Have you ever wanted to create your own game studio? If you’re a gamer, the thought had to go through your head at least once. Have you ever wanted to make your games, based on the genres you love, for the consoles you love? Or maybe you wished you were a developer back in the olden days of the video game industry, making games for the retro consoles you still love? Hey, it’s alright, we’ve all had those dreams. Especially for those of us who saw the start of home gaming and wished today’s industry was more like it was back then. Less cutthroat, less dependent on insane budgets and less greedy with new ways to make more cash, like with microtransactions and lootboxes. That’s alright, the industry is a bit crap at the moment, especially on the AAA side of things (which might be why I mostly play indie games lately).
However! Would you like to play yourself as a young developer, growing a studio throughout the history of the gaming industry, with all the attention to detail when it comes to the consoles, their rivalries, their market shares, the genres that work well and not-so-well on them, the target audience options, the dozens of possible topics, and see your games being either hailed as masterpieces, seen as average, or torn to shreds by reviews, all while you manage your budget, create new engines, research the newest developments of the industry, and try to survive in a market that grows more and more competitive by the year?
Phew! If your answer is “…Huh?”, I’m sorry, that
question was really way too long. If the answer is yes, welcome to Game Dev
Tycoon. If it’s no… well, give it a try anyway. Released in 2013, Game Dev
Tycoon is the creation of Greenheart Games, who really “get it” when it comes
to understanding gamers. They even give you an achievement if you name your
in-game company Greenheart Games! Or if you name one of your projects Game Dev
Tycoon. Well, okay, it’s not all perfect, but they’re improving!
The game starts in the simplest of studios: An average
Joe or Jane, making games in his or her garage, on an oldie computer, with…
Okay, either they had the budget for a car that favored cool looks over
performance, or this new game developer’s family name is Brown and they’ve got
an uncle named Emmett.
I don't think there's much I can do for now... This selection sucks. |
Oh yeah, have I mentioned that the four topics are
picked at random among 51 different subjects? There are quite a few stinkers in
there that only work well with one genre. Topics that work with many (more than
2) base genres are quite rare. Oh, and there’s one base genre (Casual) that you
must unlock through research, too! This limits your creativity. Researching
topics takes away valuable time as well, especially at first when you’re a
single developer.
I can see a Game Boy up there. Oh wait, "GameLing". Right. |
Later, a target audience system is introduced to the
game, letting you make games for young or mature audiences, or for everyone.
It’s up to you to figure out what works well as a combination (genre, topic,
system, audience), to rack in the most money. Older gamers will love Cyberpunk
or Horror settings, but kids will hate them. Meanwhile, kids love Fashion (??)
or School (??????) games, but mature audiences won’t. Actually, I don’t know
why kids would love those genres either, really. And what do you mean, kids don't like horror? How do you explain Goosebumps? Or Roald Dahl, for God's sake!
You can look back at your various projects and see the score they received. 6.25? Not horrendous. You should see the hatred the sequel received. |
You see, one of the main parts of the game is how
these elements work together, which means the two developers at Greenheart
Games had to imagine these combinations and judge whether they actually do mix well. Now, the gaming industry has been going on for about four decades, so most
possible combinations have been made and many have actually been quite popular.
Many combinations, however, will not work so well in Game Dev Tycoon; as an
example, an action or adventure game will work poorly in the City topic, even
though there are dozens of examples in the real world. Beat’em-ups frequently
take place in a city… though maybe that’s not what they meant with the topic?
They eventually patched some of the combinations they thought didn’t make
sense, when fans pointed out successful examples of said combinations. Can’t
blame them for making a few mistakes along the road, that’s normal in the
creation of any game.
Same goes for the combinations between genre and
console. The starting systems, PC and G64, are decent for most genres, but hate
casual games, while the first home console, the TES, absolutely loves them –
just a shame you unlock the research for the Casual genre a while after that
console pops on the market! In fact, most systems don’t like strategy games
(meaning you’ll usually release them on PC, the only system that will still
support them over time), while simulation games will work on almost every
console or system.
And like I said: you have a bad starting selection of
four topics? Tough. You waste time researching, and you can only research one
topic at a time. Some of the more dedicated players will restart the game until
they get a decent starting selection. The Random Number God has ways of screwing
you over here too. That’s always been an element of tycoon games, admittedly.
I'm gonna have to remove a few bugs before release... But dammit, that Finish button is so tempting! |
Oopsie! I forgot to give my game a name! |
"I hope Neverending Fantasy does well. I am putting my all into this one. My company will be in trouble if it fails. And hey, if it's good enough, we might make 15 more sequels to it!" |
I give this set of reviews a 6/10: Acceptable, not amazing. |
In Game Dev Tycoon, sequels aren't accepted and are, in fact, utterly hated by reviewers until you actually research the option to make sequels to games you've made before. That's not okay. |
Why "PAArcourse"? PAA is acronym for Planned All Along. |
"Law/Adventure"? Maybe I can finally make that Judge Dredd platformer I always wanted to do! |
Or, y’know... keep self-publishing small games, but never
get the wider scope and distribution made possible by a publisher. See the
risks and rewards? Take the risk, reap the rewards if you succeed… or lose
money if you fail. Tough choice. You win if your studio manages to survive and
avoid bankruptcy for 35 in-game years.
I bought a legal copy. I ain't seeing this happen. |
Because seriously, fuck pirates, they deserve all that's coming to them if they're too fucking cheap to buy a little indie title that doesn't even cost 10 bucks. |
I actually agree with the method taken here. The
makers of Game Dev Tycoon raise a solid point, and have added another statement
that cements their stance on the matter.
Although the message doesn’t hurt those who bought a
legal copy of the game, which I did, because it’s only 8 dollars. And it’s
actually a pretty great game! Yeah, I enjoy it. It’s not an easy game, but it’s
fun. As with any tycoon game, there’s a lot of variables to take into
consideration, and you need to manage your money very wisely. The gameplay is
basic, as everything is done with the mouse (outside of naming games,
obviously). Most of the action is about making the right games, using good
combinations, and picking the right contracts when the time comes to make
bigger games. You also need to take dozens of variables into the equation, such
as the current market trends, the consoles’ market shares, how much work to
apply to every element of a game’s production, and the charge of work of every
employee you have.
That’s about all there is to the gameplay. There’s a
level-up system through which you become better with the various elements of
game design. Your employees also level up and receive better paychecks as they
go. As a result, with time, your expenses increase, which mean you
eventually have to keep making successful bigger games in order to make enough
money and repay your employees. It’s tough!
"Surgery"? That's a viable genre? Back in the days of 8- and 16-bit graphics? |
The graphics aren’t all that particular, outside out
the various studios you work in. Your garage, the small studio, the improved
studios, and so on. The decorations on the walls, and the various items in the
studio, make for a nice touch. Every employee you hire has a unique design and
skills. The music’s okay, nothing spectacular, just something to accompany the
tycoon game. I do enjoy the Easter eggs we can find in the game, whether it’s
the message from Dave Johnson (yes, yes, from Portal!) or the various figurines
in later studios.
Really, I like this game. Now I just gotta beat it,
but I have more bad luck than should be possible. Seriously, do NOT pirate it; buy it. Buy it, this game is worth your money. Although I swear, if this game taught me anything, it's that I am happy to be on
the reviewer side of things, because I ain’t ready for the cutthroat game dev
side of things. I’ll stay where I am, thank you very much!
Next week, something completely different!
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