Time to cut some shapes, and I don’t mean on the dance floor. Factory building sim Shapez 2 is now available in Early Access with Linux support. Note: Key provided by GameDriveNL.
The idea is that there’s this big, swirling, hungry vortex that’s desperately craving some shapes, and it’s your job to pull them all out and send them flying into nothingness. How you go about it is up to you, you can mostly just relax and have fun building these huge, ridiculous, sprawling factories on a massive map.
Pictured: Stacking circles on top of squares and cutting squares into small squares.
Shapez 2 has done something truly extraordinary here. Not only has it improved on the idea of the first game in pretty much every way, but it has also added deeper gameplay mechanics and moved it from 2D to 3D. I’m honestly amazed by every part of it. Not only does it run really well, but it looks pretty pretty too. It’s pretty fascinating to see all sorts of shapes flowing across the map.
It’s impressive how easy everything is and how you’re introduced to the game carefully but fairly quickly, so that you quickly get to grips with the mechanics. This is also due to the very clear user interface; Shapez 2 obviously puts a lot of emphasis on all the little things. The game instructions also contain many clear and easy-to-explain details in case you lose.
Not only is it 3D now, but it’s layered so you build conveyor belts on top of each other and drop things on top of each other. But even there, the controls and UI are really super easy to understand and that just makes playing so satisfying. I’ll admit there was a bit of confusion there for a moment, but because of the clear UI and style of the game, it’s not frustrating and there are no penalties, you just delete a few belts and redo it quickly and easily.
Once you get going and have the chance to sit back and watch all the moving parts as you work your way through finding the next shape, it feels like watching a fancy Rube Goldberg machine, like being a kid again, watching marbles fall through different things and eventually land somewhere.
It takes the most basic elements of Factorio, Satisfactory and other similar titles and distills them into the purest form of factory building. One that’s great for the more casual crowd, but is just as engaging for those who love the chaos that can come from others. It just has a little bit of everything, but without pesky aliens that might come along and destroy your perfect designs.
Current features:
- Multilayer 3D factories: Design and optimize your factories in a completely new dimension.
- Trains: Connect remote stations with a network of space trains.
- Research system: Unlock buildings, mechanics and upgrades in the brand new technology tree.
- New form mechanics: Discover new shape types with unique properties and logic.
- Blueprint Library: Save, load, export and share factory designs with others.
- Completely new graphics: Build factories and stations in a stunning, immersive space environment.
- Liquids: Use different types of fluids to process shapes or increase production.
- Animated open buildings: See what’s happening in your factory buildings.
- Easy editing: Cutting, cloning, rotating and destroying parts of your factory has never been so intuitive.
- Undo/Redo: Get the ability to undo/redo unwanted operations.
I had no issues with the native Linux version I tested. It runs smoothly, looks good, performs well, and no graphics issues were noted. Probably one of the best launches (especially for Early Access) I’ve seen in a while. There’s a lot to like about it, and I can really see myself spending many hours with it.
From the press release: Tobias Springer, founder of tobspr Games, said: “We are very excited and proud to have finally released Shapez 2 in Early Access. This game has been a labor of love, so we couldn’t be happier with what we were able to offer our players at the Early Access launch. The game is already in a fantastic state, but we will continue to develop it in the future by listening to our community and implementing features that make it even better for both our fans and newcomers to the factory building genre. We are very grateful for the support we have received so far and look forward to continuing to build Shapez 2 into an even more satisfying strategy experience.”
It was no surprise that a quick look on Steam before the article was published revealed an overwhelmingly positive user review. One that I believe is 100% deserved.
You can buy it here:
Fanatical
steam
Article from GamingOnLinux.com.
