Final Factory is Factorio in space, with exploration and fleet combat
A demo is available now
Final Factory seems expansive as far as factory builders go, given that it features not just the sprawling bases you expect but also spaceship construction, interstellar exploration and fleet combat. On the other hand, as far as 2D, topdown space games go, it seems much more approachable than most.
There's a demo available right now.
It starts off, as these games do, with you building a mining colony in space. You build a fleet of bots to help carry and construct items and then gradually automate each part of the process with, yes, space conveyor belts involved. Eventually you can build cargo ships, automate them, and begin to expand across space, naturally leading to combat with the aliens you encounter.
All of which sounds derivative, sure, but also I know I'd find it deeply satisfying to do. Apparently you can also "slap a rocket onto anything to make it go faster", and thus pilot chunks of your base around space, which does sound more novel.
This isn't the first factory-builder to head into space. Introversion's The Last Starship is doing something similar, for example. Even the genre daddy, Factorio, is heading to the inky black with its first major expansion, Space Age.
The Final Factory demo is live now and available from its Steam page for the next three weeks. 'Tis the season for demos, as Steam Next Fest looms on February 5th.