New Factory Building Game on Steam Looks Like Satisfactory 2 with Space Exploration

I didn’t set out to find a new factory builder to get lost in, but Main Sequence has already grabbed my attention on Steam. It looks like a game that completely understands why Satisfactory works. As someone who is always looking for the most efficient way to accomplish a task, I find the automation-centered factory building loop of Satisfactory and now Main Sequence a deeply satisfying one. I’m also completely obsessed with space, and I’ll play any game set there in a heartbeat. I even loved Starfield (and still do), a game that many have hated, probably for the simple fact that I just can’t get enough of space.

Those reasons are ultimately why Main Sequence is on my radar now, as it takes two things I genuinely appreciate and mashes them together for the ultimate base-building experience. It still gives that familiar satisfaction of building and optimization, but it adds space exploration, research, and fleet management to it in a way that feels closer to running a spacefaring industrial network than maintaining one giant factory floor. It’s early, and there’s still plenty unknown about how deep those systems go, but from what I’ve seen so far, Main Sequence looks like it could end up being one of the more distinctive automation factory games on Steam for its willingness to leave the ground behind.

Main Sequence’s Features at a Glance

• BUILD AN INTERSTELLAR INDUSTRIAL EMPIRE across space.
• COLLECT RESOURCES AND AUTOMATE PRODUCTION lines with machines and conveyors.
• EXPAND YOUR BASE of operations with space stations and ship hubs.
• DESIGN AND CUSTOMIZE SHIPS and stations, AND save blueprints for reuse or sharing.
• EXPLORE A PROCEDURALLY GENERATED GALAXY with unique stellar phenomena.
• ENCOUNTER ALLIES AND ENEMIES while exploring and expanding.
• FLEET COMMAND AND DEFENSE against an ancient alien defense system.
• RESEARCH NEW TECHNOLOGIES using items you produce to unlock more machines, modules, and upgrades.
• Supports SINGLE PLAYER and online CO-OP play.

Main Sequence Feels Like Satisfactory in All the Right Ways

As is the case with any base-building game, Main Sequence‘s core gameplay loop is all about crafting progression, with the world and gameplay possibilities gradually expanding as players advance through each crafting tier. Beginning with the most basic tools, players mine the resources necessary to build stations for their ship and machines within them until more complex tools and resources are required for the next stage of development, and so forth. Not every base-building game focuses on automation in the way that Satisfactory does, though, and Main Sequence is following suit.

Just like in Satisfactory, the most fulfilling aspect of Main Sequence‘s loop is likely not just in building things, but in building a base that eventually takes care of itself. In both games, the real hook is the moment when manual work gives way to systems that sustain themselves, freeing you up to think even bigger than you did before.

Main Sequence seems to lean into that same rhythm, where every new machine or station increases the momentum of the gameplay loop instead of just giving you more work to do. The satisfaction comes from watching a plan come together and realizing you’ve built something that no longer needs constant babysitting, which is exactly the feeling that keeps players coming back to Satisfactory long after the novelty wears off. If Main Sequence manages to capture that same magic, it could find itself in a similar position.

What Happens When Satisfactory Moves Into Space

Of course, Main Sequence can’t just be a Satisfactory clone, lest it do nothing to set itself apart in the shadow of a game that many consider to be one of the best base-building games of all time. As such, whereas Satisfactory takes place in a single handcrafted world—even if it is a science fiction world—Main Sequence takes that same focus on base building and automation into space. At its core, the loop remains the same, only it’s almost as if Starfield and Satisfactory had a baby. In fact, during my time playtesting the game on Steam, those are the very vibes I got.

Main Sequence Blends Starfield’s Space Exploration With Satisfactory’s Crafting Loop

The Main Sequence playtest likely isn’t representative of the final product, but it’s certainly enough to get the message across. Essentially, you start by mining basic resources from an asteroid field that you can actually fly around in with your ship. After scanning the area to pinpoint specific resource-heavy asteroids, you then fire your ship’s lasers at the asteroid to break it up. Finally, using the ship’s tractor beam will pull those resources in, which can be used to craft necessary items and, in turn, stations and machines.

Stations act as your base in Main Sequence, and can be constructed to form a unit of interconnected facilities floating in space. Essentially, you’re crafting your own space station that you can dock your ship on when you want to board it. There’s a designer you can use to build your base that feels strikingly similar to Starfield‘s ship-building mechanics, or you can take advantage of creative mode and take a more manual approach to the development of your base.

But where things really take off is in the opportunity Main Sequence gives its players to explore a procedurally generated galaxy “filled with allies and enemies alike.” The more progress players make in the game’s crafting loop, the bigger the explorable space of the cosmos becomes. As they explore, they will “discover unique stellar phenomena like black holes and neutron stars,” with each area bringing new challenges and rewards. They shouldn’t stay away from their base long, however, as their industrial activity has awakened an ancient alien defense system that aims to destroy everything they’ve worked so hard to build.

All of that said, Main Sequence seems to hit that rare overlap where a game lines up almost perfectly with how my brain works. I love building systems that run on their own, and I love having a reason to explore space, so the idea of managing factories across ships, stations, and star systems immediately clicks for me. There is still a lot that needs to come together, and I am not pretending this is guaranteed to be the next Satisfactory, but what I have played so far is enough to keep it firmly on my radar.

Main Sequence can currently be followed and wishlisted on Steam. The developer has plans for a demo to launch soon, but there has been no announcement of an official release date yet.