Foundry wants to be an alternative to the popular factory simulations like Satisfactory. After five hours with the alpha, however, we are sceptical.
The sun rises over our base, our solar panels kick in. Soon the conveyor belts start up again, transporting dozens of chunks of ore to the nearby industrial buildings where they are processed. The production of science packages is now completely automated – our research is going well. The goal: to get access to batteries so we can store energy and no longer depend on the time of day.
In these moments, Foundry, a sandbox construction game by the Austrian studio Meder Dynamics, is a thoroughly fun affair. Only: we already know such scenes from many other genre representatives, first and foremost Satisfactory.
Months before the Steam release, we played the alpha preview and investigated the question of whether Foundry offers enough independence to compete with the big names of the genre.
Proven Gameplay Formula
Besides Satisfactory, Minecraft may well have been one of Foundry”s biggest inspirations: As in Mojang”s classic, the procedurally generated, infinitely large game world consists at least largely of bricks. Graphically, the developers have opted for a typical comic look, which looks quite coherent from afar, but is naturally stingy when it comes to details. Visually, Satisfactory is on a completely different level.
Use your drill to cut through plants, which will give you biomass that you will later need to fuel your machines. You should then quickly go in search of ore deposits – the unadorned but useful minimap will help you. Of course, you can mine all minerals manually with a drill and put them into a furnace where they are melted down.
As is typical for the genre, however, the goal is to automate all production chains as much as possible. You set up conveyor belts between the individual buildings, build equipment for loading and unloading items and then supply the whole thing with electricity.
At the same time, you conduct research to unlock new technologies. This requires science packages, which are of course best produced automatically. For genre fans, none of this is new, but the proven formula of exploring, mining, crafting and automating also works in Foundry and makes for fun.
Comfort problems and future prospects
You don”t necessarily have to build your factories alone, because there is also a multiplayer mode, but we couldn”t try it out due to a lack of fellow players. We also like the dynamic day-night change. At the same time, we couldn”t help but notice that the worlds are very lifeless so far – we searched in vain for animals and the landscapes seem generic over long stretches.
In terms of comfort, there is also a lack here and there. One example: In our furnace we can forge technum ore into bars and xenoferrite ore into plates – but not both at the same time. If we change to another ore, we first have to reset the active crafting recipe and then select another one. Sure, that”s not a deal-breaker, but why doesn”t the furnace recognise on its own which ore we”re depositing in it and change the recipe accordingly?
Another example: By default, the so-called “Terrain Block Shattering” is activated, which causes blocks to slowly collapse when you dismantle them. This looks quite nice, but destroys the overview when removing several blocks. Fortunately, you can turn this feature off in the options with just a few clicks.
The biggest problem with Foundry at the moment is that it has too few unique selling points. The core gameplay may still be solid, but the great role model Satisfactory and also other titles with a similar game principle – such as Factorio – are now already established, offer more content and are somewhat more sophisticated. So until the release of the full version, we hope for more unique features.
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If you don”t want to wait that long, you can already buy the alpha preview of the game on (on Itch.io for $18). On Steam, only (a demo of the game is currently available). The Early Access release should take place there in 2023, after which they want to take more than a year until the full version.
Editorial conclusion
At the risk of sounding like a broken record: The comparison with Satisfactory just forces itself upon you. Of course, emulating a genre giant has its advantages and disadvantages. The underlying gameplay loop, for example, is demonstrably fun, which is why Foundry – and I would like to emphasise this again here – really entertained me even in the alpha version.
But the crux of the matter is the same: Why shouldn”t I just go for the original? Foundry has not yet been able to answer this question satisfactorily. Satisfactory currently offers more content and also much prettier graphics – Foundry still lacks a special reason for me to play this game of all games. My appeal to the developers is therefore: have more courage to be independent!
