Beta Peview Of Brave New Wonders: A Glimpse into the Future of Automation PC

In the crowded landscape of factory automation games, Brave New Wonders (developed by City From Naught) stands out not by adding more belts, but by removing them entirely. Thousands of years after the collapse of human civilization, you awaken in a vibrant, post-apocalyptic archipelago where floating islands are held aloft by a mysterious mineral called Levitanium. As Chief Pioneer, your task is to rebuild, explore, and—most importantly—command.

The Innovation: Programming with Prose

The most striking departure from genre staples like Factorio or Satisfactory is the replacement of physical conveyor belts with AI-powered automatons. Instead of painstakingly laying down kilometers of track, you interact with your workforce through natural language instructions.

You can literally type, “Collect Levitanium from the northern ruins and deliver it to the smelter,” and the automatons will execute the task. These instructions are converted into editable “state machines,” allowing you to refine logic without needing to learn a complex coding language. This “No-Code” approach to automation lowers the barrier to entry while simultaneously raising the ceiling for creative problem-solving. It feels less like logistics management and more like commanding a digital colony.

Exploration and the Non-Linear Tech Tree

The game avoids the “pre-determined roadmap” feel of traditional tech trees. Progress is tied directly to exploration and discovery. As you pilot your massive airship—a mobile factory base—between distinct biomes, you recover “Old World” relics. These artifacts don’t just unlock a new tier of gear; they branch the tech tree based on your choices. This ensures that a playthrough focused on military expansion feels fundamentally different from one centered on resource optimization.

The world itself is a beautiful blend of Steampunk aesthetics and Asian-influenced architecture. However, the beauty is deceptive. The ruins are guarded by “Old World” machines—dormant security systems still executing their final, lethal commands. Combat is inevitable and requires you to manage your automatons as a defensive militia, bridging the gap between a builder and a real-time strategy game.

Performance and Customization

One of the most impressive feats by the indie team at City From Naught is the level of customization. Not only are the automatons programmable, but the Wonders themselves—massive megastructures that serve as late-game goals—can be customized to signal and interact with each other. This creates a global logic network that makes your base feel like a living, breathing machine.

The Verdict

Brave New Wonders is a bold experiment in how we interact with simulation games. By leaning into AI and natural language, it removes the “fiddliness” of belt management and replaces it with high-level strategic thinking. While it is currently in its early stages (with a demo and playtests showing great promise), it is already shaping up to be a pioneer in the “Next-Gen” of automation strategy.