When I was younger, I remember coming home from school and jumping on Starcraft and playing custom tower defense maps and powering through the tech tree. I finally had the chance to play Mindustry, and those nostalgic times came right back to me. This game is also very similar to Factorio. Mindustry is a modern version that is more approachable and less confusing.
Mindustry is a top-down tower defense game. The goal is for you to travel the map with your drone and gather resources to feed to the core. Each level has a mission for you to accomplish, and collecting the different materials helps you progress in the tech tree. Each level is more than just resources you must harvest. There are multiple waves of enemies that spawn. You then funnel them down zones of turrets and walls that allow you to maximize damage per wave. After gathering enough resources and on wave ten and wave 20 and beyond in increments of ten, you can finish the level by sending the core back to the home base. With your tech tree locked based on resource gathering, you can decide if by wave ten you have gathered enough or if you need to wait until next launchable wave to have the number of resources you need to help you progress the tech tree. In addition to unlocking the tech tree, you can open harder and harder levels. Unlocking is a combination of resources and progression in the tech tree. You start simply by gathering the uncomplicated resources. Still, then you have to get a little more creative about keeping your turrets armed, resources gathered, and refining the other materials and turning them into the resource that is required to unlock that next part of the tree.
Mindustry offers a lot for being a game that has its value listed as “name your price” I played for a few hours and got only a few levels in. My general rule of thumb has been a dollar for every hour played. I have bent that rule based on shorter story-driven games with amazing experiences. This game is easily 5 to 10 dollars for the average time people will play. For big RTS, Tower Defense fans, this game is a fantastic value. Check it out and read more of my detailed review below. You can also pick this game up on Steam for $5.99 at the moment.
Experience
This game walks the line of helping you understand and having you figure it out. I appreciate that a tower defense strategy game does not over-explain everything. There are some places that I wish I had a little more explanation and help, but overall the game is quite enjoyable. I liked learning how the various buildings work and unlocking the building’s tech tree slowly over time and let me understand what I need to be doing to obtain resources and adequately defend the base. Just like Factorio, it is effortless to create a spaghetti mess of conveyor lanes that have you think about how to store resources and load the turrets efficiently.
I also enjoy the fact you keep the tech tree from level to level, and you use this progression to unlock the harder levels. Instead of an overwhelming tech tree that is available to the player, it is helpful the have a guided tech path built in to get the player use to the mechanics and master them as the difficulty gets harder. Guided progression always beats out a wall of text solutions, and I give this game a lot of praise for that.
Graphics
The graphics in Mindustry are okay, and I am not going to tell you that these textures will blow your mind. They are, however, detailed enough to keep the game fun. This is primarily a logic-based game. I am not saying that it is okay always to throw graphics out, but I do believe it does not still need to be the focal point of every game. Each object is unique and has its purpose. This game is fantastic for those that appreciate the mechanics it brings to the table.
This game is more than just pixel deep. If the graphics are a big concern for you, then I am sure there might be a mod to pretty up the graphics. You can either find a mod or even upgrade the visuals yourself. You are thus adding more value and replayability of the game to the community. While the graphics of a game can make or break an experience. That does not mean you need ultra-realistic graphics, either. It is about knowing what makes your game stand out, be unique, and, most of all, fun.
Problem Solving Each Level
While this game is not exactly a puzzle solver, it does give the player a challenge each time. Initially, that challenge is not hard to meet. But as you progress, you start playing with fate and saying, can I make it to the next wave qualifier to let me launch. What level of escalation will come from the enemy? Or should I cut it off here and launch and win with what I have. I have been playing with both styles of play. One being extremely risk-averse and trying to gain as many resources and just getting to wave twenty before launching. The other being a big risk taker and seeing how I can have the enemy waves taken down quickly just to continue farming the resources on the map.
There is a max capacity for specific resources, so you have to balance shoving these resources into the core and to distribute them to the turrets and to build your map to keep you alive to hit maximum efficiency. If you max out a resource type, you could stall the conveyor, and then you have to remap the flow. So creating routes to have them divert to fill your turrets can be your path. You later get an upgrade to void excess resources and prevent backups from occurring.
Open for Modding
A great addition to many games these days is modding. Modding gives a chance for others to change the experience and increase replayability. With a quick google search, there is a Github page full of changes that you could add to your gameplay after you beat the standard game. From adding the capabilities of Portal to adding a different take of advanced technology such as solar panels and reactors. There is even a mod to simplify the UI.
A great addition to many games these days is modding. Modding gives a chance for others to change the experience and increase replayability. With a quick google search, there is a Github page full of changes that you could add to your gameplay after you beat the standard game. From adding the capabilities of Portal to adding a different take of advanced technology such as solar panels and reactors. There is even a mod to simplify the UI.
Thank You
Mindustry was a blast for me to play. It was one of my on the list to play. But I did not have the time to get to because of my busy schedule. But when I did, it was well worth it. Mindustry is on Itch, Steam for Windows, Linux, and Mac. You can also install Mindustry on Google Play or the Apple App Store.
- Mindustry on Itch.io
- Mindustry on Steam
- Mindustry on Google Play
- Mindustry on Apple App Store
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope it was helpful and perhaps found another game to add to your library. These developers put a lot of time and effort into these games, and it shows. If you could share this post on social media or tell a friend, it would be much appreciated.
The developer does not really have a public twitter for this game, but they do have a discord server for people to chat and get together. The multiplayer feature in the game works well with Steam and you can get help with other methods and general strategies in the discord server