I’ve been playing Factorio with my 9-year-old son, and I’m curious to know how other parents or older players approach this.
At the moment, I act as a mix of teacher, project manager and silent maintenance engineer.
I explain the main concepts as we encounter them: inputs and outputs, production ratios, belts, buses, power, trains, the logistic network, and so on.
Then I give him relatively specific challenges, for example:
“Automate blue science using this production ratio.”
I usually give him the ratio and let him decide how to build it. Once he is finished, I either help him correct it, or leave it alone if it works reasonably well, even if it is not particularly efficient or elegant.
While he is working on his current task, I sometimes discreetly improve or repair things he built during a previous session, especially when they are starting to create problems elsewhere in the factory.
The main difficulty is that he does not want to play alone, and he quickly feels overwhelmed when I do not give him a clear objective or direct instructions. Without a specific task, he usually ends up doing nothing productive and just wandering around the factory.
I do not necessarily see that as a problem, but I would like to help him become progressively more autonomous without turning the game into homework or constantly telling him exactly what to do.
Has anyone played Factorio with a child of a similar age?
Did you use specific challenges, separate areas of the factory, creative mode, simpler goals, written task lists, or any other method that worked well?
I’d also be interested to know whether autonomy eventually came naturally, or whether Factorio was simply too complex at that age without a lot of guidance.
Keep it a lot simpler. "Your job is to keep the base defended and expand the perimeter" Build out a wall, discover new patches etc.
Or do the reverse. Let them go, and be their "smart bot". Implement as directed and offer advice (only) when asked. It will be difficult, because it will inevitably be a hot mess, but they well learn and develop as they go, when they just won't if you overrule them.
Let him do his own thing would be my suggestion. Backseating usually ruins the fun
I made this mistake, got the game to do multiplayer with my girlfriend, held her hand a bit too much and she really didn't have a great time. She then did a playthrough on her own, and she had a blast.
This. I'm 43 and when I was 9 or 10 years old, I loved finding my own way in games like Dune 2 and the likes. I was very average at them, but I enjoyed them - which was the critical thing. When someone is telling you what to do, the fun can quickly evaporate. I'd only offer tips if they ask.
Problem is that he asks for backsitting. I'm actually asking how to get him be more autonomous
Are you playing with the enemies on or off? My friends kids enjoyed doing all the combat while he built the factory.
Man, I sat down with my friend’s son who is probably ten or eleven yesterday during some emergency babysitting and the kid figured out everything real fast. He plays Minecraft though, so a lot of the concepts are familiar. I’d play with him, and leave out all that ratio stuff. A lot of usus grown ups don’t even worry about that stuff
Specific challenge does not mean easy challenge. Blue science is a big step even if you give them the ratio. I'd have them do easier things such as exploring for patches, maybe building train lines out there
kids are probably smarter and more capable of understanding a videogame than we give them credit for
I have never been as tryhard as when I was a kid
Let them build. Or give them specific tasks and LET them do it, don't judge, only praise. It'll probably work anyway. This game has so many solutions.
Playing Minecraft instead first for years.
IMO ratios should not be a criteria you give to your son. Telling him to automate blue science, but don’t tell him how much blue science should be made. If he builds the bare minimum that’s a great starting point. I would recommend that you encourage him to make his designs more efficient instead of tasking him to do so. Talk about how you can’t wait to drive the spider tank, but if only we could research science faster. Let him connect some dots.
Yeah, I’ve played hundreds of hours of Factorio and I still couldn’t care less about ratios. Maybe give him some hints if you can see he’s about to *massively* tie himself in knots with anything he’s building - but other than that, suggestions for things to do next are probably all he needs. Enjoy!
I would just say how many assemblers of each colour science we should have, based off 5 red, 6 green, 5 military, 12 blue, 7 purple, 7 yellow.
If he just keeps wandering, maybe factorio is not for him? It's also very difficult to learn the game at your own pace, if someone more experienced is pulling you through it. But that's difficult if he doesn't want to play on his own. But simpler goals are better. Trying to achieve specific ratios is difficult for a o year old. Especially if we're talking about blue circuits already. But a simpler goal would just be 'try to make ble circuits' and when that is done just let him increase the production.
I think ratios and harder to grasp concepts might be too overwhelming for that age, so let him do stuff he finds fun - like burning a forest, using grenades, killing biters, making a giant wall or a railway etc. These will make him see the need for such items and therefore production. I found the game when I was a couple of years older than him and I fell in love with it, but now I'm burnt out and can't seem to finish a task without my brain melting. Hope this helps!
I think the tutorial is the best way to learn this game, for players of most ages. Even now the most tedious part is figuring out ratios for intermediates needed to supply an item, especially with different speeds in the mix. (Wish everything was expressed in items/second instead of ma mathing all that myself). I just built the components together and let it work. Eventually I noticed it wouldn’t be making items fast enough, because it was always low on one component. Ah, guess I can’t fully escape the math of this game. Ok, boosted that input and now it’s working smoothly. I think their easiest entry to the game would be the combat
it seems like he mostly wants to play just to spend time with you, so i think you should let him to his own thing and just play multiplayer as you build the base. let him follow you around and listen as you explain what you're doing. maybe send him off to do tasks or defend biter attacks occasionally. kids are smart, he'll probably learn a lot faster without direct instructions.
Let them play Minecraft, but it's Factorio. Maybe sneak in a hidden iron melting furnace for extra bullets.
tbh, at 9 this game would've made my eyes glaze over. i think he just enjoys spending time with you and solving little puzzles. it'll probably be a few more years until he has the attention span/frontal lobes to tackle factorio alone.
I feel this is it. My 9yo son is similar to OP son. He understands the concept of all the things but not quite how to route things in our out. He had a stair step shaped assembly line for red circuits. He had each assembler about 30 belt spaces apart. I kept running out of belts for expanding and couldn't figure out where they were going... he took them all. He also likes to hand craft EVERYTHING.
Have you explained to them the end goal of the game (launch a rocket)? I think if you want them to be more autonomous, they need to know the end to figure out the steps before by themselves. Like realistically being told every step of the way is helpful, but are they asking you step by step guidance or just don’t know what to do? Like “the end goal is to launch a rocket (unless you have space age, but you’ll get there when it gets to that point). You get a rocket launched by creating all these resources/equipment and using different science packs to research new technology.” You should give hints as to what’s the next step, not fully explaining said step. This would also help them think in a pattern of problem solving without your help. Using blue science for example: “Huh you just unlocked blue science, it seems we need that, what does blue science need?” “Sulfur, red circuits, and engines.” “Do you know the ratios (if you guys are dead set on making sure everything is ratioed correctly, but I would recommend letting it fall short or overfill until they can grasp how to make it in the first place) “How do we make these things” or “do we have enough to pull from other places?” “If we need to make more sulfur/red circuits/engines, how do we do that again? (Play somewhat dumb, let them teach you a bit too)” *blue science is now set up* “Ok lets put it into the labs and see what we can research” (Let them choose what to research, this give autonomy) *new research is complete* “Awesome! Lets try and build what we just unlocked and see what it does” (don’t just explain what it does, let them tinker) Or (if the ratios are wrong and you guys want to fix them) “i think we could be getting more blue science with this set up somehow because some of the recipe items on the belt are full” or “I’m noticing some of the blue science buildings aren’t even being used, maybe we make more of the recipe items not getting there” Rinse and repeat. If they have specific questions, answer them, but if they just go “what should I do?” guide them by asking what they think should be done next and funneling them to the correct answer, but realistically there is no wrong answer unless it’s just “run around the factory doing nothing” Also, don’t fix anything without explaining why you’re fixing it/what you are fixing. Fixing the issues is part of the autonomy you are trying to give your kid. “Hey I think we should take a look back at this, something seems wrong” is a good place to start guiding them to fixing things themselves These are just my tips and idk your child as well as you do, but autonomy comes from making these decisions yourself, and that’s what’s fun about the game.
This is what i do basically. He asks for guidance. I asked him if he wanted to do a solo playthrough but he feels overwhelmed and just ask everything
Maybe instead of telling him to do x, ask him what he thinks needs to be done next. That way, you can help him develop a bit more independence and take the initiative
Turn of biters or set them to peacefull, then let him do his thing and tell him to ask for advice if he needs it or gets stuck. Otherwise let him do his thing. At most make him aware of some controls that might not be known. Q for pippete. Alt+leftclick for the wiki, R for rotate. Try giving more generic advice that leads him into a direction instead of telling him solutions. Q: Why isnt this thing working? A: It doesnt seem to have enough stuff incomming. How could you get more? Q: How do i get that there? A: Have you tried using this? Press alt and disable it in the hotkey menu. You can still press the button by choice next to the hotbar.
My kid just builds whatever crazy setup he wants as long as it makes the goal. Oddly likes building rail circles and run a train around it. You can treat factorio as fun or as a learning tool, but often one way comes at the expense of the other for smaller kids. As they play longer they will naturally want to see how they can do it better the next time. Just let the kid play and try not to be like me and get stressed when chaos comes to visit the factory floor.
Play Shapez and come back in a few years.
The same way you teach them organic chemistry.
There's a mod called To do list that you can add straight into your current game without issue. You can assign tasks to players and give detailed descriptions of what needs doing. Like an ingame notepad that you can pin. That might help
Jeez, just let the kid play Fortnite or something. Does he even like playing this game?
Let him be overwhelmed, he'll figure it out. Kids are much better at this stuff than people give them credit for.
My son was 10 when he wanted to join the multiplayer I’ve got running with his elder siblings. I said that he will have to make it through the tutorial himself before he can join, and he made that pretty well. Now we’re playing on a server together where we split tasks, and he’s got a lot of fun with us. Don’t tell your child too much - they need to learn their own way. We disabled Biters though.
I play regularly with an 8-year old. He has a blast fighting biters, building defences and building very small production chains (for example one assembling machine with a requester chest). He is confident with personal logistics, space travel, and using robots to build things. He understands most other game concepts and will often help me think of ways to solve problems. He recently shipped himself to Vulcanus and fixed sulfuric acid pumping when it ran low. It helps that I had established bases in the inner solar system when he started. He forced me to finish research for the Spidertron and build a few - very helpful to keep him alive. I don’t tell him what to do. We save regularly so if he accidentally breaks anything we can reload.
My 10 year old got into it and started playing in creative mode first without the challenge of science and biters. Eventually he got into more challenging play.
Let the kid play their own game, without the adult ruining the fun. I suggest starting out without any mods and to do peaceful mode. Don't even show them anything, let them figure things out and they can ask if they get stuck.
I'll race you to see who can build a train first.
I let my kids play and let them ask questions. Sometimes I join them, drop few blueprints and build something or just look what they are doing and discuss random things.
I recently did a base game playthrough with my 10yo cousin. We did the first run without biters. Now on our second run with biters enabled. I had one rule for myself, whatever he built, even if it only works 5% of the time, we keep it. We started off with me showing how to build. Making ghost builds, using constant combinators to show what resource goes on what belt etc….and let him build it out. He quickly picked up on the game mechanics. After red and green science, he pretty much built everything. Only thing I did was make sure we had enough raw resources coming in + setting up the trains. And lots of explaining ofcourse, but keep it simple, don’t bother with ratios. If there’s not enough items on the belt add more.
In order for him to get better at solving problems he needs to practice solving problems. Instead of telling him how to build blue science well, build blue science poorly and then come up to him like "ah shit look the blue science isn't getting enough plastic. Could you help me fix that". And then you ask him leading questions until he comes up with a solution.
When my boy completed the game when he was 7. I only copied stuff he had already built. So he made all the designs. At 9 your kid could easily do it on their own. You should get out of the way. Stop telling him what to do. Don't give him any ratios and just hang out with your kid.
I wonder if modded Minecraft would be a more approachable entry to the automation genre. If he's uninterested in playing it alone, it sounds like it may already feel a bit like homework to him.