“Factory Balls Forever” is a puzzle game created by Barte Bonte that was released in 2017. It was the last of the Factory Balls games that he released, with the first dating back to 2007 and it can be played on a web browser. The game is intended for anyone, both children and adults alike, as the varying levels allow for players to best optimize the challenges for their skill level. By combining such simple mechanics with elaborate puzzles, Factory Balls Forever forces players to think deeply about a problem that initially seems so simple.
The game itself is extremely simple. The player is given a colorless ball that is surrounded with paint buckets and other objects. The player needs to get the ball to match the color of the target ball by simply dumping it into the different paint buckets. The challenge is that the entire bucket needs to be dumped, so if the top half is one color and the bottom is another, how can that be accomplished? The other objects serve as blockers, almost like painter’s tape, that can cover a part of the ball so that it is not affected by the next paint dump. Players must strategically think about the order in which they dump the ball into the buckets and how to use the other objects to ensure that their ball perfectly matches the target. Initially, the game did not feel very hard, but the designers decided to increase the difficulty as more levels are passed and add not only a more welcoming game environment but one that keeps problem solvers coming back for more. The easy beginnings show novice players that they are capable of completing levels and inspires them to work harder at the future levels. A large difference between this game and other puzzle games is the lack of narrative. Many puzzle games, like Portal, have a concrete story that helps give reason to why such puzzles need to be solved. In Barte Bonte’s games, however, players just solve puzzles for the sake of solving puzzles. In my opinion, this added to the game’s strength. There was no dialogue or confusion that got in the way of the puzzles themselves — this is truly a puzzle game and nothing else. For players like me who love getting into the nitty gritty of such problems, this non-stop flow of brain challenges allows us to continue stretching our minds without worrying about why or trying to find meaning for the problems.
As aforementioned, the simplicity of the game’s mechanics highlight its strengths. The game’s challenge isn’t in a player’s abilities to press buttons quickly or in a timely manner like other games. It is, however, a test for a player to sit back and think about which actions should come in which order before clicking them. And because there is not a very clear storyline, the game does not have much of an arc, but feels more like a loop, as a player continuously needs to paint a ball to match a target. The arc design, however, comes in a bit due to the level progression. A player needs to complete level six to get to level seven and so on, with each one increasing in difficulty. While there is no narrative, it still allows the player to adventure through the game with a sense of direction.
Personally, I had a lot of fun playing this game. It was not a game where I am clicking or typing a lot, but more one where I would need to sit back and think about the best way to approach the challenge. This idea, in my opinion, helps make a puzzle game great. The game isn’t played for thrill and gamers with a higher level of computer skills have zero advantage over other problem solvers. While there was not much of a narrative, I did not feel that the game needed it. Not everything needs a direct story — sometimes players just want to stimulate their minds and solve puzzles, and that is exactly what Barte Bonte has provided with the final rendition of the Factory Balls series.
