Digging into a new planet launch trailer

In the ever-evolving landscape of video games, a fascinating trend is emerging: the tendency for genres to standardize their expectations. As time passes, established categories solidify into recognizable templates, much like fashion or music styles, giving players a strong sense of what to expect.

We see this pattern play out across various genres. A soulslike, for instance, locks itself into a specific identity by focusing intensely on parrying and combat within dark, desolate environments. Character action games prioritize breathtaking cinematography and fluid movement, while farming simulators naturally lean into life-sim socialization mechanics.

This standardization isn’t limited to traditional gameplay loops; it extends deep into technical genres like automation. Even a field that is relatively new—automation—has quickly established expectations that almost every modern game adheres to.

Consider the evolution of automation games, which trace their roots back over a decade. While titles like Factorio (2016) are currently dominating the scene, the foundational spark for this genre was ignited by earlier experiments like SpaceChem in 2011. Despite the varied names, these games share core mechanics: conveyor belts, assemblers of all shapes and sizes, refiners, and systems that allow players to build complex industrial processes.

Whether you delve into Foundry, Shapez 2, Satisfactory, or Little Rocket Lab, you quickly grasp how these systems interact. A few hours of play are often enough to offer a rough, yet detailed, understanding of the core mechanics and satisfying feedback loops at work.

However, this evolution highlights an important distinction in terminology. While we speak broadly of “automation,” it is important to recognize that the term does not technically mean “factory.” Each game adds its own unique layer of complexity and identity, defining how the player interacts with the systems they create.

By Sophia Harris