ShapeHero Factory

About

ShapeHero Factory is a single player casual strategy game. It was developed by Asobism.Co.,Ltd and was released on September 17, 2025. It received very positive reviews from players.

Welcome to the world’s weirdest factory. You don’t swing swords or cast spells, instead you build tiny heroes out of shapes, and hope for the best as they come up against endless swarms of increasingly brutal enemies. All in a day’s work! Drop shapes onto conveyor belts to craft self-operation heroes. Want a soldier? Try a circle and a triangle. Want a tank? Try circle and square. H…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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92%

Audience ScoreBased on 245 reviews

gameplay17 positive mentions

grinding4 negative mentions

Engaging mix of rogue-like elements with factory building and tower defense mechanics, providing a unique gameplay experience.
The game features a variety of units and upgrade paths, allowing for strategic depth and replayability.
Charming art style and a nostalgic soundtrack enhance the overall atmosphere, making it enjoyable to play.

Balance issues, particularly with RNG affecting unit upgrades and difficulty spikes, can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences.
Runs can feel too short, limiting the opportunity to fully explore higher-tier units and strategies.
Quality of life features, such as the ability to copy/paste or save blueprints, are lacking, making factory management tedious.

gameplay
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
48%
8%
The gameplay is a unique blend of factory building, rogue-lite mechanics, and strategic problem-solving, offering an engaging loop that encourages experimentation and replayability. While many players appreciate the satisfying core mechanics and charming visuals, some express frustration with randomness and balancing issues that can hinder player agency and lead to repetitive experiences. Overall, the game is praised for its innovative design, though improvements in mechanics and variety are desired to enhance long-term enjoyment.
- “I think my favorite aspect of the game is the way it gives you factory builder gameplay in discrete chunks; it feels like you get to experiment and build a factory for your run, then restart and solve new problems in the next run.”
- “The gameplay loop is engaging; I find myself saying 'one more turn' for hours.”
- “The combo of a factory game and a roguelike, the cute visuals, and the gameplay loop makes this game delightful and addicting.”
- “However, I believe this game was intended to be played with free control mode off, as having this mode on nullifies the point of focus time mode, which is a mechanic that allows you to sparingly slow down time during the build phase.”
- “After a few hours, the gameplay starts to feel repetitive because the upgrades don’t scale enough to keep things fresh.”
- “My biggest concern currently is that the main gameplay loop is a bit short, making tier 3 units just not worth investing in compared to just getting a bit more tier 2.”
optimization
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
39%
23%
Overall, the optimization in the game is well-received, with players praising its engaging factory mechanics and solid performance. The graphics are appealing, and the gameplay encourages strategic decision-making in unit and resource management. However, some users feel that the constant need to reconfigure setups can detract from the enjoyment of the optimization experience.
- “The graphics are very nice and the performance is as you'd expect: great.”
- “You can play it in a relaxed, low difficulty mode to chill out, or you can test your mind in build paths and optimizations.”
- “Shapehero is fundamentally a series of optimization problems.”
- “Any optimizations you made, any units you created, any 'I almost had enough resources to create the next unit tier' -- gone.”
- “In the factory creation itself, it feels more like a constant optimization of numbers than anything else.”
- “Then you upgrade some, and now it's 2 mining units for 5 crafters, and you have to redo all of your conveyor belts if you want to utilize that optimization.”
replayability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
18%
27%
Overall, the game exhibits high replayability due to its unique mechanics, varied paths, and different setups for each playthrough, ensuring that no two runs feel the same. However, some players note that once they have explored all unit types or completed multiple campaigns, the replay value may diminish. Quality of life changes could further enhance this aspect, making it a standout in its genre despite some concerns about longevity.
- “It has high replayability because each run feels completely different than the ones before.”
- “Replay value without boredom due to many different paths to take.”
- “While beating it on normal difficulty may feel a bit quick, the game’s replayability, unique mechanics, and strategic depth make it a standout in the genre.”
- “Its ok, but lacks a little replayability.”
- “Replayability really suffers at that point.”
- “While it may feel short on the initial run, the game’s replayability and difficulty scaling ensure lasting enjoyment.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players praise the stunning soundtrack for its emotional depth and nostalgic qualities, others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking variety, leading to irritation over time. The overall atmosphere is described as pleasant and cozy, enhancing the gameplay experience, but there are calls for a broader soundtrack to maintain engagement, especially during longer phases of play.
- “Special praise must go to the soundtrack, which is absolutely stunning.”
- “The music instantly took me back to my childhood hours spent playing Legend of Mana on the PSX; it’s lush, emotional, and perfectly captures the spirit of adventure.”
- “The chipper music and atmosphere makes it very enjoyable and relaxing, and the core gameplay loop is very rewarding and cool to explore random units and forge a 'team' that will work in the end based on the random generation of both the canvas, the rewards, and the world map-tree.”
- “One thing I think seriously holds this game back is the sound design and music.”
- “The music is on a really short loop and gets irritating very quickly, and the sound effects design is a noisy mess.”
- “There is a lack of variety in the music and ultimately I muted the music to play my own.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming, hand-drawn art style and vibrant colors, contributing to an engaging and whimsical atmosphere. Reviewers highlight the delightful visuals as a key aspect of the gameplay experience, enhancing the overall enjoyment and creativity of the game. The performance is noted to be excellent, further complementing the appealing aesthetic.
- “The art style is amazing, 10/10 for the hand-drawn look and feel.”
- “I love that the game is colorful and the art style is enjoyable.”
- “Another one of the many factory-like games that came out over the recent year, but this one actually got really creative by making it a roguelike and changing the usual factory and industrial look with a lovely whimsical storybook art style in a fantasy setting!”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and unsatisfactory due to a lack of player influence and the absence of features like blueprints or copy-paste options. The constant changes in resource management and the need to restart the factory each run contribute to a feeling of wasted time, making the experience feel stale quickly.
- “This lack of player influence can become stale and tedious when you have to do multiple tasks.”
- “But something about how it's implemented feels lacking... tedious and unsatisfactory.”
- “This combined with the constant source-sink ratio changes, and the factory being restarted every run, with no blueprints, copy/paste, or even the same set of tools every run... it ends up feeling tedious, like you're wasting all your time on the wrong thing.”
story
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
The game features a minimal story, which some players appreciate as it allows for a focus on gameplay mechanics, particularly in its factory-building elements. However, it distinguishes itself with a whimsical storybook art style set in a fantasy world, adding a creative twist to the typical factory genre. Overall, the narrative is not the main draw, but it complements the unique aesthetic and gameplay experience.
- “Another one of the many factory-like games that came out over the recent year, but this one actually got really creative by making it a roguelike and changing the usual factory and industrial look with a lovely whimsical storybook art style in a fantasy setting!”
- “I'm okay with it not having much of a story to follow up on.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is described as pleasantly cozy and relaxing, enhanced by a cheerful soundtrack that contributes to an enjoyable experience. Players appreciate the depth and variety offered by numerous development trees and unit combinations, making each run feel unique and rewarding as they explore and forge their ideal teams.
- “Much deeper than I expected. The pleasant OST and cozy atmosphere, along with a big amount of development trees, makes every run feel different.”
- “The chipper music and atmosphere make it very enjoyable and relaxing. The core gameplay loop is very rewarding and cool to explore random units and forge a 'team' that will work in the end based on the random generation of both the canvas, the rewards, and the world map-tree.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its nostalgic music, which evokes childhood memories and effectively captures the spirit of adventure, enhancing the overall experience.
- “The music instantly took me back to my childhood hours spent playing Legend of Mana on the PSX; it’s lush, emotional, and perfectly captures the spirit of adventure.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, the game demonstrates strong stability, with users reporting smooth performance, minimal bugs or glitches, and no crashes during gameplay.