Gearsmith Tycoon

Gearsmith Tycoon puts you in a cluttered little workshop and asks you to turn it into a proper factory. You research gadgets, lay out assembly lines, and keep orders moving. It scratches that optimization itch nicely — there's real joy in fixing a bottleneck you created yourself.

Progression is steady and the early hours fly by. Later on it slows and starts nudging you toward waiting, which is where the sim genre usually loses us, but you can plan builds around it if you're patient.

The management systems are clearer than most in this space, and the tinkering never got tedious for the first several sessions. A comfortable, low-stress builder for people who like tidy spreadsheets in game form.

What we liked

• Satisfying line-optimization
• Clear, readable management screens
• Great for short planning sessions