Addictive optimization loop
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“I recommend not starting this game right before you have to go to bed. You'll play until sunrise.”
Steam review · 3.7 h played ↗
shapez
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Overwhelmingly PositiveOverwhelmingly Positive · 96%Tobias Springer2020Automation · Base Building · Sandbox
$9.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 1 h ago
The verdict
A minimalist, addictive factory-building puzzler that's a gentle intro to automation. Skip it if you want Factorio-style depth, or if floating layers and late-game grind sound frustrating.
Great for
Newcomers to automation games and optimizers who like relaxed puzzle-solving, often on sale
Main risk
Repetitive, idle-like late game, plus the obscure floating-layers level and locked copy/paste
What players love
Relaxing, chill, no pressure
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“It's like Factorio with none of the grind or stress.”
Steam review · 47.3 h played ↗
Cheap and great value
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“So good for only one dollar.”
Steam review · 2.2 h played ↗
Simple rules, deep puzzle-solving
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“what makes the game so good is how much depth it creates from that simple foundation.”
Steam review · 42.1 h played ↗
Runs well on weak PCs
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 positive reviews
“it runs smoothly on almost any PC without needing a graphics card”
Steam review · 100.1 h played ↗
Great intro to factory games
Mentioned in ~1 in 15 positive reviews
“If you haven't played many automation/factory style games before, this is the perfect title to get hooked on and teach you the basics of belt management and floor planning.”
Steam review · 52.2 h played ↗
What players complain about
Repetitive, grindy, idle-like late game
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“In any case level 21 requiires 50000 shapes. So you are looking at 4+ hours of just idling.”
Steam review · 15.8 h played ↗
Constant teardown, little sense of progress
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“Requires you to rebuild from scratch constantly, instead of iterating and expanding.”
Steam review · 0.1 h played ↗
Clunky controls, UX and missing undo
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“Prepare yourself for accidentally deleting all the tiles you placed 10 minutes ago and then struggling to remember their exact layout, because there's no undo button.”
Steam review · 2.8 h played ↗
Floating layers / level 20 puzzle unexplained
Mentioned in ~1 in 10 negative reviews
“floating layers don't make logical sense and aren't explained in the game.”
Steam review · 34.7 h played ↗
Copy/paste locked and costs resources
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 negative reviews
“you have to spend a resource to use Ctrl+C *at all*.”
Steam review · 3.7 h played ↗
Lag, single-threaded performance
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 negative reviews
“After only 7 hours of gameplay I can see one core fixed at 100% usage thanks to this game”
Steam review · 7.1 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable300 MB
Minimum
OSWindows 10 64bit
Processor2 Ghz or faster
Memory2048 MB RAM
GraphicsAny
Storage300 MB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 10 64bit
Memory4096 MB RAM
GraphicsDedicated Graphics Card
OSWindows 10 64bit
Processor2 Ghz or faster
Memory2048 MB RAM
GraphicsAny
Storage300 MB available space
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