Game Dev Tycoon is an indie game created by Greenheart Games. Greenheart Games was founded in 2012, by two brothers. Patrick and Daniel Klug. They hoped to created something great which would not rely on any micro transactions and would not cost too much to buy the initial game.
Personally, I believe they achieved this goal.
Game Dev Tycoon is obviously a simulation where you are a game developer. You can tell that by the game title. Though, what you can’t tell is how fun this game is. Most tycoons will have a sit-back-and-relax portion of the game where you wait for certain things to happen. Though, in Game Dev Tycoon, you are constantly working your butt off trying to plan and develop games, please fans, research new technology and game genres, and match genres to how well they would play on system.
This game may be easy for some, but it’s not very simple. It roughly follows real history in terms of which gaming consoles were successful and during what timeframe. If you know your gaming history, you’ll do fine. Just watch out for market share percentages when buying a new and amazing console license to develop games on.
The game starts off pretty stereotypical. You begin by yourself in your small little garage on your old fashioned computer. Eventually you will work your way up into a small office and hire employees and the likes. As you progress further into the game, you will unlock new features and ways to do things such as create medium length games and train your employees in certain traits. It gets quite complex, but keeps a simple atmosphere about it.
The tricky part about this game is the fact that you almost need to know how games are made and what to focus on in certain games in order to proceed. Which game would be better if it had better dialogue over graphics? Which would want better sound? You need to know how to balance the aspects of a game.
You gain research points which can be used to research new technology, game genres, and other important knowledge as said before. Knowing what to spend your points on is another tricky part of the game. It’s all strategy and that is what makes it fun for those who like strategy, and not only those who like simulations.
The graphic style of the game is very nice. It’s clean, sleek, and bright colored. It has smooth edges and it looks gorgeous overall. Especially for an indie game.
The only fault I found with this game, other than it being difficult for some, is that it becomes quite boring and repetitive after a while. Though, the best part about this game is that you can set it down and will always have the urge to play it again in the future. Heck, writing about this has even made me want to play it again!
Overall, I rate this game 8/10. High due to its small developer team size and how it basically feels like you’re playing a full-blown company game. It only loses 2 points because of the difficulty and repetition.
