Factory 42 combines worker placement, negotiation, and resource management elements in a coherent, tightly woven game set in the world of Zanziar. Two to five players compete as Dwarven factory foremen guiding their workers through the manufacturing process, earning rewards from the fulfilment of government orders. Bureaucracy hinders the process, affects the supply to the common resource pools, and can punish foremen for failing to fulfil orders. The factory production line has quotas to be met, rivals to undercut, tools to improve, and shady deals to be made.