To all Factory Managers, thank you for your patience!
Early Access for Lazy Witch's Factory has finally begun!
In this version, you can enjoy the following new content:
Development sponsors “Mammon” and “Belphegor”, who offer new strategies
‘Inferno’, a new difficulty mode where you must endure the disruption of “Taxation”
Progress through factory development under special rules, such as modified victory conditions and starting resources “Special Missions”
Numerous new repayment bonuses that support players’ strategic planning and flexible gameplay
A series of hilarious meeting episodes between the demon sponsors and Factory Manager Momoko
Various options for improving quality of life and customizing the gaming experience
We hope you enjoy the game, which has been significantly expanded since the demo version!
If you’re considering live streaming or creating mods, please refer to the guidelines we released recently.
We’d be delighted if you could help liven up the community with your own creations!
Below, we’ll introduce the changes from the demo version (some content is from the Playtest version).
====================
“Mammon” and “Belphegor” make their debut.
Both are higher-difficulty sponsors compared to the existing lineup and will be unlocked via “Repayment Bonuses” once you’ve become accustomed to the game. To maximize their potential, you’ll need a deep understanding of the game’s systems, advanced strategic planning, and the skill to efficiently build your production lines.
=====================================
The president of the Central Bank, who swears allegiance to Gehenna, the Lord of Hell.
His hobbies include falsifying ledgers and embezzlement.
=====================================
This sponsor specializes in “Expanding Factory Land” and is responsible for strengthening and supplying the familiar “Transport Raven”.
You can also aim for victory through the unconventional method of earning cash by flipping land.
With Mammon’s help—which allows you to secure a transportation network independent of conveyor belt supplies—you’ll be able to gather resources from anywhere and build factories in any shape you desire.
However, the contracts Mammon offers contribute very little to a direct increase in production capacity. Be sure to carefully consider how to combine this sponsor with others before hiring them.
===========================================
A Witch boss who oversees familiars using magical power.
She was granted this power from her true wish: “I don’t want to work.”
===========================================
This sponsor is responsible for strengthening and supplying the familiar “Summoner Witch” and specializes in “Mass Tactics and Securing Familiars.”
In addition to being able to craft and obtain familiars and exchange surplus familiars for cash, you can also turn gems into a source of cash income.
Since witches can craft other witches, their numbers can grow exponentially (even though they’re cats)*. In other words, once you hire Belphegor, you can expect a steady increase in production capacity.
On the other hand, those familiars—even though their numbers have skyrocketed—won’t do a thing unless you, the factory manager, give them orders. Be prepared for non-stop, grueling work with no time even to doze off.
*Translator’s note: In Japanese, the idiom “mouse math” refers to a “rapid increase in numbers.”
We’ve added various elements that let you enjoy more challenging gameplay. All of these will be unlocked through “Repayment Rewards.”
If you find progress difficult, try playing other content to collect Repayment Rewards, or lower the difficulty before attempting it again.
This is a special game mode that becomes available as you progress through your repayments.
In the “Busy Season” mission, the “Nonstop Calls” buff—which increases the order refresh rate—is always active, but only Common Contracts appear. You can enjoy a gameplay experience that’s a bit different from standard factory development.
In addition,
“Use chemicals instead of cash to progress through repayment”
“Epic Contracts available from the start of the game in exchange for a corresponding penalty”
and other special rules have been implemented.
The difficulty is generally higher than in standard factory development, but since clearing certain missions unlocks “Repayment Rewards,” the challenges should become easier little by little.
We encourage you to tackle the missions one by one, starting with those you feel confident about.
Currently, there are a total of 10 special missions—two for each of the five sponsored companies already implemented.
This mode is only available on difficulty levels of Hell 1 and above.
Please check the game for detailed information.
We’ve added a tier that surpasses the existing highest difficulty, “Hell 3.” Currently, only Inferno 1 is available.
In this difficulty, various “tax” penalties are applied that make factory management more challenging.
You can check the details of these taxes in the Executive Office; the same settings apply to both factory development and all special missions.
Devise a strategy to navigate these heavy taxes, select the appropriate sponsor, and take on the challenge.
Please check the game for detailed information, such as the effects of “taxes.”
We’ve added various objects that may spawn in the center of your land.
These will serve as a stepping stone to clearing various high-difficulty modes.
This is an object that grants you rewards upon completing requests from sponsors.
In addition to rewards obtainable from existing features such as “Resources & Relics” and “Familiars”,
new types of rewards—such as “Contracts,” “New Recipes & Upgrades to Existing Recipes,” and “Discard Recipes to Convert to Resources”—have also been added.
You can claim each reward only once per object.
With the exception of recipe-altering tasks, most requests—such as “Craft the specified item n times”—primarily involve actions that do not result in direct resource loss.
The available trade options will vary depending on the sponsoring company.
By paying cash to use them, you can obtain buffs and familiars, among other things.
You can use them multiple times, but the cost of use will gradually increase.
All currently implemented payphones are linked to the sponsor “Gehenna” and may appear throughout the game.
In Regifac, where you convert limited time into cash, smooth operation is extremely important.
Please be sure to carefully review the changes in the patch notes.
New key configuration option“Connect Raven to the Same Unloading Point as Last”
This new option allows you to place a Raven with a single click.
By holding down the designated key, a transport range will be displayed from the last unloading point you set. If you place a transport Raven within that range, it will automatically connect to that unloading point.
By default, this is set to the Ctrl key.
Implementation of Unloading Point Placement Mode
Using this mode allows you to place the Raven’s unloading point first.
Switch to this mode by equipping a Transport Raven and pressing the Tab key or summoning a Transport Raven.
The “Prevent Conveyor Overwrite” setting has been updated to “Allow overwriting of same-type conveyors”
Even when the option is enabled, Water Conveyors and Rapid-Flow Conveyors can now overwrite each other
Set the default value for the “Conveyor Overwrite Prevention” setting to “Allow”
We originally added this as a fix for beginners to prevent unintended direction changes, but in the long run, we determined that players would be able to enjoy the game at a better pace if they got used to playing with the setting on “Allow.”
Made “No Recipe” copy and paste-able
Added the ability to view non-cash income and expenses from the Statistics screen
Added a “Return to Office” button to the in-game menu
Set to automatically set the initial language
Applied only when no save data exists, using the following priority order
1. Language set in launch options (e.g., -language=jp)
Loads settings from Steam Library -> Right-click game title -> Properties -> General -> Launch Options
2. The language currently displayed on Steam
3. The language set in the OS
4. English if none of the above are detected
Added a new setting: “Frame Rate Control”
Allows you to set “Vsync On/Off” and “Frame Rate Cap”
Updated the credits display on the title screen.
The names of those who participated in the crowdfunding campaign are now listed. Thank you very much for your support of the campaign.
Additionally, company names raised through crowdfunding will now be randomly selected to appear as the purchaser’s name and landowner’s name.
This feature can be turned on or off at any time via the new “User-Generated Content” setting.
Please note that since this crowdfunding campaign was targeted at Japan, this feature is set to be off by default if you start the game in a language other than Japanese. If you are a non-Japanese speaker who supported the project, please take a moment to turn it on in the settings.
We have adjusted all sponsor contracts to align with the latest game environment.
We’ve implemented changes to improve quality of life (QoL), reduce cognitive load by omitting excessive text, and resolve the anti-synergy between price-based skills and the “Cast on Behalf” buff.
Overall, you should now have more opportunities to use staff skills.
To increase usage frequency, we’ve removed the previous long-press casting method and simplified the controls.
New Controls: Press the cast command once to start casting / Press it again to cancel
Casting is also canceled by Pause, Time Acceleration, or moving the equipment cursor.
Movement does not cancel casting. Feel free to run around the factory while casting spells.
Granting mana resources equal to the initial cost: Discontinued
Change to staff skill cost increase: (Usage count + 1)² times the pre-use cost → Defined per contract; n times the pre-use cost
Reference: Old costs: 100 → 400 → 3,600 → 57,600
Initial cost: 100
Cost remains 1x per use (i.e., does not increase)
Gain a fixed amount of the corresponding resource—2,000 (Fireball, Corrosive Liquid) / 500 (Sell on the Side)—per use
Initial cost: 100
Cost triples with each use
Number of distilled slimes granted: 10 → 5
Initial cost: 100
Cost triples with each use
Initial cost: 10,000
Cost triples with each use
A group of general-purpose contracts that can be effective in any game will be added.
Currently, aside from using Mammon, the means of resolving transport bottlenecks heavily rely on the number of randomly appearing Torrent Conveyors, and the frequency of their appearance directly affects the win rate.
To resolve this issue, Gehena is extending a helping hand (for a fee).
New Uncommon Contract “Dredging” (Reusable)
Conveyor Speed +100% All resources except cash: -1,000 A fixed cost of x100 points is charged for each type of resource (excluding cash) where the quantity falls below 0
New Rare Contract “Infrastructure Investment” (Reusable)
Conveyor Speed +200%
Fixed cost of x200 points + 200 points charged for every 50 installed or unsummoned conveyors and splitters
Adjustments to Related Penalties and Buffs
New Penalty“Environmental Pollution”: Conveyor speed and Transport Raven speed are reduced by a percentage equal to the points of this penalty (up to 100%).
At 100 points of Environmental Pollution, all conveyors and Ravens will stop.
Appears as a penalty in certain special missions and contract effects.
Buff “Cleaned” Effect: Conveyor speed x 4 -> +300%
Since combining this with various acceleration contracts can cause conveyors to reach extremely high speeds, resulting in a massive processing load, we’ve capped the total effect by applying it as an additive bonus.
With the unlocking of repayment rewards, Gehenna will begin offering new contracts.
Please check the game for details.
We are replacing certain contracts that provide a poor gaming experience with contracts that synergize with “Gem Carving.”
Through this change, Belphegor’s strategy of “swarming with Gem Carving and Familiar Crafting” will be further emphasized, making it easier to visualize a path to victory.
Epic Contract “Headhunting”
Rare Contract “Magic Drain”
Although these effects are powerful and fun, they place too heavy a burden on line design when countering Belphegor’s “flood-and-overwhelm” strategy, so they are being removed.
A new contract with the same name will be created.
Common Contract “Magic Potion”
New Common Contract “Convert Prism” (Reusable)
Staff Skill Change: Converts Mining Points into a random gem vein. Initial cost: 100; triples with each use
New Common Contract “Magic Drain” (Reusable)
Gain 1 “Magic Drain” Relic.
Effect: Each time you consume 1 Engraved Gem, gain Magic equal to the number of this Relic you possess.
New Rare Contract “Waste Embezzlement” (Non-Reusable)
Summoner Witch’s work speed + [Number of most-consumed Engraved Gems] x 0.1%]
New Epic Contract “Royal Straight Flush” (Cannot be reused)
Added recipe for Summoner Witch: All types of Engraved Gems x1 -> Mithril x5
The price of “Mithril” has been adjusted. Please check the “Satan” entry.
Contract “Random Pebble Sculpture” -> Renamed to “Overreporting”
Rarity: Rare → Uncommon
Reusability: Cannot be reused → Can be reused
Since the real-time cash deductions caused by this penalty were detracting from the gaming experience more than the actual effect warranted, we are replacing it with a new effect that emphasizes the concept of an “advance.”
The existing “Labor Costs” penalty has been replaced with the new penalty “Fixed Costs”
Fixed Costs: “Every time resources are deducted to repay debt, you lose a number of those resources equal to the points of this penalty.”
Contract“Fake Employee ID”
Rarity: Uncommon → Rare
Reusability: Possible → Not Possible
Fixed Cost Granted: 100
Number of Familiar granted: 30 random familiars (drawn one at a time)
Buff “Timewalk” Work Speed: x4 → +300%
Buff “24-Hour Shift” Work Speed: x3 → +200%
Please refer to the “Lucifer” section for the reasons behind these adjustments.
These are revisions from the Playtest version. Since the game is generally in good shape, the changes are minor.
Enjoy a dizzying array of mischief alongside Mammon.
There are no changes to the effect or Mammon’s Devotion.
Relic “Worship of Gehenna” renamed →“Indulgence”
Contract “Worship of Gehenna” renamed → “Indulgence”
Contract “Reload: Donation” renamed → “Reload: Diversion”
This contract was designed to consume excess transport resources, but since the return—in the form of Transport Ravens—was too indirect for debt repayment, we have adjusted its effect.
New Contract Name“Donation”
Consumes all unsummoned familiars and facilities. Gains Indulgences equal to 20 times the amount consumed. (Amount Gained: -) If this effect grants 5,000 or more Indulgences, your Indulgence holdings are quadrupled.
Contract “Vested Interests” Discontinued
Since gaining cash deviates from the role of a Common contract, and the effect is too limited to justify upgrading it to Uncommon, we are discontinuing it.
Contract “Redefinition of ‘1’” Speed: x2 -> +100%
Contract “Theory of Hell’s Reconstruction” Speed: x10 -> +900%
Please refer to the “Lucifer” section for the reasons behind these adjustments.
Since acquiring certain Contracts results in performance that clearly exceeds the basic strategy of securing resources, we are nerfing them.
If you look at the actual modifier values currently in effect, you’ll likely understand the reasoning behind these adjustments.
“Woodpecker Stance,” “Early Dismissal” (triggered by 50 excess goblins), and “Form Instruction”
Let’s examine the case where all of these are combined.
[100% (base speed) + 500% (Early Exit)] x 4 (Woodpecker Stance) x 8 (Form Training)
= 19,200%
Since the base speed is one strike per second, the pickaxe is swung 192 times per second, resulting in 64 mining operations for iron ore.
Previously, due to transport bottlenecks, the only way to utilize this speed was by stacking “Whetstone” and “Gold Rush” to aim for a “perfect hand” victory.
However, with the newly implemented Conveyor Acceleration Contract, this overwhelmingly powerful mining capability can now be easily converted into resources, causing its power to skyrocket. While it is regrettable, we will make adjustments to make it harder for these effects to stack.
Contract “Woodpecker Stance”
Speed Increase Rate x4 -> +300%
Buff “Form Instruction”
Speed Increase Rate x8 -> +700%
After this change, the work speed in the aforementioned scenario will be 1600% = 16 strikes per second = 5.3 iron ore mined.
Please note that we have made similar adjustments to other speed-related buffs as well.
We are making adjustments in light of the nerfs to the speed buffs mentioned above.
Contract “Whetstone” Amount granted: 1 → 2
Buff “Engraved Jade” Resources consumed per critical hit: 1 → 2
Since this contract lacks synergy with Lucifer’s strategy but is effective in most games, we are changing its provider.
Sponsor: Lucifer → Gehenna
This is a new type of contract where you can earn rewards simply by assigning surplus goblins. Let’s show Lord Lucifer how hard we’re working.
Effect: For 60 seconds, for every item mined by a Mining Goblin, you gain double the amount of all resources (excluding cash).
We are making significant buffs to ensure this contract remains playable even as inflation progresses in the late game.
This should also serve as a countermeasure against taxation in Inferno mode.
Money Tree: Gold Coin Drop Count
Normal Mining: 1 → 5
Critical Mining: 2 → 10
In the pre-release test environment, he was an exceptionally powerful sponsor due to his group of low-risk, high-return contracts.
We are revising the design to clearly identify bottlenecks and allow for flexible gameplay where players can decide which risks are acceptable to take.
Since these contracts allow players to self-sufficiently bypass the increased fuel requirements associated with factory expansion, Satan alone can battle through the debt hell without needing synergy with other sponsors.
We will add bottlenecks to scaling and adjust the system so that either “transport capacity” or “resource supply” becomes an issue.
Contract “Compression”
New penalty added: Raw material consumption x2
Since this contract is too powerful—effectively increasing the number of Salamanders, reducing transport capacity, and cutting raw material consumption all at once—we will nerf the raw material reduction aspect.
Contract “Craft Carefully”
New Penalty Added: “Environmental Pollution” x10
Contract “Water-Cooled Craft”
Penalty “Conveyor Speed Decrease -10%” -> “Environmental Pollution” x5
We’re revising these to shift them from “romantic cannons where simply building them guarantees victory” to “realistically viable options”.
We have revised recipes and prices, adjusting Adamantite to be “Nitro” and Mithril to be a high-risk, high-reward version of “Gold Coins”. Orichalcum remains set to have a challenging recipe befitting its legendary status.
List of New Recipes
Adamantite Price
All Resources 1,000 x 3 slots -> Fuel 1,000, Cash 100
Mithril Price
All Resources 1 x 3 slots → Cash 1 x 3 slots
Orichalcum Price
All Resources 1,000 x 3 slots → All Resources 3, Fuel 3, Cash 3
All Resources: No longer grants Cash.
Since it is generally in good shape, the changes are minor.
Let’s cover Hell in slime alongside Leviathan.
Since this contract is antisynergistic with the Leviathan’s “high-volume, low-margin” strategy, we’re reworking it to a different effect while maintaining the concept of “reducing transport to strengthen slimes.”
New Effect: Consumes all unsummoned water flow conveyors. Increases Distilled Slime work speed: Number consumed × 0.5%
This contract was designed to overcome the transport bottleneck that occurs when using Leviathan, but since its current power level is undeniably insufficient, we will be implementing a buff.
Due to the nature of “Tear,” there is a risk that exceeding certain thresholds could disrupt game balance, so we will continue to monitor its performance carefully.
Production Item Change
Chemical x 1 -> Chemical Reaction x 2
Rarity: Epic → Rare
This is an exceptionally powerful option capable of creating synergy with many contracts, and since its power has increased further with the addition of transport acceleration, we are raising its rarity to reduce the frequency of its use.
Rarity: Rare → Epic
Buff “Venom” Speed: x4 → +300%
Order Balance Adjustments
Increased the amount of “Indulgence” obtained
Doubled the number of “Short-Sale Bills” in the drop table
They now appear more frequently from the early to late game.
Reduced the quantity of temporary buffs obtained in the late game
Increased the spawn rate of familiars and water conveyors; decreased the spawn rate of buffs, relics, etc.
We have implemented a feature to send gameplay data to the development team.
Additionally, match results for each gameplay session are now recorded in the save data folder.
(Under AppData\\LocalLow\\MELTCLOCK\\LazyWitchsFactory)
We plan to implement a feature to display match histories based on this data in the future.
Information Recorded in Match Results
Win/Loss
Returning to the Office / Title Screen or exiting the app is recorded as a loss.
Game Mode / Select Special Mission
Difficulty
Sponsor
Statistics / Contract History
Order / Transaction Usage
Timestamps for each completed repayment
Tax Details
Moving forward, we will improve game balance not only based on feedback but also using your play history. We would greatly appreciate it if you could play with data transmission enabled to help us accumulate information for the development team.
Data—excluding device-dependent graphics settings such as resolution—is now automatically saved to Steam.
Reduced rendering cost for terrain decorations (weeds)
Expanded variety of terrain decorations (pebbles)
Expanded the number of terrain tile variations from 9 to 47 (to prevent display glitches at seam lines)
Syntax corrections for contract effect text
Penalty effects, such as increased raw material consumption, are now displayed in red
Terms like “increase” and “decrease” have been omitted; only the sign is displayed
For contracts that only grant buffs or relics, their effects are now included in the text
Display background images during meetings
Replace some tutorial explanation images with videos
Replace beta-version textures with those from the official release
Rename facility: “Shipping Exit” → “Unloading Point”
Display icons on the tabs in the Settings and Statistics screens
Change the display priority of connection effect visuals for familiars and facilities so they appear above the objects themselves
Connection points hidden behind objects are now easier to see.
Corrections to some text
Bug where Momoko’s lighting did not update while she was asleep
Bug where Momoko might perform a moonwalk upon waking up
Bug where individual body parts did not move properly during the Witch’s animation
Bug where statistics continued to be calculated while the victory jingle played after a match ended
Measures to prevent parameter overflow
Corrected a missing character in the application name
Bug where cached data remained in the tooltip for mining points in contract descriptions
Icon misalignment when hovering over items in the contract description
Fixed horizontal scrolling behavior in Contract History, Repayment Bonuses, and Repayment Bonus Notifications
Bug where, after destroying mining points with a staff skill, items could be retrieved from the mining goblin’s original location
Momoko speaks when the “Exit Game” button is pressed
This is a transition animation between saving and data transmission. Please wait until the window closes naturally.
After the game loss cutscene plays, Momoko loses her memory
What on earth happened……?
====================
That concludes the introduction to the Early Access version’s content!
The “Roguelite Factory Builder” concept this game embodies was a game genre that didn’t exist on the market when we began planning in April 2024.
No one—not even the developers—knew how to make it fun.
Now, nearly two and a half years later, we’re able to release this version for you to play today thanks to all the feedback we’ve gathered from you through playtests and demos.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you once again—thank you very much!
We ask for your continued support until the full release.
And now, please enjoy this Early Access version of the game, which has gained even more depth!