Factorio, but cozy? Little Rocket Lab is a factory builder with plenty of Stardew Valley vibes

pcgamer.com:

You can do lots of great stuff in Stardew Valley: farming, mining, fishing, crafting, and romancing all the sexy singles—but can you build your own rocketship on the outskirts of town? Likewise, you can spend dozens of hours in Factorio making the automated assembly lines of your dreams, but can you also make friends with the cute librarian while fixing up a sleepy town?

Little Rocket Lab, from developer Teenage Astronauts and published by No More Robots, looks like the best of both worlds: a factory builder constructed inside a cozy life sim. Revealed today at Wholesome Snack, in Little Rocket Lab you'll step into the work boots of Morgan, an engineer who likes tinkering, helping out the locals, and has dreams of constructing her very own rocket ship. Take a look at the trailer:

There's a lot to like here: small projects to enhance the town like fixing up a lighthouse, huge assembly lines to sort materials and build products, a robot that looks like a giant toaster on legs you can ride around, and a faithful dog that follows you everywhere.

I'm especially curious about the claw that seems to be transporting a citizen across a river by picking them up… by the head. As public transportation goes, it looks uncomfortable. But efficient!

«Outside of smashing together crazy contraptions, you'll need to mine out resources, explore coasts, railyards, quarries and underground areas—and get some help from a few mechanical friends along the way,» says publisher No More Robots. «And each area of the town provides different challenges, incorporating electrical elements, water, cranes, furnaces, crafting, automation through robotics, and loads more.»

It all looks pretty delightful, not just from a builder's perspective but from a life sim standpoint, because you're helping the town out with your little inventions while also constructing a huge dang rocketship in a massive hangar. Little Rocket Lab is coming to Steam in 2025, and you can sign up to playtest on the official site.