Factory Balls

Going as far back as near the end of 2009 when I first originally came across this series back in a time when my PC would struggle to run even the basic Flash games at times, I found Factory Balls 2 on Kongregate (released on the 8th of November the year before) to be quite the fun and challenging puzzle game, working out how to paint each ball exactly as was told as it got slowly more complex and adding new mechanics to challenge your understanding of the game's mechanics as it introduced one new layer after another! (Of course, given that I wasn't exactly of mature age back then, I didn't get very far in what really isn't the most mentally-taxing puzzle game out there!)
Although I did forget about this one-of-a-kind Flash game like I did for so many, I happened to stumble upon it here on Steam during my search for some nifty retro games that took me back to the older days of gaming during an era where once-glorious video game franchises by talented developers that spoke the fine language of passion and excelled in displaying their arts in the then-new form of video games which has largely succumbed to common trends of the 'triple-A industry that more often disappoints than it does surprise these days, now I can go back in time for a day or two to relish in fun little creative projects like these from a more adult perspective to truly experience what I could not properly enjoy at it's fullest all those years ago!
Though to get straight into the most important part of any game, that being it's own gameplay, Factory Balls is a complete version of the old Flash title, fully expanded and about as good as you will get from a game with Flash origins, whereby the goal is simply to paint, attach, chip away at or modify the ball in such a way that it matches the exact look of the ball in front of the box that it is to be shipped away inside of, no doubt as part of a custom order from the artsy side of things!
Indeed, this is where the game's 'puzzle' focus comes into play here, since one has to work out how to get a ball to look like the final product for each of the 221 levels on offer, separated into 6 categories, since the earliest levels will be fairly easy to figure out with simply dipping the ball in paint and using hats, glasses or other tools to cover parts of the ball you don't want repainted to get the exact match on the box.
Soon though you will find that other tools get thrown into the mix, such as flower/grass seeds coupled with a watering can to grow them at specific stages, (the former growing bigger before withering away into nothing, however the latter will result in 'dead' grass that can not be removed outside of a recycling bin that basically starts off from scratch, beware for the harder levels that use this mechanic!) a hatchet to cut a mouth-like shape into a ball and plungers to add a nose or ears onto the ball itself among others that, when combined with the painting described above, suddenly makes this a tad more complex than simply getting the ball to match!
Certainly it should be noted that Factory Balls is by no means a daunting puzzle game that'll leave you stuck on some of it's hardest for hours on end and is, quite the contrary, instead a rather casual approach to puzzle games that has just enough depth to it that it can avoid being called 'shallow' whilst also not being a legitimately difficult one that either frustrates those interested enough in it's premise and also put off those who would otherwise potentially have given it a shot, seeing how this game's focus on painting is pretty simple to grasp whilst also offering an avenue of many unique and creative problems to solve without risking putting off newcomers or seasoned puzzle players alike!
Although having said that, this game does have some issues that is worth mentioning, mainly with how formulaic the game can easily become over time, risking becoming repetitive and thus boring those who prefer variety in their puzzles, alongside the graphics generally lacking to please those with a more visually-inclined eye, albeit this did originate from a Flash game and, from what I can gather, most of the focus of this improved version here on Steam was to expand upon the gameplay rather than make it look more flashier and eye-catching, so that is worth bearing in mind when stepping into Factory Balls.
Other than there not being much in the way of competitive gameplay to encourage repeated playthroughs for those with the confidence and knowledge of how to quickly assemble these balls in super-fast speeds which, in all fairness, is a rather niche group in it's own right, I would say that Factory Balls is a fairly cheap game hailing back to the good old Flash days, back when you could put out any random fun and promising idea to receive some form of success, and I happily gave my own £2.89 as thanks for giving me a bit of a good time during my earlier PC days back when I wasn't so sure if I wanted to become a PC gamer which, thankfully, now I finally am!
TLDR Version:
• Simple to understand gameplay yet offers many creative challenges throughout it's 221 levels (+)
• Factory Balls gradually increases the difficulty by presenting new layers to the painting puzzle that requires new approaches to previously-straightforward solutions (+)
• A fairly approachable puzzle game that is suitable for those who are either new to puzzle games or prefer those that are not overall difficult to work out (+)
• Pretty cheap game that offers a surprising amount of content for it's asking price (+)
• The game's formula of painting balls can eventually become repetitive, losing it's charm if breaks are not taken every now and then (-)
• Basic graphics stemming from this game's Flash origins could put off those looking for a more visually-stimulating title (-)
• No leaderboards for competitive gameplay or even a speedrun option for each of the categories for those looking to further push their puzzle-solving skills to the limit (-)

* STRONG RECOMMENDATION - Clever and intuitive logical puzzle game *
Great little game, definitely worth the small price. I've never played it before, so no 'nostalgia value' tinging this review - just really happy to have discovered the game.
Basically : each level starts out with a plain white ball, and a picture of the end-look goal. You are supplied with a variety of tools, paints, stencils etc, that you have to choose from, and use in correct sequence, to get desired end.
No time limits, move limits or penalties for failed tries. Thanks a lot for that devs - much appreciated !
Fun, intuitive, clever, logical, satisfying :-)
Easy to understand the rules. Various mechanisms introduced one-by-one and clear to understand how they work. Lots of short levels, so easy to dip in and out of the game. Ramps up smoothly from easy to complex for the various mechanisms.
I especially enjoyed the grass-and-seeds varieties. And the diagonal+horizontal belts patterns really gave my brain a workout. Loved this.
The game saves completed level progression on exit.
Achievements worked fine.
The individual level packs are all on the same difficulty curve, i.e. each one starts fairly easy and ramps up, but level pack B isn't harder than level pack A.
PRACTICAL TIP: It has no explicit 'exit' or 'quit' which can be confusing. To exit, you have to have it set to Windowed (the four-arrow icon in Settings), and click the X in upper right corner. Or a hard quit via the Steam overlay, as a last resort.

I loved this game as a kid. I found this game while looking up the original flash games. Soo worth picking this one up. It's a good game to play while listening to videos.

balls

I've been playing bart bonte games ever since I was in middle school, and they never fail to entertain. The factory balls series is full of fun and engaging puzzles, I recommend them all!