(This content was originally published by Delightworks Inc. The gaming division of Delightworks has since been integrated into Lasengle).
Hey there! I'm Yoshinori Ono, COO at Delightworks.
Welcome to my blog and thanks for dropping by!
As it's the first day of 2022, let me start by wishing you a Happy New Year!!
Akemashite Omedeto!!
Since the pandemic, we've all had to make changes and adapt to the new normal. I don't know if these changes are here to stay, or just a temporary thing, but here at Lasengle, we're looking at what's going to work for us in the long term.
It's been about a year since we rolled out flexible working options at Delightworks and Lasengle, and looking at my team, I'd say everyone's really getting the hang of switching between the office and the home for work...except maybe me. So, one of my New Year's resolutions is to find more chances to break free from the office and work from wherever I am. Wish me luck!
Speaking of which...
We're right in the middle of the New Year holidays in Japan, and like most people, I headed back to my hometown to spend the holidays with my family. It's been a while since I spent new year in Osaka and I had a blast! In fact, when this blog goes live, I'll likely still be in Osaka, having a blast.
What'll I be up to? Well, if I get lucky with tickets, I'll be laughing it up with the family at Namba Grand Kagetsu, catching some of the talent on Japan's comedy scene. But if not, we'll still be able to catch the same acts online--one of the cool changes the pandemic has brought about.
Watching live shows from the comfort of your sofa, who'd have thought we'd be doing that? It's hard to imagine we weren't doing this last year too, right? I can't get over how many new ways we have to enjoy entertainment, but I'd say a lot of these changes are here to stay.
And we need to think about that as we create more games at Delightworks and Lasengle, games that are true to our spirit and adapt to this new era.
So, here's to another year of gaming and creating at Delightworks and the up-and-coming Lasengle!
Moving on to my featured game for blog #3, Factorio.
Imagine...it's a cold winter morning, and you're in bed, warm and snug under the covers. Or maybe it's night, and you're cozy under a blanket on the couch on New Year's Eve, snacks and drinks just an arm stretch away. How are you feeling? Like nothing's gonna make you budge, right? Yeah, I know that feeling!
When you have movies and live entertainment delivered directly to your screen, finding the motivation to get up and go somewhere gets harder and harder. Sometimes, don't you just wish that you lived in a world where everything was automated, and things just happen without you having to lift a finger?...
... Welcome to Factorio, a game where you build your own mega factory and finally fulfill the dream of a fully-automated world where you never have to lift a finger (as long as that world is an efficiently run factory and you're happy with using your fingers to press a couple of buttons!).
In Factorio, you're the mastermind behind production, designing processes to make your factory more efficient and more automated. As a game, it's an addictive cycle of planning, building, and problem-solving.
The game is set on an alien planet, where you've crash landed your spaceship--with a new map generated each run. You're marooned in this distant corner of space, no spaceship, no resources, and no way of contacting anyone. Stranded, alone, nothing but dark thoughts to keep you company. Naturally, like any other castaway, you decide to build...a factory! (Yeah, not my first thought either but roll with it).
The main objective of the game is to build a rocket silo and, eventually, a rocket. But you start out only with basic resources like wood, iron, copper, coal, and stone, and it all has to be gathered and mined by hand.
You're a long way from not having to lift a finger. But, once you've collected enough resources to make a furnace, you can produce copper and iron plates, and then move onto the next stage of the game: robotic arms and conveyor belt systems.
This is where the game starts to come into its own. You build arms to do the heavy lifting and use the conveyor belts to carry resources to where they need to go. One step closer to automation.
As you add more elements to the factory, you need to think about power, eventually moving from a timber and coal based fuel-powered factory to the more efficient electric-powered setup. But this is harder than it sounds. You need to find a water source, put in water pumps, build boilers, and then you can construct steam engines.
In other words: water source + water pump + boiler + steam engine = electricity generation.
Once you've completed the formula, powered up your factory with the modern marvel known as electricity, you can really step up your automation and your production.
What I love about this game is it gives you the big goal of launching a rocket, but splits it into tiny, manageable tasks. Once you complete a task, there's a bunch of other possible tasks for you to do. So even when I wasn't playing, I'd find myself thinking about my factory.
I'd be eating dinner and be like, "Hmm, if I move my electric mining drill over there, and the belts over there, I can probably use the space better, and bring in more iron ore, and then...". Or taking a bath and start thinking about a task I was working on, "Okay, once I've finished up that belt, I can start moving stuff around, and then I can get on with....". Go out on a walk and the road begins to look like a conveyor belt, with car-shaped ore moving along. Did I mention the game is addictive?!
Another cool thing about the game was how it made me feel about technology. As I went from manual labor to automated processes, it was like experiencing the history of human technological development in micro, and you end up with a weird kind of affection for your factory.
Watching the machines working hard and the resources move through the plant, it had this hypnotic draw. Kind of like being mesmerized by a spinning washing machine, or finding your robotic vacuum cute (c'mon, admit it, you love that little cleaner!).
Which is why, when your precious factory is attacked, you want to protect it.
Turns out the planet you've landed on is not completely deserted. It's also home to giant bug creatures who attack your factory in swarms, destroying all the stuff you've worked so hard to build (noooo!).
Obviously, this is not good, so you build walls, turrets and take other measures to defend your factory. But as the game progresses, you realize there's more to these attacks.
The bugs are not malicious. They're attacking you because you're polluting their planet.
As your factory grows and production improves, you need more power. So you build an army of steam engines and boilers. Your drills, conveyor belts and robot arms are running day and night, mining, and hauling. You burn coal way more efficiently than when everything was done by hand. In short, advancement wasn't the only thing you brought to the planet. You also brought pollution. Go humans!
To avoid attacks from the natives, you switch to greener energy like solar, or you could set up shop away from bug nests. There's also a neat option to make micro-adjustments to each machine, letting you curb some of the environmental damage.
(By the way, Factorio is played with mouse and keyboard so it can take some getting used to if you usually play with controllers.)
Do you maximize efficiency and damage the planet, or switch to something more sustainable? It doesn't take a genius to draw comparisons between Factorio and the real world.
It made me think about some of the dilemmas we're struggling with in the real world: how much environmental impact is acceptable in the pursuit of progress? How far are we willing to go to secure our own survival at the expense of others? How do we define life?...all pretty deep for a game about building a factory, but definitely worth the experience.
To wrap up, Factorio is a game where you're in a lonely struggle for survival. You have your main goal, but the game sets smaller, achievable tasks to give you a sense of consistent progress. The fun and sense of achievement comes from planning out the best layout for your factory, watching all the puzzle pieces fit together, and seeing your factory get bigger, better, and more efficient.
When you finally succeed in your goal, launch your rocket and marvel at the genius of science, it leaves you with a complicated mix of relief and guilt, as you think about the impact of all this automation.
That's my take on Factorio!
Thanks for reading.
The next game is calling my name so gotta go--till next time!
Yoshinori X（Twitter）