I have never played a game that made me think harder than Factorio. I spent hours creating my massive machine that would help me upgrade and research new technologies. It was very rewarding to complete a circuit and have my factory run perfectly. I did not think about my impact on the planet until the game started to create consequences for my misuse. I would burn forests for more space which increased my pollution significantly, I also used fuels like oil and coal, which made it rise even more. The consequence for this is that the native enemy monsters build hives closer and closer to your factory. Eventually, once you have produced a certain amount of population they start attacking your factory. It was an interesting mix of Minecraft, and puzzle games. In the end I played many hours trying to better my factory piece by piece, but no matter how far I advanced I liked that the game made me reflect on my impact on world as a whole.
The ability to free build has always been an interest of mine, but I often use the “endless” resources to build a massive unnecessary structure. I do not consider the impact of my wasteful building. This game pushes you to consider your impact more. If you want to win you have to create some sort of destruction to the planets natural resources. You collect its resources faster and faster with more wasteful machines, all to benefit your massive factory. I liked that this is not rewarded. The punishment is very frustrating as your pollution causes mutations that only make the monsters stronger. It reminded me of some of the games we played in class that focused on deeper meanings and implications. These indie games do not have the budget that Factorio had, and therefor are not as flushed out, so it is nice to see a big game try to make a statement through their gameplay.
Despite the fact that Factorio does not put as much emphasis on global impact as some of the smaller indie games that we played in class, it does make an effort to discourage wasteful use of resources. This alone was enough to have me become more aware of my own waste. I tried to be more conscious of my actions and not cause any more negative reactions from the game. I believe this is a big step for a game, because it caused personal reflection, which is what games like this should be about.