Heavy Friction
Run a factory line · slide to produce, hire workers and admins to automate, ship to the warehouse and sell, then expand. A tactile idle game
About Heavy Friction
Heavy Friction is the tactile factory idle game on PlayMemorize. The screen starts with a single heavy production lever. Pull it to 100% and you produce a good; let go and constant friction drags it back toward zero at 4% per second. The work feels heavy · that is the whole point.
The boat. Goods do not sell themselves instantly. A boat departs every 30 seconds carrying up to 5 goods at $3 each, so early on you can produce faster than you can ship. Money funds everything else.
Workers. Hire workers to pull the lever for you · each adds 8% per second against the 4% friction, so one worker nets slow steady progress and each extra worker compounds it. Every hire doubles in price, so the order you automate in is the strategy.
Admin coverage · the heavy-friction core loop. Most idle games tick silently while the tab is closed. This one does not. Your factory only progresses while you are actively here OR while a hired Admin is on shift. You start with 5 minutes of coverage; each Admin you hire grants 30 more, and settling a labor dispute grants another minute. The first 30 seconds after a tab-switch are always free. Leave beyond your coverage and you return to a comedic rebuild cinematic · nothing progressed for that gap.
Warehouse and labor disputes. The warehouse holds 20 goods to start and each upgrade triples the cap. Once your factory has produced 50 lifetime goods the workforce starts raising disputes · riots and strikes that demand money to settle. Labor stability upgrades make them rarer.
Deterministic and offline-friendly. Like every PlayMemorize game, Heavy Friction runs entirely in your browser. Saves to localStorage · no account required. Works offline as part of the PlayMemorize Progressive Web App while you are actively playing.
FAQ
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What is Heavy Friction?
A minimalist factory idle game where the main interaction is a heavy lever fighting you with constant friction. Pull it to 100% to produce a good, ship goods by boat for money, then reinvest in workers, admins, warehouse space, and labor stability. -
How do I earn money?
Goods go to the warehouse the moment the lever completes a pull. A boat departs every 30 seconds carrying up to 5 goods and pays $3 each. The bottleneck is real: early in a run you produce faster than the boat can ship, so the warehouse fills while you wait. -
What do workers do?
Each worker pulls the lever automatically at 8% per second, against the constant 4% friction. One worker keeps the lever creeping forward on its own; each additional worker roughly triples the net speed. Every hire costs double the previous one. -
What is Admin coverage and why is the factory "rebuilding" when I come back?
Heavy Friction lives up to its name: your factory only progresses while you are actively here OR while a hired Admin is on shift. You start with 5 minutes of coverage, each Admin grants 30 more, and settling a labor dispute grants another minute. The first 30 seconds after a tab-switch are always free. If you leave for longer than your remaining coverage, you return to a "Rebuilding" cinematic · pieces tumble back onto the screen and a footnote spells out that nothing actually progressed while you were away. Hire more Admins or stay engaged to keep the line moving. -
What are labor disputes?
Once your factory has produced 50 lifetime goods, the workforce starts raising disputes about every minute · riots and strikes with a cash demand attached. Settle them to keep production moving and earn an extra minute of Admin coverage; ignore them and the line stalls. Labor stability upgrades reduce how often they fire. -
Is my progress saved?
Yes, automatically. Your money, goods, workers, and upgrade levels save to your browser’s localStorage every couple of seconds and survive reloads. The Reset button starts over from zero. -
Can I play offline?
Yes. PlayMemorize is a Progressive Web App; the page is cached on first visit. Install it to your home screen and Heavy Friction works on your next flight, in a tunnel, anywhere.