shapez Reviews

Quite short but very effective. It's like a simpler version of Factorio without any enemies or limited resources. The most fun part in my opinion was figuring out compact, efficient and repeatable factory designs that I could copy over to the next objective. The game changes objectives a lot so you won't keep your legacy spaghetti running indefinitely, and there's just enough unlockable mechanics in the game to keep it interesting. Just power through until you unlock [spoiler]blueprints[/spoiler] and the game will feel a lot more satisfying.

This is a fun game, I found it pretty addictive. However ultimately I'm basically rage quitting and leaving a negative review because of the layering mechanics that mean cutters don't just cut your shape in half, they can also alter it. This severely limits the approach you can take to making the most complex (predefined) shape in the game, turning that level (effectively the last level before free play mode) into puzzling out the game mechanics rather than puzzling out how to make the shape. It's a poor end to an otherwise cool experience.

Really fun game to try and automate it. Finding all the different ways to min max it is good. Overall delightful ga,e.

This game is pretty simple and will have you staying up late and wondering where all the time went!

Awesome simple factory game that...well, it is not that simple - but great fun and super chill. Loved problem solving in the later game whilst making my MAM - thanks Shapez.io!

As a real fan of intricate strategy games, I've logged over 100 hours on Shapez and I must say, it was an unexpected delight. I never knew this gem existed until I stumbled upon it during a sale, especially with Shapez 2 on the horizon at that time – what a great surprise it turned out to be! The game mechanics are refreshingly unique. From the very first session, the way the puzzles and production lines interlace is a testament to the developers' creativity. The challenge lies not only in managing resources but also in optimizing your setup, which keeps the gameplay engaging and stimulating. Shapez stays true to its core spirit: simplicity intertwined with complexity. The graphics might seem minimalistic at first glance, yet they beautifully support the depth of the gameplay. Every new level offers an opportunity to rethink your strategy, and this continuous need for adaptation adds to the overall charm. What I appreciated most was how the game encouraged experimentation. It’s not just about reaching the next level but also about discovering new ways to approach problems. While some might find the gradual learning curve a bit challenging, I believe it makes the eventual breakthroughs all the more rewarding. In conclusion, if you enjoy games that combine smart design with challenging puzzles, Shapez is definitely worth your time. It provides a fresh take on strategy and simulation that is both fun and intellectually engaging. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to immerse themselves in a world where every decision counts. Enjoy your journey through the shapes and surprises of this fantastic game!

I got this on sale. I'm level 8. I own Beltmatic (an absolute gem of a game with a bunch of QoL features) and everyone there is recommending this, saying it's the original/inspiration, and raving about it, waiting for Shapez 2. And I don't get it. Is there something I'm missing? The default keybinds are next to impossible to use (I get why + and - mean zoom in and out, but I don't get why I need to use both hands or deform my right hand to zoom in. I have it set to k and l because it's right there). CTRL+click to multiselect? Delete (not backspace) to delete? I get the logic, but do you know where your delete button is? How many times have you pressed it by itself, ever? "Don't delete your old factories" is, uh, advice. If it was even possible. I'm not waiting for twenty-five minutes for a line of the newest product to fill the quota. I'm making like 4 lines so I'm not waiting. THE COLLECTOR HAS A WHOLE, GRAND TOTAL, OF SIXTEEN INPUTS. I will definitely be deleting my old factories, and I have. "Beat level 7 to unlock CCW rotation". Why is one direction locked behind a random level, while the other is fine? Also, copy/pasting is locked behind level 12 i guess. So the tedium of cutter, switch to trash, switch to belt, switch to rotator, switch to cutter, rotate the cutter, switch to trash, switch to belt, clear an unused input, do it all again by hand so as to not be waiting a millennium for some pie slices. You can rotate the cutter, but (as far as I know) you can't mirror it, rendering half of my available extractors (i.e. not on the inside of a patch of them where simply using it would pave over two outside ones) completely blocked. It's not like the collector could receive them anyway. The belt places as you drag, there is no preview (Idk what belt planner is but it's not doing anything noticeable when toggled on for me). This means you have to delete every imperfection made by the 'smart belt placement' (this is sorta infuriating at times) in order to even keep the adjacent inputs open. Also, try dragging diagonally with the belt. Notice there are LITERALLY BREAKS IN THE LINE, that now need to be patched (rightclick to delete all the loose ends, then switch back to the belt and do it all again). I have shift click drag for multiselect, because apparently we have no idea what rightclick-drag is. Good luck getting blue paint to the hub without messing up your belt line. Don't even get me started on how non-functional the tunnels are. Want to paint something? Cool, wire everything up. Want to paint another line at the same time? USE SEVENTEEN GRID TILES TO LOOP ALL THE INPUTS AND OUTPUTS AROUND EACH OTHER, BECAUSE, ONCE AGAIN, YOU CANNOT MIRROR PAINTERS. Want to paint three lines? No. It's all inconvenient, and if a material is on the wrong side, crossing them compactly is a nightmare. I like that it's colorblind compatible. But it's not user-friendly at all. I'm disappointed, I thought it was going to be amazing. I've got to be missing something. I like to grind, but there's nothing else to do while grinding. In Beltmatic, you know what the next level number is so you can get started on a factory for it. But in here, there would be no room to connect that factory anyway, even if you were aware of what's upcoming. "Just go for upgrades" there's no inputs available. You do not get sixteen inputs, you might have twelve because everything is blocked by cutters and belt imperfections. Maybe the balancer is my solution, but it takes extra time to run as well. I don't know what to do, but I can't play it anymore. I like the concept, but I cannot recommend it because everything feels so janky and unplayable. I don't know how you all have gotten used to it. Is there some mod that everyone uses? Is all the QoL stuff locked behind level 20-whatever?

I can't recommend this game if you are looking for a factory builder/optimizer (and I have over 6000 hours in Factorio and Space Age). I think the concept is cool in that you are cutting and painting and stacking different shapes. But when you get to level 20 (about 12 hours for me), it turns into an idle game. The reason for this is: you are limited to a maximum of 192 items per second (level 7 belts @ 12/sec and 16 max inputs) into your hub. And that is if you are only shipping only one item into your hub. So you are probably splitting into one or two full belts per item or maybe 4. In any case level 21 requiires 50000 shapes. So you are looking at 4+ hours of just idling. It is the same for upgrade also. Each upgrade Lvl 7 and above require all the same shapes so now you are just idling for hours at a time. And you have to rinse and repeat for each of the 4 categories. You can build the next shape and pre-store it in your hub and knock the next level off faster. So when I got to the point that 1)knew couldn't speed up the process anymore 2)will never jam the factory and never run out of resources meaning 3) I could up and walk away from the game for hours just for it to process meant 4) it was time to quit. Yes I could have tinkered with the MAM but still bottle necked waiting for items to be delivered once that is up and running.

This game leans far more in the puzzle direction than other factory games like Factorio. Overall I like it a lot more and the copy and paste nature of blueprints made scaling so much easier. I spent more time in this game figuring out how to build what I need rather than needing to spend hours setting all my buildings down. Would reccomend to anyone who likes this genre of game

Maybe it's just not for me, but I can't shake the feeling I've played better versions of this game before. Picked it up for less than a pound, played for less than an hour, and requested a refund. Producing different shapes is just not rewarding, sorry.