Game Dev Tycoon Review (PC)

good
key review info
  • Game: Game Dev Tycoon
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
  • Reviewed on:

Have you ever wanted to start your own video game company and create the games you have always dreamed of? With Game Dev Tycoon, you can replay the history of the gaming industry and become the leader of the game market with millions of fans around the world.

As in every business, in order to reach the top, you must build your company from scratch and make yourself noticed through some memorable game titles. The action begins in the 80s, a period of time when the first PCs came out and the gaming industry was flourishing.

In Game Dev Tycoon, you start the adventure in a small garage office as the sole employee of your newly founded game company. With a budget of only 70k, you can now start creating your first game.

The first step in the development process is to pick the supported platform, a topic, a genre and, of course, a catchy name that will attract the attention of the game critics.

When you’re happy with all of that, you have to choose the graphics engine for your future title. Graphic engines can be simple (text-based) or complex (2D and 3D) depending on the research points.

While developing your game, you will see design and technology game points starting to be generated. These points will determine how good the game is and will allow you to improve your skills to create better games.

During development, you will also generate research points, which you can use to unlock new game topics, research new technology and improve your staff’s abilities.

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Start from a garage office
...and build the biggest game company

The development process also offers you a few options that will decide the success/failure rate of your games. This can be mastered mostly through trial-and-error or by focusing on the key elements of the basic genres (e.g. focus on dialogues/story for RPG and adventure games).

As the game progresses, new platforms will start to emerge, each with their target market. Companies like Ninvento, Vena, Vonny and Mirconoft (a funny spinoff of the famous Nintendo, Sega, Sony and Microsoft) begin to release their first home gaming consoles, each focusing on different audience types.

After a few successful titles, you can forget about your garage and move into a small office building or, why not, your own company headquarters that will allow you to expand your business and further increase your development potential.

With this move also come more responsibilities, including more employees, larger payrolls and better opportunities to stand out on the market and make a name for yourself.

You will have to hire new staff, each with special skills in design, technology or a balanced mix of both. Training your staff regularly improves the chances of releasing larger, more complex games that require a bigger budget.

If you don’t have the fanbase required to release a large or AAA game, you can always use the help of publishers who will grant you a small percentage of the total sales if you meet their requirements. If you fail to deliver a good game, you will suffer various penalties that will drain your budget.

In order to succeed in Game Dev Tycoon, you must carefully balance your human resources as well as learning how to combine the different game elements and the time spent developing the core features of your games.

Aiming to create fantasy RPGs or military action games is a good choice while going for martial arts adventure or medieval simulations might burn holes in your budget.

After your games are completed, some of the best game critiques will review them. The reviewing process is somewhat dull and doesn’t provide any in-depth information on why your game didn’t to get a bigger score or why it failed. You can only assume that not enough time was spent with certain aspects which made the game a total mess.

Even if your game is bad, you can create some hype around it using Marketing campaigns. The more money you invest in your marketing campaign, the greater the impact on your sales will be. You can also attend the annual G3 (similar to the E3) convention to promote your games, boost sales and generate even more hype around your company.

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Build your own Hardware lab
...and create memorable games

If you want to earn some extra cash and generate new research points, you can search for independent contracts. Be careful and choose only those contracts you can deliver within the time limit or you will have to pay some penalties in case of failure.

Later on in the game, you will get the chance to create your own research and development lab that will grant access to some new cool projects like your own digital distribution platform, MMOs and even AAA titles.

Creating your own hardware lab also has its advantages. You will be able to develop your own gaming console to compete with the other platforms on the market and why not, achieve the highest market share.

In terms of graphics, Game Dev Tycoon comes with some decent visuals that doesn’t really impress the viewer. The office settings are most of the time static and the overall look tends to resemble some Facebook or mobile titles.

The music and notification sounds are nice, but tend to become boring after a few loops. During our gameplay, we have also noticed some small bugs like the inability to participate at the G3 convention due to an unresponsive button.

Conclusion

Game Dev Tycoon takes you back to the roots of game design, from the early PC era to the latest consoles on the market. While the game manages to give a somewhat detailed insight in the world of game development, it fails to provide all the information needed to analyze and improve your odds of success.

For the picky gamers out there, it might not be worth a try, but for anyone who wants to have a good time while trying to make it big in the game industry, it’s definitely worth a shot.

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story 7
gameplay 8
concept 8
graphics 7
audio 7
multiplayer 0
final rating 7.5
Editor's review
good
 
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