[xienze]

I’m kind of surprised (and bummed) that they ported it to the Switch and not the iPad. The Switch is a bit slow (can’t imagine big bases performing well) and I’m not convinced using a game pad will work well. By contrast, modern iPads are smoking fast and I bet an iPad touch interface would suit the game fairly well. Ah well, maybe some day.

[candiddevmike]

I think you could say this about a lot of games. IMO, Apple doesn't make it easy to port a game from PC to iPad (app store guidelines in particular), and I doubt there are as many iPad gamers as there are other platforms.

[frostburg]

This is true but Factorio is not Madden; for example they have a sizable (for Factorio) built-in audience of everyone making iOS apps. The pencil would work well for input, I'd gladly buy it again.

[matsemann]

The Switch got a touch screen as well?

[xienze]

A teeny tiny one in comparison.

[kergonath]

And not a great one, as well.

[hombre_fatal]

I think I only use it when entering my character's name in an RPG after slowly typing a few letters with the controller then remembering I can press the screen.

[wishfish]

For anyone who wants a Factorio-like on iOS, there's a great game called Builderment. It's not as complex as Factorio but it does get rather involved. Works well with touch and even works well on the smaller screens of iPhones.

[kergonath]

I was going to check it out, but IAPs are full of gem packs, which is not very encouraging. How is the freemium aspect?

[wishfish]

Sorry for the late reply. It works fine for free. There's no impediments to the actual gameplay. Gems aren't mandatory for anything. It's been a while since I last played, but when I did, gems weren't needed for anything other than random decorative items.