Techtonica is inspired by Factorio and Satisfactory, but plays completely underground. Our self-proclaimed dwarf digs for information for you.
Factory games like Factorio or Satisfactory offer me the opportunity to tinker with things almost indefinitely and to lay conveyor belts – in the best case, exactly symmetrically. For a long time I have wanted the option in games to build my factories underground and dig for ores.
Until now, I could only indulge in mineral hunting in Deep Rock Galactic. Especially the feeling of digging deeper and deeper into the rock with a big drilling rig is one of the highlights of Deep Rock Galactic for me. Techtonica combines both, automation like in the construction game and underground feeling.
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This is what Techtonica offers
In Techtonica you find yourself on an alien planet, below the planet’s surface. Like in Factorio and Satisfactory, you start out making simple products by hand, only to have machines make more and more of them autonomously later on. You can choose to plan and build your plants alone or in co-op mode with up to three other players.
Unlike other genre representatives, there is no combat. Techtonica focuses on exploring the hand-built world, building production lines and experiencing the story. Developer Fire Hose Games justify the hand-built world with the story: they want to make sure that the (completely destructible) environment supports the story in an atmospheric way.
With a generated world, the developers, by their own admission, cannot ensure their goal. Although the game world and resources are finite, there should be enough space and material for long games.
Despite the hand-built world, Techtonica is supposed to have a high replay value later on. Fire Hose Games would like to include different mechanics in the finished game to make further game launches entertaining.
An alien planet – without dwarfs, with factories
On the screenshots you immediately notice a similarity to Deep Rock Galactic: In extensive caves it glitters and sparkles in many places, plants give themselves and the environment a faint glimmer of light and abysses open up in the ground.
In the finished game, digging and building will be made more difficult by several factors. Different biomes and dangers can be seen in the trailer. In addition to a plant biome, the viewer also sees a biome with hotter rock types. In another scene, lightning illuminates the cave in the background:
Classically, players start with a simple pickaxe to develop their first resources. As the game progresses, the factory and the tool set grow: soon you will be allowed to drill into the mountain with a black hole. As in Satisfactory or Deep Rock Galactic, both base building and mining take place in the first-person perspective.
Players can use platforms or zip lines to open up new areas or expand their factory. In addition to the familiar conveyor belts and robot arms, Techtonica offers at least one other transport option: the rope routes can also carry items.
Oh yes: In Techtonica, not only solid materials want to be processed. As in the predecessors, there will also be a liquid system.
Who is Techtonica interesting for?
For those who want to work peacefully on their factory and mine for ore – without the fear of digging too deep – Techtonica offers an exciting niche somewhere between Satisfactory and Deep Rock Galactic. If you prefer to build artillery positions in Factorio or wage “industrial wars” with other players, Techtonica is definitely not of interest to you.
When can I play Techtonica?
In July 2022, the closed alpha will start. The developers communicate clearly: “The alpha version is in an early stage of development.” Accordingly, gamers should not expect a fully developed product. For example, all voice recordings are still created with a “text-to-speech” app. Also, not all aspects of the alpha are polished to the same degree.
Fire Hose Games wants the early game version to reach players who are willing to give feedback and do not expect a finished game from an early version. Interested parties will be given the opportunity to register for the alpha version via the Discord Channel A release date for the finished game does not yet exist on the Steam website.
Fire Hose Games is in a lively exchange with the constantly growing community on Discord. Regular Q&A sessions take place there, in which the developers respond. Diversity and accessibility are very important to the developer studio; the studio founder wrote his thesis on accessibility in video games. Consequently, Techtonica will include settings for the colourblind.
What do we like so far? What remains unclear?
What do we like so far?
- Atmosphere: You build your factories in vast cave systems. Meanwhile, bioluminescence bathes the caves in an atmospheric light.
- Automation: Everything can be automated with assembly lines and machine complexes that work on their own.
- Mining: Start with a pickaxe and later hollow out the planet with a black hole generator.
What remains unclear?
- How motivating does mining feel in the long run? Can players also automate mining, for example with tunnel boring machines, or do they always have to do it themselves?
- Is the story well told? Does it fit well into the gameplay without distracting from the genre-typical “The Factory Must Grow” mantra?
Editor’s Verdict
I love mining and automation. While there are some games that offer one or the other, mods that add the other component to the gameplay, I’m missing a game where I get to design a factory completely (!) underground and hollow out a planet. Techtonica sits right in that gap: I automate with increasingly complex production chains and at the same time I eat my way into the stone in search of valuable mineral resources. I am excited and wish the developers every success. Until the release, I am sharpening my pickaxe – “ROCK AND STONE”.
