Recent reviews by Supermaxman

Extremely *satisfying* factory builder in the same genre as Factorio / Dyson Sphere Program, but with more of a focus on combat, exploration, and detailed management. Also in 3D, with rewarding and fun movement mechanics and combat options.

Provides a unique cycle of exploration (finding very valuable resources on the map, fighting, and discovering new types of resources) and exploitation (utilizing resources efficiently, building infrastructure, managing power, and researching new technologies) not common in the factory builder genre. It is a slow burn, and requires significant effort to design efficient factories, but it is very rewarding when you get to the other side and everything runs perfectly. You will not get to the same level of automation and copy/pasting designs as Factorio / DSP, but I think that these constraints improve the experience.

You ALWAYS have to be in the weeds of production lines, manually connecting belts and calculating ratios. Your life is also ALWAYS threatened by combat, with zero combat automation - Satisfactory is also an enjoyable and sometimes difficult FPS. However, combat happens on your own terms in Satisfactory, so you do not need to worry about being ambushed - you should know by exploring what you are getting yourself into. Also, the lack of infrastructure / factory damage by alien threats further reinforces the fact that only your life, your exploration progress, and what you have in your pockets is at stake, which is not as punishing as other factory builders.

There are also many viable power sources, so there's also some flexibility in how you want to customize your experience. You can easily get lost designing gorgeous factories, or you can give into the belt spaghetti. With the official release, they addressed the final major rough patches and added significant content, demonstrating one of THE MOST successful early-access releases to-date. I think Satisfactory can finally take its place next to Factorio and Dyson Sphere Program as one of my new top factory builders, and with fully online multiplayer, low stakes, fun automation, a strong feeling of progression, an expansive map (that I have only half explored with nearly 150 hours in the game), and so, so much more, I think Satisfactory is the easiest 10/10 I have ever given.

Extremely fun and addictive, really everything you would want from a sequel to shapez. Excited to see what comes next, but the game that is already here is very fun, and has lots of opportunity for insane optimization and factory building.

Baba is You + Tunic is the best description I can give. Lots of freedom and tons of really satisfying puzzles, as well as some free-form exploration and discovery of new mechanics. Very little new "skills" are learned. The game is very much a knowledge metroidvania akin to Tunic / Outer Wilds, while also being a difficult puzzle game like Baba is You, and I really love it for that. I hope the developers continue to add puzzles and mechanics, but as-is it is a very satisfying 10-20 hours of puzzle content.

2 fast 2 hades

Truly one of the best Factorio-like games of all time. With the combat update, it really comes close to surpassing Factorio IMO. The development has been constant and a pleasure to see, and the quality-of-life updates really show that the developers play the game themselves. As a big nerd myself, seeing much of the tech grounded in real physics and fringe physics theory really makes me happy. 10/10

Silent Hill x Resident Evil x Nier Automata x I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream + Lovecraft x German, a very unique style and a very enjoyable experience. The puzzles can sometimes be tricky, but the aesthetics of the game are on point.

The Binding of Isaac mixed with Don't Starve with a splash of Hades. 10/10

Legend of Zelda + Outer Wilds, all I should say to avoid spoilers. Very fun

10/10

Outer Wilds type game, where self-motivated curiosity is necessary to enjoy the experience. And what an experience! Nothing like freely gliding across the sandy dunes in your custom, scrappy bike on a journey of self-discovery.