Bot Factory

Place workers, gather parts and assemble bots in a factory where worker position sets turn order.

Designers: João Quintela Martins, Vital Lacerda
Published by: Eagle-Gryphon Games
Editions by: Portal Games, Maldito Games, TLAMA games, Lotus Frog Games

Bot Factory (2023) puts you in charge of a factory floor where you gather projects and parts, assemble bots, meet demand goals and raise the value of what you build. It is a sibling of Kanban, and Sandra, the factory manager from that game, wanders between departments and takes over players' spaces, just like before. It uses the same worker-placement idea, where the position of your workers on the board sets turn order, so the order of play is itself a puzzle. Tile placement and drafting add layers. A mid-weight euro of about an hour for one to four, best with three or four.

Worker positions set turn orderBuild bots to meet demand goalsSibling to the game Kanban

Who it's for

You like mid-weight worker-placement euros with clever sequencing, and you may already know Kanban.

Not for you if…

You want a light game or lots of luck. It is a planning-heavy euro, and the first game needs some focus.

Vibe's take

Tidy, tight and thoughtful. You sequence actions carefully, and each worker placement also affects when you go next.