Nightwater

This is almost a recommend, but the gameplay loop is too shallow. This almost looks like a factory automation game, but don't get confused; Unlike most automation game, the gameplay discourages building actual factories. For example, the miners mine resources that you need to unlock progression. However, you don't get credit for mining those resources unless you take them out of the miner. It doesn't count if you pipe it into a factory. And don't get me started on the pipes. The way to connect your factory together is by using pipes. However, even the fastest pipes can't fully feed a slow factory. Most automation games encourage you to actually automate. The descriptions on the minors/factories/pipes also don't really help. They are descriptions like "slow" or "fast". But, the pipe you chose doesn't really make any difference because they are all so slow, that it encourages you to just set up a production pipeline and walk away for a long time. What speed of miners or factory or pipe should you use? Who cares! You're just going to walk away and check the progress later. No need for scaling or logistics. Then there is the minigames. Two of them are really fun. They are relaxing, and forgiving. Perfect mood for this game. But the mining one is boring and too luck based. The platform one is ok (I've read other reviews from people who hate it, but it seems fine to me). But the fuel one is a nightmare. This game is ok. Just ok.

Some of the best automation games find ways to mix the factory goals with other mechanics. Nightwater does this with semi-incremental minigames. This makes a pretty good impression in the demo, but it isn't enough to sustain a whole game. The diversions just don't have the depth or integration to stand as more than temporary distractions, and the poor controls and lackluster factory building mechanics keep this from ever settling in recommendable territory. As a factory game it's just bland. There are inscrutable decisions like not letting you easily feed from inventory into a storage and defaulting to a hard-to-reach key for all building selections (with no hotbar). You eventually get a jetpack upgrade for no apparent reason as it doesn't fit the lore and it isn't stable enough to help with actual building. Automation isn't needed for much of the game, and to finish you have to run a gauntlet of timed repeats of all the minigames with none of the upgrades you've worked to unlock. The ending and obscure bits of text along the way contribute nothing to the experience. If you play this, it's going to be because it's something to do, and it's decent enough as a distraction. But being different as factory games go doesn't make it worthwhile, and in the absence of a neutral option, I have to lean negative on this one.