Refactor

About

"Refactor is a single-player strategy game that offers excellent mechanics and around 15 hours of playtime. As a Roguelike Tower Defense game, Refactor allows you to design enemy paths on a grid and combine element towers for unique defenses. With multiple difficulties and modes, and the ability to use traps to improve defense, Refactor provides a challenging and fun experience for players."

Genres & Tags

Strategy

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 172 reviews

gameplay28 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The game features interesting mechanics and a unique 'refactor' system that allows for deep strategic gameplay and tower customization.
It offers a variety of gameplay modes, including an engaging endless mode that enhances replayability.
The graphics and sound design are appealing, and the game is considered a good value for its price.

The game suffers from excessive reliance on RNG, which can lead to frustrating experiences where player skill feels undermined.
Many players find the mechanics poorly explained, leading to confusion and difficulty in understanding the game.
The game is considered very challenging, with some levels being perceived as unfairly difficult, especially for those unfamiliar with tower defense games.

gameplay
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
50%
6%
The gameplay is characterized by innovative mechanics and strategic depth, particularly with the unique "refactor" system that allows for tower combinations. However, many players express frustration with the heavy reliance on RNG, poorly explained mechanics, and a steep difficulty curve that can feel unfair. Despite these issues, the game offers engaging and customizable experiences, making it a worthwhile option for tower defense enthusiasts seeking something fresh.
- “There is a unique 'refactor' mechanic that allows you to combine towers and their properties into something more powerful.”
- “I highly recommend Refactor as a challenging tower defense with fun gameplay, tons of replayability, and deep mechanics that are easy to learn and difficult to master.”
- “The game starts easy while explaining the mechanics but quickly takes the training wheels off and pits you against some levels that definitely take thinking and skill to complete.”
- “None of this is at all helped by the pretty badly explained mechanics (possibly a language barrier issue) which often feel superficial and the extreme difficulty ramping feels pretty unfair even if the game decides to play in your favor.”
- “If you are expecting something with strategy from deterministic planning and gameplay, this is not the game for you.”
- “I believe there is a lot of potential with this game, but it needs some balance changes or better ways of describing its mechanics.”
story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
58%
25%
The game's story is largely criticized for its lack of depth, with many reviewers noting the absence of a meaningful campaign mode and poor dialogue quality. While some find the mechanics interesting and the missions challenging, the overall narrative experience is seen as minimal and often silly, leading to a desire for a more structured story mode that gradually introduces gameplay elements.
- “The main missions get quite challenging (a plus for me) and give you a trial by fire to really dive into the mechanics and experimentation.”
- “The dialogue/'story' is silly to nonexistent, the English at times quite poor (each update brings in new misspellings), but those things are mostly ignorable, or just extra entertainment.”
- “Overall the missions are short though because there aren't many of them.”
- “I’d recommend creating a story mode that explains the gameplay over time versus throwing everything at you at once.”
graphics
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
58%
25%
The graphics of the game are a mixed bag; while some players praise the amazing visuals and enjoy the simple, 8-bit style, others find them unremarkable. The 2D graphics are generally clear and distinguishable, with thoughtful color coding for accessibility, though there are minor concerns about potential confusion for colorblind players. Overall, the graphics cater to a specific aesthetic that may appeal to fans of retro styles.
- “The graphics are fine (pure 2D) and each tower and enemy is clearly distinguishable with care that nothing is confusing.”
- “The graphics are nothing to write about.”
- “Some graphical elements are color coded, with just the slightest alterations for the colorblind - probably playable, but with some potential for confusion.”
- “Graphics: simple, but it's meant to be like that.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
30%
30%
The game offers significant replayability, largely due to its random elements and engaging mechanics, making it a worthwhile investment for players. While the initial unlocking phase may feel less impactful, the overall experience is enhanced by the challenge and depth of gameplay, allowing for hundreds of hours of enjoyment. However, some users suggest that improvements to the refractor system could enhance long-term replayability.
- “I highly recommend Refactor as a challenging tower defense with fun gameplay, tons of replayability, and deep mechanics that are easy to learn and difficult to master.”
- “It's marketed as a 'roguelite tower defense,' but when the game has replayability for hundreds of hours, the first few hours of unlocking things kind of become forgotten - that's not really where the game shines.”
- “Refractor system needs something done for it to be replayable long term.”
- “Endless gives the game a lot of replay value.”
- “Due to the random elements of the game, it offers endless replayability for a very modest price.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the humor in the game particularly amusing, especially noting the comedic value of the AI character being named "Nacho," which has resonated with many as a source of laughter.
- “Also, it's hilarious that the AI's name is Nacho.”
- “I found that really funny for some reason.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is reported to run smoothly, indicating effective optimization that enhances the overall gameplay experience.
- “Runs smoothly.”