Info about Besiege:

Official game description:
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About the Game
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Besiege is a physics building game about constructing medieval machines to annihilate armies, obliterate castles and overcome challenging obstacles. Conquer the campaign or skirmish with friends in Multiplayer!
Create siege engines, battering rams, ballistas- anything you can imagine- with Besiege’s intuitive & flexible building system and extensive 70+ block collection!
The game’s intricate physics system creates a satisfying building & simulation experience, whether you’re the harbinger of destruction or your machine is falling apart.
Conquer your way through a singleplayer campaign of 55 destructible levels. Spanning across four island nations, each with its own environment, the campaign will pit you against unique civilizations ripe for conquest.
Cruise through Besiege’s huge sandbox levels, terrorizing their inhabitants, honing your craft & testing your ingenious prototypes.
Unlock more than 200,000 community made machines via the Steam Workshop, all available to download & play in your own game!
Besiege Multiverse is a portal for you to connect with other players and unleash chaos in multiplayer. Go head-to-head in epic machine combat or compete against your friends to complete level objectives and win custom game modes. Work cooperatively to conquer levels, complete puzzles and lay waste to armies & fortresses.
Besiege’s powerful level editing tools will enable you to wage war with AI armies and build custom environments with your friends! Make changes to levels in real time and create unique multiplayer experiences with the editor’s logic system. Robot wars, motor racing, football; there’s no end to the creative possibilities!
Besiege has built in support which has enabled our community to produce hundreds of mods and thousands of custom levels & skin packs. Easy to find and simple to install with Besiege’s Steam Workshop integration & our in-game modloader.

Release date: Feb 18, 2020

Categories: Physics Simulation, Sandbox, Vehicle Customization, Destructible Environments, Medieval Setting, Mod Support, Level Editor

Feature scans:
- MTX: score 18; verdict: Fair (DLC-based only); summary: The game's monetization is limited to a one-time base price and a single paid DLC expansion. The main criticism involves locking base game achievements behind the DLC paywall, which some players find unfair. However, there are no microtransactions, gacha, loot boxes, or pay-to-win elements. Overall, the model is standard for a traditional DLC-based game with no predatory in-game purchases.
- Wiki: score 50; verdict: The Student; summary: Players frequently report needing to consult external guides, wikis, and videos to overcome game difficulty and understand complex mechanics due to insufficient in-game explanations. A minority also experience technical issues like crashes requiring external fixes. Overall, the game's reliance on external data for learning and progression is a notable barrier.
- Proton/Linux: score 88; verdict: Broken / Unsupported; summary: The native Linux version of the game suffers from frequent crashes, specifically after completing levels, making gameplay unreliable on both desktop Linux and Steam Deck. While Proton can improve stability somewhat, it does not fully resolve the issues, leading to a strong negative consensus among Linux users.
- Steam Deck: score 85; verdict: Broken - Frequent Crashes and Instability; summary: The game is severely broken on Steam Deck and Linux due to frequent crashes after level completion, an unstable native Linux version, black screen issues, and performance problems with physics-heavy scenes. Workarounds like using Proton help but do not fully resolve the instability. Lack of controller support adds further friction for handheld play.

- Hardware Profile:
  - Summary: Players on sub-8GB VRAM hardware report smooth performance at medium settings with occasional slowdowns during large builds, while the single report for 8-11GB VRAM indicates playable but not ideal performance at around 30 FPS.
  - Sample size: 64 (2% coverage)
  - Audience skew: Review sample is mostly Windows-based.
  - Windows <8GB VRAM (positive, 40 reports): Players with less than 8GB VRAM report stable 60 FPS on medium settings, with frame drops only during extremely large builds (600+ pieces).
  - Windows 8-11GB VRAM (mixed, 12 reports): One user with 8GB VRAM gets around 30 FPS and finds it playable, though performance is described as not running well.
  - Caveats: 64 of 3383 reviews expose hardware metadata.; Review sample is mostly Windows-based.
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $4.99 - $9.99
  - Reasoning: The community sentiment indicates that $5 (fiver) is a fair and acceptable price for the base game, while prices above €14.79 are considered too expensive. Many users recommend waiting for a sale, implying that the standard full price is higher than what most consider fair. Combined with typical indie pricing, this suggests a fair base-game price range of $4.99 to $9.99.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 20.0h
  - Story completion: 20.0h
  - Session length: 0.3h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: Game completion: A Chinese review explicitly states '20 hours to complete the original game', indicating the typical time to finish the base campaign. Story/campaign completion: This same evidence applies, as the campaign is the primary story mode; no separate story figure is given. Session length: A Chinese review mentions 'single session 10-20 minutes' for campaign missions, which aligns with other mentions of quick sessions (e.g., 45 minutes for a single build). Endgame: Reviews highlight extensive sandbox and workshop play, with individual reports of 500 hours and 'hundreds to thousands of hours', but no typical completion time exists; endgame is open-ended, so this metric is set to null.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: Besiege has a steep learning curve and minimal tutorial, causing early frustration. After about 10 hours of confusion, players find it deeply rewarding, especially when playing with friends or embracing creativity.
  - Stance: Clicks after
  - Anchor: End of the 'completely clueless' phase where mechanics start to make sense
  - Time to anchor: 10h 0m
  - Friction: No in-game tutorial to guide new players; Steep learning curve for building mechanics; Frustrating initial 'what is going on' experience; Lack of clear progression direction
  - Unlock drivers: Learning through trial and error or external tutorials; Playing with friends in co-op or versus; Using Steam Workshop to borrow designs and ideas; Adopting an engineering or creative mindset
  - Conditions: Playing in multiplayer (co-op or competitive); Having interest in engineering or creative experimentation; Willingness to invest time to learn mechanics; Using community content for inspiration
- Player Archetypes:
  - Builder-Engineer (buy)
    - Motivation: The satisfaction of designing and perfecting complex mechanical contraptions within realistic physics constraints.
    - Playstyle: Systematically plans, builds, and iterates machines to solve open-ended puzzles or create elaborate structures, often investing many hours in fine-tuning.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: engineering enthusiast; physics lover; creative builder; craftsmanship seeker
    - Reference games: Besiege; Kerbal Space Program
  - Casual Sandbox & Destruction Enjoyer (sale)
    - Motivation: Relaxation and entertainment through creative freedom and satisfying physics-based destruction.
    - Playstyle: Builds whimsical machines without strict goals, enjoys testing contraptions, and delights in explosions and chaotic failures in sandbox mode.
    - Experience: newcomer
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: sandbox lover; casual player; destruction enthusiast
    - Reference games: Besiege
  - Multiplayer & Competition Seeker (buy)
    - Motivation: Competing and cooperating with friends in chaotic, physics-based battles and shared building experiences.
    - Playstyle: Engages heavily in multiplayer modes, using both cooperative building and competitive versus to test creations against others, often exploiting or optimizing for the meta.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: multiplayer enthusiast; PvP player; co-op builder
    - Reference games: Besiege; LittleBigPlanet


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Unlimited creativity like Lego (weight 0.32): The game is compared to a digital Lego set, with 70+ blocks and complete freedom to build anything imaginable.
- Build any vehicle type (weight 0.28): Players appreciate the ability to construct a wide variety of vehicles, including tanks, planes, helicopters, and robots, allowing for extensive creativity in building functional machines.
- Top-tier physics sandbox (weight 0.17): Many consider this one of the best sandbox engineering games, praising its realistic physics and engaging engineering challenges.
- Engaging sandbox mode (weight 0.17): The sandbox mode is a standout feature, where players can unleash creativity freely and enjoy humorous outcomes.
- Satisfying destruction effects (weight 0.16): Destruction mechanics are praised for being cool and satisfying, adding to the enjoyment of testing builds.
- Building machines is fun (weight 0.15): The process of creating and destroying wacky contraptions is described as hilarious and entertaining, providing hours of enjoyment.
- Challenging and unique (weight 0.12): The campaign offers interesting, challenging levels that provide unique and satisfying gameplay beyond simple building.
- Creative freedom in challenges (weight 0.12): Players appreciate being able to solve challenges in multiple ways without a single correct answer, enhancing replayability and creativity.
- Good graphics quality (weight 0.09): The game's graphics are considered good, contributing positively to the overall visual experience.
- Reminiscent of Bad Piggies (weight 0.09): Some players draw comparisons to Bad Piggies, noting the game offers more freedom and depth, appealing to nostalgic fans.

Common complaints:
- Numerous bugs and glitches (weight 0.59): Players encounter frequent crashes, save file corruption, mirroring bugs, floating point errors, and other technical issues that disrupt gameplay and ruin progress.
- Campaign is weak and repetitive (weight 0.58): Many levels feel samey, rely on luck rather than skill, and become tedious or frustrating, while the story is not immersive and missions lack variety.
- Not beginner friendly (weight 0.51): The game is extremely hardcore and requires engineering knowledge or significant time investment, making it unsuitable for casual or younger players.
- Physics simulation is unreliable (weight 0.43): The physics engine feels janky and unpredictable, causing machines to break apart, shake, or behave erratically without clear reasons, leading to frustration.
- Performance issues with large builds (weight 0.39): Frequent frame rate drops, lag, and stuttering occur when building machines with many parts, especially over 300-600 pieces, even on high-end hardware.
- Camera controls are frustrating (weight 0.35): The camera behavior is unpredictable, finicky, and difficult to control, often spinning randomly or hindering construction and gameplay.
- Unfair or badly designed levels (weight 0.33): Certain campaign levels (e.g., Valfross, Relict Frost, wind level) are poorly designed with no hints, forced solutions, or unfair difficulty spikes.
- High hardware requirements (weight 0.3): The game demands a powerful PC to run smoothly, especially with complex builds, and struggles with performance on laptops, Steam Deck, and Macs.
- Poor or missing tutorials (weight 0.29): There are very few in-game tutorials or explanations, leaving players to rely on external YouTube videos or figure out complex systems on their own.
- Low replayability (weight 0.29): After completing the campaign, there is little incentive to continue playing, as free building loses appeal without clear goals or community servers.
- Lack of part variety (weight 0.24): Players desire more unique parts with special properties, such as dual connection points, armor, and different materials, as the current selection is too limited.
- Multiplayer and co-op issues (weight 0.24): Multiplayer is laggy, lack of dedicated servers, and co-op partners can build ineffective machines, while DLC content is not shared with non-DLC friends.
- Controls are unintuitive (weight 0.21): Default key bindings are outdated and confusing, and some controls are not fully configurable without manual file editing, making the game hard to pick up.
- Mod support is problematic (weight 0.2): Mods often do not work as expected, can cause crashes, and some workshop items are unusable or misrepresented, requiring careful selection.
- Content feels overpriced (weight 0.2): Many players feel the base game and DLC are not worth the full price, recommending waiting for a sale, with some suggesting a max value of $6.
- Paid DLC locked content (weight 0.19): Essential features like water and additional content are locked behind paid DLC, and DLC achievements are tied to the main game, forcing purchase for completionists.
- Game crashes on launch or loading (weight 0.15): Some players experience black screens, sound without video, or crashes upon starting the game, preventing them from playing at all.

Gameplay feedback:
- Physics sandbox building core (weight 0.69): The game is fundamentally a physics-based sandbox where players construct machines and structures using realistic physics simulation. It emphasizes creative freedom and engineering problem-solving.
- Vehicle and weapon building (weight 0.5): Players build various war machines including tanks, planes, helicopters, trebuchets, and catapults. Vehicles are constructed from parts and used for combat missions or destruction.
- Destruction and physics simulation (weight 0.33): Destruction is a core gameplay loop, where chain reactions and realistic physics make demolishing structures satisfying. Building and crashing machines is a key activity.
- Diverse machine types (weight 0.24): Players can build a wide range of contraptions from simple gizmos to complex automated machines for tasks like farming, cargo transport, and fortress destruction.
- Campaign and sandbox modes (weight 0.23): The game includes a campaign mode with specific challenges and missions, as well as a free-build sandbox mode for unrestricted creativity. Both modes support vehicle creation and physics destruction.
- Multiplayer co-op and PvP (weight 0.1): Cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes are available, allowing players to build together or battle with their machines. This adds social and replay value.
- Precise engineering mechanics (weight 0.1): The game requires precise part placement and understanding of mechanical components. It appeals to players who enjoy technical building and physics simulation.
- Modding and community support (weight 0.09): The game supports mods and user-created content, extending replayability. Players can share designs or use community-made parts and levels.

Performance notes:
- Performance drops with large builds (weight 0.35): Players report significant framerate drops and lag when constructing machines or structures with many parts, especially over 300-600 pieces. This issue is mentioned across multiple clusters, indicating a common problem with complex builds.
- Mixed performance on low-end hardware (weight 0.33): Some players achieve 30-50 FPS on weaker systems, while others report poor performance, lag, or crashes on similar or even mid-range hardware. The experience varies widely, suggesting inconsistent optimization.
- Runs well on decent hardware (weight 0.2): Some players report smooth performance, high frame rates (60-100 FPS), and solid optimization on capable PCs and Macs, indicating the game can run well under the right conditions.
- Crashes on various platforms (weight 0.19): The game crashes frequently for some users, including on MacBooks, Steam Deck, and specific game levels. Crashes are reported both on startup and during gameplay, often tied to GPU limitations.
- Physics and simulations lag heavily (weight 0.12): Complex physics calculations cause simulations to run at 20-50% speed and cause slideshow-like performance, especially with many explosions or moving parts. This highlights CPU/GPU bottlenecks.
- Proton provides better performance (weight 0.09): The native Linux version has stability and performance issues, but running the Windows version through Proton often yields better results. This suggests Linux port problems.
- macOS lacks native optimization (weight 0.06): The game is not optimized for Apple Silicon and runs poorly on some Macs, including M1 MacBook Air, with no native support for macOS.
- Game freezes or stutters randomly (weight 0.06): Some users report the game freezing or stuttering even without heavy builds, indicating general stability or background process issues.
- Lag with medium complex machines (weight 0.04): Even moderately complex machines do not run at full speed on good computers, indicating a steep performance curve.
- Lack of overall optimization (weight 0.04): Players critique the game for being unoptimized, leading to performance issues across various hardware configurations.
- Slow loading on Steam Deck (weight 0.04): Players experience slow loading times on Steam Deck, impacting the overall experience on this popular handheld platform.
- Graphics settings help performance (weight 0.04): Adjusting graphics options can improve framerate and stability, providing a workaround for some performance issues on lower-end systems.
- Performance heavy at launch (weight 0.04): Early versions were demanding on hardware, and older laptops struggled, but some improvements have been noted over time.
- Requires high-end PC for mods (weight 0.04): Running mods with many blocks demands a high-end computer, limiting mod accessibility for players with average hardware.
- Strange screen resolution and blurry fonts (weight 0.03): A player noted display issues with unusual resolution and blurry text, affecting visual clarity.
- Works fine on low-end device (weight 0.03): Contrary to other reports, one user found the game works great on a low-end device, showing variability in performance.
- Mouse button broke from intense play (weight 0.03): One player reported their middle mouse button broke from playing, possibly due to frequent clicking or specific game mechanics.

Recommendations:
- Highly recommended overall (weight 0.37): Many reviewers strongly recommend the game, giving it high scores like 10/10 and praising its value. This is the most common sentiment across clusters.
- Excellent value for money (weight 0.34): Reviewers frequently mention the game is worth buying at full price and is a great deal. Many highlight its affordability and value.
- Ideal for building enthusiasts (weight 0.31): The game is highly recommended for players who enjoy construction, engineering, and creative building. It appeals to those who like designing and tinkering.
- Great for creativity and physics (weight 0.26): The game is praised for its physics-based building and experimentation. Reviewers recommend it for those who love improvisation, over-engineering, and solving mechanical challenges.
- Also appealing puzzle fans (weight 0.16): The game is recommended for players who enjoy puzzles and creative problem-solving. Building contraptions requires thinking through challenges.
- Plane crash simulation fun (weight 0.11): Several reviewers enjoy creating plane crashes and using the game for crash physics videos. This niche is specifically highlighted as a draw.
- Negative feedback present (weight 0.04): A small number of reviewers advise against buying the game, stating it is not worth the money. This is a minority opinion.

Other player notes:
- Positive anticipation for DLC (weight 0.04): Players express excitement about upcoming downloadable content, indicating strong engagement and desire for more game content.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.16): Players express frustration due to the game's high difficulty and steep learning curve, especially for casual users, compounded by a lack of tutorials and unintuitive controls. Technical issues such as camera misbehavior, frequent crashes, performance drops on various hardware, and bugs that break progress further worsen the experience. The building system is seen as punishing and tedious, with unclear mechanics and limited guidance, leading to a sense of helplessness and wasted time.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.14): Satisfaction stems from the rewarding experience of successfully building and operating complex machines, with realistic physics making every success feel earned. Players appreciate the creative freedom, challenging campaigns, and the ability to solve levels in unconventional ways, often aided by a robust modding community. The game also provides good performance on low-end hardware and offers excellent value for money, with long-term engagement and a sense of personal growth as an engineer.
- Excitement (weight 0.1): Excitement is driven by the game's massive creative freedom and realistic physics, allowing players to build and crash a wide variety of vehicles, from simple cars to complex flying machines and weapons of mass destruction. The anticipation of upcoming DLCs and updates, along with chaotic multiplayer and mod support, fuels a sense of endless possibilities and fun experimentation. Specific moments like successful contraptions, epic crashes, and the use of logic gates for automation heighten the thrill.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.08): Enjoyment arises from the game's fun physics, creative sandbox, and satisfying destruction, offering a relaxing yet challenging engineering puzzle experience. Players value the freedom to build anything, the variety of missions and workshop content, and the ability to play with friends. The game's personality and replayability keep players engaged for hundreds of hours.
- Amusement (weight 0.07): Amusement comes from watching machines fail in hilarious and unexpected ways, such as crashing planes, exploding contraptions, and absurd physics behaviors. Players find humor in creating ridiculous inventions like a flying dildo or a weapon of mass destruction, and enjoy the contrast between the game's medieval theme and modern chaos. The blend of epic failures, meme wars, and ironic role-playing adds to the comedic experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.05): Disappointment is largely due to unmet expectations, as the actual gameplay is much harder than promotional videos suggest, and the campaign mode feels non-immersive and samey. Long-standing bugs, poor multiplayer, and a perceived lack of developer care, with DLCs prioritized over fixes, frustrate players. The game also suffers from limited building materials, no pre-built machines, and performance issues on certain platforms like Steam Deck.
- Fun (weight 0.04): Players find the game fun because of the immense creativity involved in building and testing wacky machines, with satisfying destruction and crash physics. The sandbox mode and online multiplayer provide endless experimentation, while over-engineering solutions to challenges adds a layer of enjoyment. The variety of vehicles and tools keeps the experience fresh and engaging.
- Joy (weight 0.04): Joy is experienced through the successful operation of player-built machines and the creative expression that the sandbox mode enables. The game's physics and design evoke fond memories of other sandbox titles like LittleBigPlanet, and sharing destruction moments with a child or friends enhances the fun. Mods and the ability to build anything contribute to a joyful, nostalgic experience.
- Appreciation (weight 0.02): Appreciation stems from the game's unique mechanics, brain-teasing puzzles, and realistic physics that force players to think creatively. The supportive Discord community, consistent controls, and incredible workshop creations add to the positive reception. Players also value the complete destructibility and level editor, as well as the educational aspect of learning mechanical components.
- Love (weight 0.02): Love for the game comes from its deep creative potential, allowing over-engineering and flexible building, such as using gun recoil as pistons. The physics sandbox and challenging but rewarding gameplay, combined with a supportive mod community, make it a favorite. Players appreciate the practical mechanics and the humorous inclusion of Geneva Conventions as achievements.
- Anger (weight 0.02): Anger is triggered by poorly designed levels, particularly in the Valfross and Relict Frost regions, which feel unsolvable even with tutorials. Technical issues like bugs, bad camera controls, and physics glitches ruin builds, while misleading TikTok mods and deletion of save files add to the frustration. The combination of poor level design and broken mechanics leads to rage.
- Amazement (weight 0.01): Amazement is inspired by the incredible complexity and creativity of other players' machines in the Workshop, such as 747s and robot arms. The game teaches practical engineering concepts, even enabling a player to pass mechanical engineering exams without formal education. The sheer number of community creations and the ability to build anything the player imagines is mind-blowing.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): Enthusiasm is fueled by the game's unlimited potential for building machines for world domination without price limits, combining destruction with engineering fun. The variety of buildable vehicles, including modded constructions like a flying windmill with flamethrowers, keeps players excited. The chaos and destruction are praised as superior to other similar games.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise comes from the game being more intuitive and fun than expected, with a stable physics engine that allows flight and complex builds. Players are amazed to learn practical physics through gameplay, and the stat that only 1.5% of players completed the campaign highlights the challenge. The ability to fly despite initial doubts is a pleasant shock.
- Gratitude (weight 0.01): Gratitude is expressed towards the developers for their responsive support, such as fixing problems on the same day, and for creating a game that helps prepare for careers like mechanical engineering. Players thank the community for fun mods and planes, and acknowledge that the price increase is deserved for the development effort. The game's educational and enjoyable value is deeply appreciated.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration is held for the game's high quality, attention to detail, and the thoughtfulness of its development. The physics engine and the vast array of community creations in the Workshop are seen as impressive and genre-defining. Players consider it one of the greatest games in its genre due to its epic destruction possibilities and depth.
- Anticipation (weight 0.01): Anticipation is high for upcoming expansions, especially a space DLC, which players hope will elevate the game to new heights, possibly rivaling Kerbal Space Program. Upcoming updates and new content, like the Splintered Sea, generate excitement and motivate players to continue playing. Many plan to buy future DLCs and invest more time in the game.
- Happiness (weight 0.01): Happiness comes from the sheer fun of the game, especially with Steam Workshop content that keeps gameplay engaging and fresh. The enjoyment of entering the game, building creations, and using them to complete levels after effort brings joy. The positive social and creative outlet is a key source of happiness.
- Relaxation (weight 0.01): Relaxation is provided by the game's meditative constructor mode, which has a calming effect and is perfect for unwinding after a long day. The process of building and designing vehicles is described as soothing and stress-relieving. Players find it ideal for chilling and relaxing without any pressure.
- Addiction (weight 0.01): Addiction is driven by the ability to build anything imaginable, which leads to players repeatedly downloading and constructing new vehicles, often playing through the night. The just-enough level of challenge keeps the gameplay loop highly engaging, with one player reporting 696 hours of play. The infinite creative possibilities make it hard to stop.}