I strongly believe that automation or similar games can bolster one's understanding of systems. I have personally learned a fair deal that I have implemented in my work. Below is a list of games I have played and what they bring to the table.

The GOAT.

Fun game but offers little learning after having already played Factorio extensively. Got to Phase 4 twice.

Similar to Factorio in design langauge but resources are free. The game quickly becomes a geometric puzzle game using the language of conveyor belts and process machines. Concepts such as throughput, belt size/speed, and scalability are important.

I did not much care for this game. I never got to a point where early-game resources became trivial. Setting up new production stacks took more and more work.