Zachtronics Almost Went Full Factorio, But Got Bored. Bloody Brilliant, If You Ask Me.
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
The guy behind Zachtronics-style puzzle games almost made a Factorio-like, but pulled the plug because even he thought it was a bit dull. Thank goodness, or we might not have gotten the deeply satisfying "Kaizen: A Factory Story."
Right, so the mastermind behind games that turn your brain into a beautifully efficient (or hilariously inefficient) Rube Goldberg machine, Zach Barth, nearly unleashed his own Factorio-style automation behemoth. Turns out, even wizards get bored.
According to Rock Paper Shotgun, Barth, now at Coincidence Games after the Zachtronics dissolve-a-tron, admitted he canned the project because... well, he got bored. Imagine casting a powerful spell, only to realize halfway through it's just going to be a slightly fancier version of something everyone else is doing. That's the vibe I'm getting.
This revelation comes as his latest puzzle game, "Kaizen: A Factory Story", is hitting all the right optimization spots. It's set in 1980s Japan, tasking you with building increasingly complex manufacturing lines. Think welding toy robots and assembling TV sets, all in the name of “lean manufacturing.” Sounds dry as toast, doesn't it? But Barth argues it perfectly encapsulates the Zachtronics ethos: continuous improvement and optimization. Which, let’s be honest, is basically how most of us approach gaming anyway – constantly tweaking strategies, min-maxing builds, and agonizing over that one extra point of damage.
Barth even dove deep into the Toyota Production System, learning how Kaizen (the Japanese business practice of 'continuously improving') aligns perfectly with their game design philosophy. But what happens when the pursuit of optimization becomes, well, *too* optimized? That's when you start spiraling into the perfectionist vortex, endlessly tweaking instead of actually finishing the game. I've been there. We've all been there.
Surprisingly, Barth claims Coincidence Games is far from perfectionists. They crank out games quickly because, frankly, they have to. Their games are "cursed" in the sense that only rapid releases keep the studio afloat. Pragmatism over polish, it seems. Still, the story in "Kaizen" reflects the relentless churn of factory work, where employees are constantly shuffled around, tasked with building new product lines. It's not a direct metaphor, Barth insists, but more about exploring different perspectives within that environment. Nobody "wins," there’s no grand thesis. It's a slice-of-life docu-game, like a soothing YouTube video about artisans making traditional crafts, but with more robots.
So, why ditch the Factorio-esque game? According to Barth, it's all about the puzzle. A sprawling crafting system, like those found in endless automation games, just felt like one giant, obvious puzzle. And Barth, the mad genius of intricate, self-contained challenges, prefers a rapid-fire barrage of smaller, bite-sized brain teasers. "Puzzle games are really cool because they're just filled with concepts," he said. Each puzzle is its own little world, a self-contained experiment in engineering elegance (or hilarious failure). The Factorio idea, while tempting, just felt like too much tech tree, not enough puzzle.
Fair enough, I reckon. The result is "Kaizen: A Factory Story," a testament to the enduring appeal of niche puzzlers, meticulously crafted and riveted together with genuine thoughtfulness. It seems Zachtronics (or Coincidence Games, whatever you want to call them!) have dodged a bullet... or maybe a conveyor belt. Either way, I'm glad they stuck to what they do best: making games that make my head hurt in the best possible way.
Tags: puzzle games, indie games, automation games, factory games, coincidence games
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun