As the name suggests, Word Factori transforms spelling and programming into something that somehow looks like it could be really fun.
This is a simple-looking puzzle game that’s sort of like automating a game of Scrabble, but the twist here is that it involves a clever play on the English alphabet, and as a result, this game has been an instant hit with people looking for a mix between Wordle and Satisfactory (I’m me, I’m people).
Word Factori was officially released on Steam a few days ago for $5 (well, $5.39, on sale from $6 normally), and since then it has amassed 100 reviews with an 88% positive rating, which makes it one of the top 10 games on Steam. I can understand why you would want to do that. I have to say that this is one of the most intriguing brain teasers I have come across in some time.
There is only one letter that you are allowed to use in Word Factori, a capital “I.” The goal of the game is to spell out a bunch of assigned words, but you are given only one letter to use. Word Factori treats this one letter as a resource and pictograph, and you can use ingenious little functions to alter it into other letters. Are you in need of a C? An indentation can be created by bending the I around it. Are you in need of a D? You will need to combine a flipped C with a straight I and smush ’em together. What is the best way to make a B? There are two Ds stacked on top of each other, of course. So on and so forth goes the list of things that need to be done.
The idea that many letters have more than one plausible recipe is literally word-building in a very literal sense, and it is completely fascinating to contemplate, especially when many letters have more than one plausible recipe. It is also important to remember that you are not simply running these transformations one at a time. The point of Word Factori is to automate the process of converting all your Is into the right letters and making sure that the letters are deposited at the right point on the word assigned to you, so you must build – or rather, program – efficient assembly lines to accomplish this.
Until today, I have put my bar for what makes a good puzzle game as the ability to force you to think in a new way, and Word Factori has immediately done that for me. You might want to take a look at it if you’re looking for something a little more hands-on than Wordle.
