Shapez - Factory Game | Game Brain — video game discovery

About

Create an abstract factory

Genres & Tags

Simulation

Play Modes

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

71%

Audience ScoreBased on 707 reviews

gameplay9 positive mentions

stability26 negative mentions

Great adaptation of the PC version with engaging gameplay and a minimalist design.
Addictive and satisfying factory-building mechanics that keep players entertained for hours.
No ads or microtransactions, providing a pure gaming experience.

Poor optimization leads to significant lag and crashes, especially at higher levels.
Controls are clunky and unresponsive, making it difficult to place items accurately.
Requires an internet connection to verify purchases, making it unplayable offline.

stability
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is a significant concern, with users reporting frequent visual glitches, UI freezes, and crashes, particularly in the mobile version. Many players find the experience frustrating due to the game's unoptimized performance and numerous bugs, which hinder basic gameplay functions and progress. While some enjoy the core gameplay, the overall consensus is that the game is not ready for production and requires substantial updates to address these issues.
- “It doesn't have the polish the other games have; it's buggy and quite unoptimized.”
- “However, this mobile version is so buggy that it has become infuriating, and I cannot stand to play it anymore in this early beta state.”
- “I don't think it's ready for production - there have been a lot of glitches, including save errors and visual bugs.”
gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
37%
16%
Overall, the gameplay is described as challenging, addictive, and entertaining, with a strong emphasis on strategic mechanics and a clean user interface. While many players appreciate the intuitive controls and minimalistic design, some have reported performance issues and bugs, particularly on mobile devices. Despite these drawbacks, the game is praised for its lack of microtransactions and engaging core loop, making it a worthwhile experience for many.
- “Ui is clean and simple but the gameplay is quite challenging (in the best way).”
- “Very addictive gameplay.”
- “Great game, lots of options and awesome gameplay!”
- “Some bugs I found were fixed in other updates though, and the gameplay is basically a 1:1 recreation of the original shapez; still, the UI problem shows.”
- “I just lost an entire day's worth of gameplay because apparently autosave wasn't working or something.”
- “After playing till level 17, I now encounter some problems regarding performance and gameplay; it becomes laggy when playing for more than half an hour, while mining progress only runs in the foreground. They should make progress keep running even when the app is closed or at least do better optimization.”
optimization
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
59%
24%
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, particularly on mobile devices, where players report severe performance issues, including lag and stuttering after reaching higher levels. Users have noted that camera movement can trigger unintended actions, and there are complaints about limited configuration options and bugs affecting gameplay. Overall, while the game is enjoyable, many players feel it is poorly optimized, especially for longer play sessions.
- “Obviously on mobile, once you start getting really big you do run into some performance issues.”
- “The simple abstract aesthetics (relative to the sci-fi style of Factorio) give it a clean look and a focus on the component layout and optimization.”
- “Just needs better optimization.”
- “Nice game but quite poor optimization.”
- “After that, however, when I reached level 18, I started to experience a lot of slow down and stuttering on the app, leaving the game virtually unplayable.”
- “Good game and all, but poorly optimized.”
monetization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
10%
50%
Overall, the monetization model of the game is well-received, with players appreciating the absence of ads and microtransactions, which enhances the gaming experience. However, some users express frustration over certain features being locked behind a paywall, suggesting a desire for a more inclusive full version without in-app purchases. The game is praised for its fair pricing and the availability of a free demo, though some players wish for a longer trial period.
- “Fair price, no ads, no pay to progress which I am delighted about.”
- “Best parts: no microtransactions, no idle-game mechanics and no ads!”
- “Best game with no ads.”
- “In-app purchases are awkward and dumb for the end user in my scenario.”
- “It especially doesn't help for a game that has no versus mode, isn't competitive, and doesn't have ads.”
- “Might be better down the road if there are other monetary concepts added, e.g., ads.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
25%
38%
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their simplicity and clean aesthetic, which enhances gameplay on mobile devices. However, some users report issues such as graphical glitches and performance slowdowns, along with a desire for lower texture options. Overall, while the art style is appreciated for its sleekness, opinions on the visual quality are mixed, with some finding it lacking.
- “Keeping the graphics and the interface simple and unobtrusive, they've managed to piece together an automation game that not only looks and plays superbly well on a mobile device, but that maybe even plays at its best on these devices.”
- “The simple abstract aesthetics (relative to the sci-fi style of Factorio) give it a clean look and a focus on the component layout and optimization.”
- “Very fun and interesting premise, sleek and simple art style definitely adds to it.”
- “For wishes I only want lower graphics options like PC, because the textures are unnecessarily high quality.”
- “There are some graphical glitches; to get rid of them, restarting the game is an easy solution, but it needs some updates.”
- “But it slows down graphically quite a lot for me.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game is widely praised for being mesmerizing and addictive, providing a groovy soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. However, some users report issues with static and interruptions when playing music in the background. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a strong point, perfect for relaxing or casual play.
- “Pros: the music is mesmerizing!”
- “Wonderful game, wonderful music and it is really addictive.”
- “I love the music and it's great for a lazy day or really anywhere when you're not busy.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be somewhat tedious, particularly due to issues with the blueprint tool and the challenges of building compact factories. While the game is enjoyable and relaxing, the grind increases as players progress, especially when constructing large sections of factories, which can be hindered by menu obstructions and bugs. Overall, it's not a dealbreaker, but it does detract from the experience at times.
- “Belts are kind of bugged, so building compact factories like on desktop becomes very tedious.”
- “The game is great but starts getting more grindy later on, which should be fixed by the blueprint tool. However, it is barely usable and will exit out of the tool if you zoom out too far, which is practically impossible to avoid, especially if copying large sections of the factory.”
- “Good relaxing game, but when building at the bottom end of the map, it can be a bit tedious with the menus in the way. Other than that, it's a good game.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express frustration with the game's controls, particularly the inaccurate placement of items and the inability to disable unwanted vibrations, leading to a negative emotional experience that detracts from their enjoyment and engagement with the game.
story
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The story aspect of the game is overshadowed by significant technical issues, particularly frustrating bugs that hinder gameplay and interaction, making it difficult for players to engage with the narrative effectively.
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its chill atmosphere, providing a relaxing experience despite its underlying complexity and depth.
- “A very simple automation game with lots of depth and a very chill atmosphere.”