Automation games are all about optimization. In most automation games, you’ll be tasked with setting up your own factory and collecting materials to keep everything running. Machines can be placed freely with the goal of optimizing the best system.
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The Switch, Nintendo’s eighth-generation console, has a number of automation-style games. With the handheld mode of the Switch, you can take your automation on the go, optimizing your factory on the fly. Automation games can have a wide range in their style and complexity, from simple puzzlers intended for beginners to more complicated simulations. Here are some of the best.
7
Automachef
Released In 2019
Automachef, developed by Rhombico Games, is a puzzle-oriented automation game centered around designing and running your own kitchen. With the end goal of automating every aspect of your own restaurant, you’ll place machines to prepare, cook, and serve food to your customers.
You’ll have to contend with a limited amount of space across the various levels of the game, trying to build up your business. There are several modes to explore, with more freeform play available in the game’s sandbox mode.
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Big Pharma
Released In 2015
Big Pharma, developed by Twice Circled, is another game that combines automation with running a business. Big Pharma is all about running a business in the medical field, where the main decision is having to strike a balance between profit and altruism.
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These automation games will have you creating seamless and satisfying systems in no time.
How will you price your products? How well can you optimize your production line? These questions and more are central to Big Pharma. Like Automachef, the game is split into levels and also includes a sandbox mode where you can build without limits.
5
The Colonists
Released In 2021
In The Colonists, developed by Codebyfire, you’ll be tasked with colonizing a new planet with the help of a team of robots. You’ll direct your robotic workers to build settlements through several levels, assigning them to specific jobs and advancing your new civilization.
Inspired by classic city-builder games, you will guide your bots to become self-sufficient, with the option of playing through scenarios created by other players or on randomly generated maps. There is also a sandbox mode to explore freely.
4
Little Big Workshop
Released In 2019
In Little Big Workshop, developed by Mirage Game Studios, you’ll design and run your own factory to produce a variety of goods. Almost anything you can imagine you’ll be challenged to build, from toys to musical instruments.
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Alongside the machines in your factory, you’ll have to manage the workers you employ, making sure they stay happy as they work. The quality of materials that are used in a product must be managed, and different products require different equipment to produce.
3
Nova Lands
Released In 2022
Nova Lands was developed by BEHEMUTT and is set on an unexplored planet ripe for exploration and industry. In Nova Lands, you’ll design your own base, create automated systems, and explore more of the planet in your quest for self-sufficiency.
When you start the game, you’ll be confined to a single island, with the option of exploring more when you advance far enough to leave the confines of your starting location. When you progress far enough, you’ll be able to create autonomous robots to further automate tasks and keep your factory running efficiently.
2
Autonauts
Released In 2019
Autonauts is a game developed by Denki centered around programming your own robotic workers to do a variety of tasks on a newly colonized planet. As you build your own base, you’ll need to design different routines for your workers to tackle new challenges and automate your systems.
What sets Autonauts apart from other automation and factory-building games is the visual programming language employed by the game, an easy-to-learn system that can be as complex as you want to make it.
1
Factorio
Released In 2022
Factorio, developed and published by Wube Software LTD., is one of the most popular titles in the genre of automation games. In development since 2012, Factorio is a game with a deceptively simple loop that begins with harvesting resources and building machines to turn those resources into more advanced technology.
With the goal of escaping the planet on which you find yourself trapped after a crash, you will eventually have to contend with the native lifeforms of the planet in your quest.
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