Refactor

About

Refactor is a single player strategy game. It was developed by GAGA and was released on March 28, 2022. It received positive reviews from players.

"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

Skip User Reviews

80%

Audience ScoreBased on 96 reviews

gameplay15 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

Refactor offers a unique twist on tower defense with its maze-building mechanics and elemental fusion system, allowing for deep strategic gameplay and creativity.
The game provides a high level of replayability due to its roguelite structure, where each run presents different challenges and opportunities for experimentation.
Visually appealing with a clean, retro-inspired aesthetic, the game maintains clarity even amidst complex interactions, making it accessible for players.

The game suffers from significant RNG reliance, which can lead to frustrating experiences where player skill feels overshadowed by luck.
Many players find the user interface and controls to be unintuitive, with issues such as poor translations and cumbersome menu navigation detracting from the overall experience.
The steep learning curve and difficulty spikes can be overwhelming for new players, making it challenging to grasp the mechanics without extensive trial and error.

gameplay
43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
58%
7%
Refactor offers a unique and ambitious take on the tower defense genre, featuring intricate mechanics that encourage experimentation and strategic planning. While the game is praised for its depth and engaging gameplay, it is also criticized for its heavy reliance on RNG, which can undermine strategic choices and lead to frustration. Overall, players find the gameplay rewarding and challenging, with a strong potential for replayability, though some balance adjustments and clearer explanations of mechanics are suggested for improvement.
- “Refactor is a thoughtfully designed and mechanically ambitious tower defense game that challenges many of the genre’s long-standing conventions by giving players unprecedented control over both the battlefield and their defensive tools.”
- “The endless mode has extreme customizability, allowing you to have just the style of gameplay you enjoy the most.”
- “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.”
- “Seems interesting at first, but the game mechanics are convoluted and the RNG ruins it.”
- “None of this is at all helped by the poorly explained mechanics, 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.”
graphics
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
28%
43%
The game's graphics feature a clean, retro-inspired aesthetic that emphasizes clarity and simplicity, appealing to fans of 8-bit styles. While some players find the visuals enjoyable and distinct, others note that they are basic and not particularly impressive. Overall, the graphics are functional, with clear differentiation between towers and enemies, though there are minor concerns regarding color coding for colorblind players.
- “The graphics are fine (pure 2D) and each tower and enemy is clearly distinguishable with care that nothing is confusing.”
- “But if you like 8-bit graphics and are willing to learn and figure out a few strategies, it can be a bit of fun.”
- “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.”
- “Visually, the game adopts a clean, retro-inspired aesthetic that prioritizes clarity over spectacle.”
story
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The story aspect of the game is generally viewed as lacking, with many users noting the absence of a substantial narrative or campaign mode, which diminishes the overall experience. While some find the dialogue amusing despite its poor quality, the missions are short and limited in number, suggesting a need for a more developed story mode to enhance gameplay understanding and engagement.
- “The dialogue and story elements are silly to nonexistent, but they can be quite entertaining despite the occasional poor English and misspellings.”
- “The main missions provide a challenging experience that encourages players to dive into the mechanics and experimentation.”
- “I’d recommend creating a story mode that gradually explains the gameplay over time instead of overwhelming players with everything at once.”
- “The dialogue and 'story' are silly to nonexistent, and the English is 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.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
Overall, the game is praised for its high replayability, driven by random elements and a challenging gameplay experience, making it a worthwhile investment. While some players feel the refractor system could use improvements for long-term replayability, many agree that the game offers hundreds of hours of engaging content, especially as players unlock new features. The combination of fun mechanics and depth contributes to its lasting appeal.
- “Offers plenty of replayability and challenge, at an affordable price.”
- “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.”
- “Refractor system needs something done for it to be replayable long term.”
- “Due to the random elements of the game, it offers endless replayability for a very modest price.”
- “Endless gives the game a lot of replay value.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is noted for its smooth performance, indicating effective optimization that enhances the overall gameplay experience.
- “The game runs smoothly, providing a seamless experience.”
- “Optimization is top-notch, allowing for high performance even on lower-end systems.”
- “I appreciate how well the game is optimized; it maintains a steady frame rate throughout.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the humor in the game particularly amusing, highlighting the comedic choice of naming the AI "Nacho," which adds a lighthearted and entertaining element to the experience.
- “Also, it's hilarious that the AI's name is Nacho.”
- “I found that really funny for some reason.”