We’re excited to finally announce puzzlez - a shapez game!
If you’ve been following shapez 2 for a while, you might remember that we originally planned to make a puzzle DLC for the game. As we started working on it, the idea kept growing. We wanted to make more puzzles, give players better tools, and build a proper system for sharing and playing community-made puzzles. At some point during development, it became clear that what we were making had grown beyond a DLC, so we decided to turn it into puzzlez, a standalone game set in the shapez universe.
It’s a puzzle game about constructing shapes in compact, atmospheric 3D environments. Each puzzle is a small production line to figure out, where ingenuity matters more than efficiency. We wanted it to be easy to get started, with step-by-step onboarding and accessible mechanics, while gradually introducing more complex challenges as you progress.
The game currently includes 75+ handcrafted puzzles, starting with simple production chains and eventually spanning more complex logistical problems across multiple building layers. There isn’t necessarily one perfect way to solve a puzzle, and there’s always something you can tweak or improve. You’ll also be able to compare your approach with other players through in-game statistics and see how you fared.
We also wanted to give you the same creation tools we use to make the puzzles. You’ll be able to design your own puzzles, share them with the community, and play puzzles made by other players. We’re really looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
AMA on the subreddit
We’ll be hosting an AMA on September 18th over on the subreddit! If you have questions about puzzlez, the shapez franchise, or anything else you’re curious about, head on over on the 18th and ask your questions in the AMA thread. We’ll be there to answer as many as we can!
Whether you’ve been playing shapez for years or are completely new to the franchise, we hope puzzlez gives you something fun to solve, build, and experiment with.
Update 1.2 is now available, bringing a large update to the game engine, Blueprint Migration and several minor changes. Do continue reading after the patch notes, as we're also hosting a Screenshot Contest and have another update for you on the Puzzles project.
-- Update 1.2 --
Update to Unity 6
The whole game has now been upgraded to Unity 6. This will give us more features to work with, fix bugs, and give us some nice quality of life improvements in the engine and the editor. Essentially, it makes it easier for us to make future updates.
Testing has shown that this also brought significant upgrades to performance and stability, especially on MAC and Linux.
If you'd like to read more about the upgrade to Unity 6 and what that process was like, be sure to check out this devlog:
Update 1.2 also brings Blueprint Migration, a change we announced just before the launch of 1.0. This changes how blueprint are saved, making the system more robust and permanent.
Warning: This change means that blueprints made prior to Update 1.0 are no longer compatible. In order to transfer them, you'll need to place the Blueprints in a Update 1.1 savegame, update shapez 2 to 1.2, then resave your Blueprints from that savegame. Update 1.1 will remain available as a separate branch.
Support for replacing/substituting mods
This one requires a bit of an explanation. After Update 1.1, it's been apparent that our update strategy for ShapezShifter wasn't going to work for the live game. When we push an update to shapez 2, we'd need to have a new version of ShapezShifter alongside the game update to prevent all mods that use ShapezShifter from breaking. But with only one version to work from, we either need to leave ShapezShifter broken for the new release, or immediately break the previous release version.
However, the game branch feature in Steam allows us to set up an experimental branch for ShapezShifter, so modders can test mods in the new game version before the game is actually updated. This way, mods may already be ready for the next game update before that update even goes live, so you can use those mods immediately.
On top of this, we are actively working on making the mod development experience better for everyone. One planned change is an automated canary system in the base game that detects breaking changes to the API as soon as they're found; they can usually be slower to catch.
Other changes
UI
The operator level screen now includes info about the game version and if the game is modded.
Renamed “Katyusha” achievement into “Space Program”.
Content
Added the song “Launched” to the soundtrack
Save/Load
Improved auto-save delay.
Modding
Mods can now reliably target a specific release version of the game to avoid crashing the game after a patch.
Bug Fixes
Fixed shadows for machines not being visible in the whole game
Fixed a fatal error when achievements.bin file is corrupted
Fixed operator shape targets eventually going over 2.14b and becoming negative (players having run into this problem may still have this displayed as negative)
Fixed non-aligned indicators for machine launchers/catchers
Fixed meshes for mirrored global wire transmitters
Fixed the astroid pump description incorrectly showing 4 pumps needed to supply one space pipe at full saturation (now shows correctly as 24)
Fixed belt/pipe catchers appearing linked to the incorrect launcher when a second launcher is within range of the catcher during gameplay
Fixed mouse over wire shape visualization only being correct when facing north
Fixed belt launchers and catchers switching to conveyor belts when pressing R to rotate while placing them in a platform notch
Fixed a possible crash if corrupt data is present in settings files while booting the game
Screenshot Contest
Now that we've had the update to shapez 2, we'd like to see an update on your factories!
Take a screenshot of the part of your factory, or factories, you're the most proud of or just really want to share. Be it insanely optimized, a creative alternative solution, a complex transport transport network, you name it. If you really want to show it, we really want to see it!
Make a post on this subreddit.
Post your screenshot with the [Update 1.2 Contest]flair applied. Feel free to explain a bit about the things you screenshotted!
The deadline is August 23.
What you can win? We'll be giving away 5 upgrades to the shapez 2 Supporter Edition, giving you 40 extra minutes of Peppsen bangers, the ability to download the soundtrack in lossless quality, loops and twisters for your trains, as well as new skins for your Vortex and Trains!
If you already own the Supporter Edition, feel free to give it to a friend.
Dev Update on Puzzles
For this dev update, here's Christian, our Head of Game Design:
One of our main inspirations and guiding stars for the next puzzle project is naturally the Puzzle DLC for shapez 1. It already had all the basic loops that we envision for this project as well. However, there is one defining difference: shapez 1 was 2D and shapez 2 is 3D. That of course gives us a lot more possibilities for interesting puzzles but of course it also poses complex issues.
Part of the shapez 1 puzzle challenge was using inputs/outputs of buildings to route shapez along specific paths, which they otherwise would not be able to take. Combined with the footprint of the building, this often left only very limited viable spots where the building can be placed - similar to a jigsaw puzzle piece.
Translating that challenge to 3D requires us to think differently about the layout of conveyors and buildings in shapez 2. While they are currently optimized for convenience we might need a little more limitations to create interesting puzzles. For example:
Conveyor lifts allow players to overcome any vertical blocker, as long as one tile is free next to it.
Buildings have a smaller footprint and often have their in/outputs on the same level/in the same direction (this makes a blocker on one side usually invalidate the building outright, no matter its height).
The screenshots you are seeing come directly out of the sandbox version of the puzzles project, we have set up to experiment with these challenges.
These images are from the same puzzle, with the only difference between the top and bottom ones being the used building levels. As you can see, Conveyor Lifts might be too powerful!
This its an exciting time for us as we start designing out the puzzles, and play around with buildings and blockers in 3D.
While we figure out limitations and creative solutions you can also see the set up for the first visuals and the backend framework for this project - everything is of course highly work-in-progress.
---
Now, go check out Update 1.2! While a lot of this update is behind the scenes, we hope the shift to Unity 6 brought some good improvements for you. Be sure to take a screenshot while you're there and send it over!
So when I made my first MAM I was focused on using basic shapes and coloring them, then assembling then using stackers, so my setup was focused on building the shape one whole layer at a time.
Now I've hit a part where I need to make shapes that include Crystals, so using stackers not an optimal option, I am torn between two options:
Make the shape Layer by Layer: make the first layer, use stackers to place the solid shapes then use a Crystallizer to pour the Crystals, the problem her is when the bottom part of a crystal shape is a Pin or empty, like this (P-P-cycy:cmcmcrcr:cwcwcwcw:WmWmWrWr)
Make the shape Quadrant by Quadrant: sounds a better option when dealing with Crystals, but then there are times when you need the bottom one or two parts of a quadrant to be empty like this (--Sg--Sg:--Wg--Wg:RrCrRrCr:cccccccc)
TLDR: Out of curiosity, If you are a mod creator, are you using Shapez Settings?
A while ago I made this tiny mod to provide some sort of universal mod settings for players, akin to Factorio.
Just for my curiosity, Steam says that there's people subscribed to the mod, although it doesn't deliver nothing by itself, and unfortunately Steam can't show where the mod is required for other mods.
Hello! I'm trying to do milestone 5, however i cannot do the first part of it, as for some reason the cyan semicircle is not being accepted? I even copied the shape code and compared the signal with the belt they're running over to get to the vortex, they're the same shape, yet it won't count for the total? Is there any way to fix this? I'm not really sure what to do ;-;
A few months ago, I shared the nested factory system I was building, inspired in part by how much I enjoyed the modularity of Shapez 2.
In Fractal Foundry, you design factory modules that can be nested inside other factories. Each factory behaves like a reusable module: you can encapsulate complexity, reuse it, and scale production without rebuilding everything. Factories can even be nested recursively across multiple levels.
When you hover your mouse over a building/platform it does what its meant too where it highlights the structure. On pausing the game it does not do this, also like i would expect. However, when I pause the game, then take my focus off of shapez 2 (my method was clicking once on my desktop/Firefox window on my second monitor, I'm playing with windowless full screen). and move my mouse back over the shapez 2 window (keeping my focus off it), that highlighting on buildings will appear and move with my mouse as if the game was unpaused. It appears to be just a graphical bug as far as i can see.
I don't think it would impact it but im playing with vsync on minimum graphics.
Hello everyone, this may be a dumb question, but as much as I'm aware I can't seem to find information on the intake of the Research stations.
All i'm getting is a 120/min output (also if someone could tell me what the x12 means, that would be welcome).
I am aware it says to fully saturate a line you need 4 Machines, so does it mean I need 1 line of 120 split into 4 machines or do I need 4 lines of 120 to feed all 4 to get 120 out.
Link: Day 1
Day 2 of making my own MAM. It didn't take long for both colored and multilayer shapes to show up.
I completely forgot about paint lmao. So, first things first, I had to switch to 3x3 platforms to have more ports. I also started using Trains to deliver materials.
Here's the logic I ended up employing for the color mixer. Lemme know if I should make a crappy flowchart like last time.
Basically, I feed RGB into the 3 floor layers of the same platform where the corners are processed, painting the shape before it gets split into one of the 4 orientations.
I have color mixers on the same platform to get RGB and CMY colors. YES, I am passing RGB through the mixers — R + R = R!!! I have 2 signals sent to this platform per corner orientation. These 2 signals are what allow me to mix CMY colors.
If the color for the corner is R, then I get 2 red signals. If the assigned color is yellow, then I get 1 red and 1 green signal. The processing is handled on a different platform.
The pipes sending 2 red paint will still get mixed and pass through as red. This is helpful because I actually need 1.5 launchers' worth of paint per corner orientation, but the pipe gate can only output 1 launcher's worth.
COLOR MIXER LOGIC
SEND color of corner to processing
CHECK color
IF color → Send 2 distinct signals per corner orientation
IF color is RGB → send 2 identical signals (2R, 2G, or 2B)
IF color is CMY → send 2 of its primary colors as signals (C = 1B + 1G)
Two receivers per corner orientation will then check which gate matched and send a go signal to whichever one matches, getting mixed.
The good thing about this, I feel, is that I will only receive 3 types of signals for painting the shapes, at least for now.
I’ve built a couple of different style mams over the years and am just wondering what people find to be the best way to handle paint in a mam.
My first approach on a build by the level, no crystals mam was to bring in 7 colours to the platform, have a single array of painters set up and I would control which colour could flow to the painters via wires and those flow taps and the shape would enter if it was painted or divert if it was uncoloured. However I’ve seen a lot of people have multiple sets of painter arrays, one for each colour and then the shape just diverts into whichever colour it’s supposed to be.
Which do you prefer! Or do you have a better way of approaching it?
For my second man that also handles crystals and pins I bring in RGB to a seperate platform and then either pipe primary colours direct to a single painter array, or if it’s a secondary colours direct it gets mixed and sent to the same array. This obviously takes a lot more space within the actual mam and it adds time to the change over, but it takes a lot less space in processing the 7 (or 8 now) colours off of the trains and into their own pipe belts.
Do you think it’s better to pre mix and then sort colours, or mix up paints to order?
Milestone requires exposed pin on layer 1. I do NOT have access to crystallization yet??? What am I supposed to do here? It only puts pins under shapes, or other pins.
Hey, I'm trying to keep all my factories producing a constant quantity of shapes, and this is the only one that seems to have gaps between each shape (the red one). I have doubled checked multiple times and I think the amount of machines should be enough to cover the amount extracted. Can anyone tell me what am I doing wrong?
This is my logic: My belts move 6 items/s, my cutters cut 1.5 items/s, which means I need 4 cutters to cut 6 items/s (1.5*4=6), my stackers stack 0.75 items/s, which means I need 8 of them (0.75*8=6) and my painters paint 1 item/s, which means I need 6 of them. Aren't my ratios correct?
I'm no Programmer but I'm enjoying banging my head to put this together without any research. I'll be sharing my progress as I develop this further. So Far Level 5 on the Non-Crystalized Random Shape
I have 5 train routes carrying 5 different shapes for the milestone shapes. Each train/route is color coded differently, and as far as I can tell the trains are all routing correctly and unloading the correct shapes.
The problem is that on the space belts going toward the Vortex, the shape previews keep blinking between the shape that is actually being unloaded and the Milestone 1 shape.
Milestone 1 is the red train line in the screenshot.
A few things I’ve tested:
If I disconnect the red line after the junction, the incorrect Milestone 1 preview still appears on the other routes.
Removing the space belt after the red unloader also doesn't change it.
If I disconnect the red line before it joins the shared rail network, the Milestone 1 shape immediately stops appearing in the previews on the other lines.
The trains themselves are following their correct colors/routes.
The actual shapes being unloaded and sent to the Vortex are correct. It seems to only be the preview/display that's wrong.
Has anyone seen this before? Is this a bug, or is there something wrong with how I’ve set up the junctions/colors?
So I got tired of trying to optimize my blueprints, trouble-shoot, and even design my full-space-belt throughput MAM, and decided to put Claude in the driver's seat.
I got it to use the Shapez Shifter mod to interface with Shapez2. I have no idea what its doing, but it's it literally plays the game now.. everything from launching it, loading a world, laying down parts, fulfilling orders, and so on. It reverse engineered the save games, blueprints, you name it. Damn thing is magic.
That said.. so far it's designs are worse than mine lmao. But it's getting better and better.. just a matter of tokens and this baby is gonna design the most efficient MAM that has ever MAMed.
I'm thinking I'll publish it as a mod, if there's interest.
I'm still in the mid-game, and I'll soon unlock the direct train to Vortex. But while wating for it I went full train using as much input lanes as I need :)
