Foundry takes automation to the Nth degree

Since I talk to myself, when I got this I said, “Oh, man! FOUNDRY’s going to be Great!” Back in the day, I built my own modpacks for Minecraft: Every tech mod I could get to work all together (Every tech mod I could get to work… {for Airplane! People} both before and after Forge was released). Then I found Satisfactory. It’s all about automation, building networks of machines, factories, connecting with conveyor belts, etc, just like Foundry… except Foundry is much more ‘intense’.

You start with only two minerals to mine — xenoferrite and techum. Oh, I’ll interrupt myself right here. The way games are made now, you can almost ‘expect’ them to have a tutorial. You’d have to be a lot smarter than I am to just fire up the game and get after it with the tuts shut off. I’ve played it five or six times… and leave the tutorial on every time: “Oh yeah, that’s what’s next”, “Wow, I forgot about that step — I would have completely messed up this time through”.

For an Early Access game, it looks and feels like it’s at an extremely high level of professional programming, which has already been applied. Besides, I’ll say it now, it’s just plain fun. FOUNDRY is the epitome of automation and a factory simulation. Obviously, you have limited recipes to start. However, it doesn’t take very long until you’re making additional parts for the ability to build harder and more complex machines.

As you move up the technological scale, it’s still not insane to get you through… meaning, it’s not so complicated that a ‘normal’ person can’t keep up. As long as you’ve been paying attention to everything, it’s still all logical (while complex… for the blueprints and for the player) and as expected, each new piece may be both: 1. relying on previous recipes and 2. using the new ones you’ve acquired. However, as you climb up through the research and technology strands, the pieces, at points, get larger — as well as the added complexity. I haven’t run across anything ‘brain-shattering’ though. It’s all good in the automated and mechanical hood. Plus, you’re supplied with an in-depth dictionary of all the recipes you’ll need.

As I’ve played an excess and abundance of these, this genre of, games, FOUNDRY is the epitome of automation and factory building. Even though it (basically) gives you step-by-step plans, there are a ton of the sub-parts… which you probably already have the blueprints for. These are all needed to meld and piece together, to make the individual pieces… to build your monster of an industrial, assembly, and electronic plant.

Foundry is available now on PC.