“Some people like it, some people are annoyed by it”: Substructure may look like Factorio, but it changes the automation game in some fundamental ways
Substructure is a factory-building game that resembles Factorio but changes how automation works by making players move resources and machinery between layers of an alien planet. Its lifts create scheduling and logistics puzzles that the developers say were difficult to build in Factorio and are intended to make constraint-based play more approachable.
Players will need lights to explore the dark underground, where they can find unique resources, plants and dangerous toxic spores. One example shown was a shrub whose growth rate increases fourfold in the fumes, requiring players to grow it above ground and transport it below. Deeper areas also contain remains described as patches of flesh and bone; the developers say the surface is meant to feel safe, while the lower levels will be unsettling.
- Lifts connect factory operations across the planet’s layers.
- Underground resources and toxic spores create new production puzzles.
- Deeper levels hint at life that existed before the factory.
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Substructure is a factory-building game in which players automate production by gathering resources and connecting machinery. It has similarities to Factorio, but its setting on an alien planet adds a vertical challenge: players must move materials and equipment between the surface and underground layers.
The underground contains resources and plants that behave differently from those on the surface, as well as toxic spores that can make exploration hazardous. Lights help players explore the dark, while lifts carry supplies between levels and require careful planning.
The game’s developers describe its logistics puzzles as a way to make constraint-based play more approachable. Its contrast between a safer surface and unsettling underground areas also shapes the experience.