Shapez 2 is all about the gameplay, and for good reason—it’s really addictive. As the second game in this series, we are reacquainted with some familiar mechanics and concepts. You harvest shapes from their nodes, which are randomly scattered throughout the map, and then manipulate them to fill certain orders.

You’ll need to ensure the shapes get exactly where they’re needed by constructing a series of conveyor belts across your platform that get the shape from point A to point B. The orders start off simple, before progressing to the stage where you’ll need to start manipulating the shapes. There’s a range of different ways you can do that.

You’ll be able to manipulate the shapes by cutting, rotating, and stacking them, often creating some interesting hybrids along the way. You do this by building different machinery to do their respective jobs. Each shape can be cut twice, giving you either a half or quarter of the shape, and then can be rotated and stacked with other shapes. Stacking essentially combines the shapes if they’re on the same layer, or stacks them if they’re not—a process you’ll become very familiar with as you play.

You’ll have two main types of orders in the game: milestones, which function as your main quests and will allow you to unlock new tech and advance in the game, and side quests, which grant you upgrade points upon completion. You can spend upgrade points on, you guessed it, upgrades, which allow you to increase speed and unlock variations of each machine, among other things. You can unlock different cutters that split the shape rather than destroying one side, as well as swappers, different directional rotators, and more—all things that will make your production lines more and more efficient.

Now, the biggest difference between Shapez 1 and Shapez 2 is that Shapez 2 transports the game into a 3D environment, and this comes with some big differences. Because we’ve got a 3D environment, they’ve been able to add height into the game, so you’ll be able to build on two different levels and unlock even more levels as you progress. The game is also set in space, so you need to build tracks for the harvested shapes to travel on to get to your main platform. You can’t just build wherever you like; you’ve got to ensure you have platforms to build on first.

The game follows a similar progression to its predecessor, and you’ll unlock painting and need to harvest a larger variety of shapes as you progress, adding more and more complexity to the game. Something else that’s been added is a whole logic-based system that allows you to filter, split, track, and more with different electronic components. You can even unlock simulation tools, so you can create simulated production lines to test if they work before building them in bulk.

It’s honestly a struggle to believe that this is an early access game, as it feels polished, balanced, and already has a stack of content in there. It’s one that is definitely easy to sink a lot of time into, so be prepared to get addicted to this one really quick. With over 40 hours of playtime already in there, there’s a lot to sink your teeth into.