long-term interest for everyone.
- “Can be simple or very complex which gives it high replay value.”
- “The replayability is equivalent to Factorio or Satisfactory.”
- “Replayability comes from expanding your factory and trying to make larger and larger factories.”
- “Starting over at this point presents you with the reality that there is absolutely no replay value to this game.”
- “Very little replay value, with no user design, or creativity.”
- “But once you 'finish' the game, there's not much replayability.”
grinding
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2%
12%
86%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, especially as they progress and face repetitive tasks like adding features to factories and adjusting prices. While the early stages can be challenging, many reviewers note that the gameplay becomes monotonous over time, leading to a sense of emptiness once key features are unlocked. Suggestions for improvement include adding more strategic options to reduce the grind and enhance overall enjoyment.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “However, at some point you've unlocked all the factory parts and you're stuck in a grindy loop: unlock a new car feature, click 'add to all factory slots', add the feature to your highest end models, go in and tweak all your prices, repeat ad infinitum.”
- “After a while, the progression gets tedious and after 7.7 hours of current game time over the past few days, I've almost maxed out the technology tree for what matters and the game just feels empty beyond researching technology and building an efficient layout factory.”
- “A lot of tedious building placement (20+ per car line with multiple car lines per factory) and their placement doesn't have much strategy or planning involved.”
monetization
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game has drawn criticism for being perceived as a cash grab, with players feeling that it is unfinished and potentially abandoned. While there are various advertising options available, users suggest that the marketing strategies lack depth and variety, and some have found the advertising to be misleading. Overall, the game requires significant micromanagement to succeed financially, but the limited tutorial support leaves players to navigate complex financial systems on their own.
- “Unfinished and feels abandoned, so it's just a cash grab.”
- “I was also planning on getting Democracy 4 by the same developer, but given that he just did a cash grab with this game, I won't be doing that - with his history, it'll sell a few copies and then be abandoned as well.”
- “The biggest downside so far to this game is something I'm sure they will fix, but the tutorial literally only gives you the basics and leaves you to figure a lot out on your own, including loans, market demand, and advertising.”
humor
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is frequently highlighted as a key aspect, with players finding the optimization of production lines both funny and satisfying. The developer's engaging personality and humorous communication style further enhance the experience, although some players feel that additional comedic descriptions in the tech tree could improve the game's appeal. Overall, the game is described as addictive and entertaining, balancing simplicity with complexity in a humorous way.
- “Quite addictive game, optimizing the production lines is funny and satisfying.”
- “Incredibly simple and hilariously complex at the same time.”
- “I've found Production Line to hold my interest because it contains humorous graphic elements, as much data as you'd like to consume, and can be played with different goals in mind.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
37%
13%
The game's atmosphere is praised for its beautiful, cartoonish-realistic graphics and dynamic animations, creating an enjoyable and engaging environment. While it effectively balances challenge and fun, some users feel that the atmosphere could be further enhanced for better presentation and playability. Overall, it successfully immerses players in a visually appealing and organic experience.
- “It gives you the right atmosphere and is well balanced between challenge and fun.”
- “Its beautiful somewhat cartoonish-realistic graphics and its great animations produce a pleasant, dynamic atmosphere: you really enjoy watching how your large chain of production flows in an organic way.”
- “I believe this could be better approached to give a more presentable and playable atmosphere.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express frustration with the emotional engagement of the game, feeling overwhelmed and disconnected due to long periods of inactivity and lack of control, leading some to abandon the experience altogether.
- “Made me feel busy, yet not in control.”