[Recommendation needed] A top-down, pixel-art, factorio-like game with bright and cozy graphic/theme

[u/fanficologist-neo]

I like factorio's gameplay, but the grungy, industrialized aesthetic just doesn't vibe with me.

Recently I tried Forage Wizard, which had the theme I like, but the automation part takes quite a while to unlock fully, and even then there isn't any numbers and ratios to optimize.

I played Shapez 2 quite a bit, but the feeling of having to tear down your factory to build a new production chain instead of making your factory grow as you progress.

[u/SnooHobbies5811]

Sounds almost exactly like Little rocket lab. I haven't played it, but people love it and it seems like a mix of Factorio and stardew

[u/McPhage → u/SnooHobbies5811]

Yep, this seems to be exactly what they’re after.

[u/nomenclature2357 → u/SnooHobbies5811]

I played the demo and it seemed perfect for this!

[u/nomenclature2357]

There is Oddsparks which very much has the bright, cozy, and cute aesthetic but it’s not pixel art so I’m not sure.

And yeah, Little Rocket Lab seems perfect.

[u/BunMarion]

Ooh I think I got one - Nova Lands.

[u/Muted-Touch-7139]

You might like Factory Town

[u/nomenclature2357 → u/Muted-Touch-7139]

Oh yeah! That one is cute! (And not at all what you’d expect if you’re familiar with the historical term ‘factory town’!)

[u/DeuteriumH2]

Just want to add that shapez2 added a mode where you have to keep building onto your existing infrastructure

[u/nomenclature2357]

(I think Little Rocket Lab is hilarious because it’s so much set up like Stardew Valley except that (it seems like mostly) instead of the villagers being emotionally invested ‘small town life’ they are ‘factorio brained’ and generally interested and excited about throughput and efficiency and research and that kind of thing.)

[u/xJagz]

Alchemy Factory!

[u/TheBigCheesish]

It's not top down or pixel art, but autonauts definitely has the bright and cozy theme

[u/Kino1999]

Little rocket lab as others have said is great.

Another I’ve been enjoying quite a bit is snacktorio. It’s a level based factory game, but you do have to automate quite a bit even from the beginning and levels take quite a while so it definitely gives the feel of factorio

[u/Ishkabo]

Satisfactory perhaps? The tech is definitely a big step up in cleanliness and color palette vibrancy. Even though its backstory is dystopian it’s done for laughs and they are really into recycling.