When it comes to simulations on the Switch, the system managed to have quite a bit of variety over the last generation. Certainly life and real-world work sims tended to be at the forefront of what was released, but we got some other flavors of them as well. What we didn’t see too many of, despite it being a popular subgenre in the PC space, are factory builder sims where your goal is to assemble what end up being pretty intricate production lines.

ShapeHero Factory makes a valiant attempt to try to flesh out the space a little further, not only having you put together your assembly lines to create a variety of units, but then also having a phase where you’ll need those units to combat enemy forces attacking your base. Working with what are effectively resource producers, each of which will create shapes or some other element you’ll need, your job will be to combine them into little warriors. As you progress you’ll gain access to different means of upgrading those base units into more formidable ones by adding yet another resource down the line, so adding a square gives them a shield, etc. Given the fact that there’s an entire technology tree out there to chip away at, you’ll then have the opportunity to pursue a wide variety of strategies for your ultimate battlefield success. In terms of fundamentals, it’s actually a solid foundation to build on overall.

But it unfortunately runs into the rocks in a critical area, and that’s with the controls. Whether you’re trying to use the joystick or the D-Pad, a controller simply does not fare very well with a title like this where precision is paramount. In particular, it was the acceleration when you hold down in a direction for a moment that tended to mess me up the most, overshooting what I intended and either creating or removing too much at a time in a way that was confounding. What tends to make this subgenre great for people is the satisfaction of setting up elaborate lines that can sometimes have an almost artistic quality with their symmetry and efficiency, but relying on these controls would make the path to get there nothing but anguish and frustration. Perhaps by adding Switch 2 support specifically for mouse controls, this game could become fully realized and reach its potential, but short of that this feels like an experience that still belongs on a PC with a mouse and keyboard.