Factory Balls

As a sucker for patterns and puzzles, I’ve been head over heels for Factory Balls since playing the online versions on Cool Math Games years ago. I intended to play for a bit of nostalgia, but was incredibly happy finding that it holds up as a fun and rewarding experience. Being stumped by a level of any game can stop being fun if there’s no way to explore possible solutions. I think Factory Balls harnesses that balance of a simplistic puzzle system and tough levels that makes the effort actually fun. Definitely not a game to get TOO excited about while playing, only because I chewed through all 200+ levels in under a week. I gotta say, I guess I’m still head over heels for Factory Balls, and for good reason! I’m glad it wasn’t simply mind blowing to me years ago because I was a fourth grader. Definitely a game made with thought and care. :)

This came straight from the manufacturing line!! It’s so cool… maybe just because I’m an operations guy, the the discovery of the process is amazing. After about the first 100+ levels, it was so rewarding to know how to create every possible combination with the tools provided. It’s a microcosm of acquiring mastery. At first, it’s all trial-and-error, but as I paid attention to the patterns, I quickly figured out exactly which color “segment” to begin coloring. I’d love to see more flower levels… those were too few and far between to flow through, mainly because it introduced a progressive mechanic. I’d also love to see some new additional mechanics… I also felt the “creature creation” mechanic was too little, there could’ve been more with chopping out mouths, pulling out noses, ears, etc. but! Best paid puzzle app out there by a landslide.

Well I see my original review was 4 yrs ago and I still love this game. Thanks for the new levels!!! -------------- If you like a good puzzle, this will exercise your brain in a captivating way. The concept is simple: on each level you start with a plain white ball and get different tools (paint, a scraper, etc) to use to make the ball duplicate the one in the picture. Experimenting with the creative tools is fun since the design is crisp, sleek and colorful. The difficulty increases at a good rate that builds on skills and techniques from previous levels. The background music is unobtrusive. I was completely hooked and never got bored or frustrated. I did get stuck a few times but was always able to come back later and solve them. I'm guessing it took me 6-8 hours or so over several days to solve all 44 levels, and since I enjoyed every minute of it I absolutely felt I got my money's worth. Re-playability factor isn't huge, but I'm guessing I'll come back to it now and again. My 2 suggestions would be: a save feature - in the more complex levels, having to start from scratch if you have to stop mid-level is mildly annoying. Also, it would be cool to have a level generator so that once you finish the 44 puzzles you could continue to create, for instance, easy to medium randomly generated balls using the existing tools. Loved it!