The difference between a puzzle video game and an exercise in torture is that the first makes us come back for more, while the second doesn't get a second glance after we abandon it. Fortunately, the free game of the weekend belongs to the first category: Infinifactory may not be the newest option in the genre, but its content hooks the player from the start, and its story isn't bad at all...
We all know that Minecraft is a true titan in the gaming world, but if you've ever wondered what its source of inspiration was... the arrows point to Infiniminer by Zachtronics. That company is known for excellent titles like SpaceChem or Shenzhen I/O, and between them appears Infinifactory, from 2015. Would you like to know more? Well, you're in luck: Infinifactory is the free game of the weekend, available on the Epic Games Store.
Infinifactory: Get to Work, Earthling Slave!
In essence, Infinifactory shows us the perspective of a character kidnapped by aliens while traveling with his pickup truck in the middle of the night. It immediately becomes clear that this is not the first 'extraction' by the aliens on Earth, and their goal is none other than to put humans to work. Apparently, our kidnappers need different types of items, but they don't have a great deal of knowledge about production lines... though the most likely thing is that they don't want anything to do with that task.
Each level demands absolute mastery of the available resources, starting with conveyor belts, welders, movement systems, sensors, switches, rotation nodes, and a long etcetera. There are also variants of the same resource (for example, sensors can be lateral or superior), and platforms that introduce delays in a production line to synchronize items correctly.
A room that looks like a cell, ultra-processed food of dubious origin, ridiculous rewards for achieving goals, and a significant number of corpses confirm that the aliens in Infinifactory are not too interested in our well-being. In fact, as we advance we can listen to the 'Failure Logs' of our predecessors. Some lost their sanity quickly, others suffered accidents, and then there are those who have been producing materials for decades. That's the only good news: We are not alone, and maybe there's a way to escape...
Besides its good reception, Infinifactory also stood out for having one of the best early access processes. Unlike other projects (which usually launch 'skeletons' of games), its creator Zach Barth used early access to present an almost complete version of Infinifactory, and take advantage of user feedback.
Infinifactory will be free on the Epic Games Store until next Thursday. Don't miss it!
