I played this game based on a fundraiser I did for charity (listeners to my podcast donated a certain amount and I would play a game they requested). Wow! I am glad they picked this game!
Game Dev Tycoon feels like a paired down version of some of the classic simulation games, like Roller Coaster Tycoon or Zoo Tycoon. Instead of getting bogged down in specific missions, or meticulously picking flowers, paving stones, fences, ect. to make your park beautiful, you instead are picking Topics (Horror, Vampire, Fantasy, Dance, School, ect.), Genre (RPG, Action, Strategy, Casual, ect.), Platform, and Game Engine, later age focus also pops up; you then use sliders to focus on specific aspects of the game, so for an RPG in phase 2 I focused hard on Quest/Story.
Picking the right combos helps develops better games, while picking duds creates bad games.
The deeper part of the game is balancing research, you need to constantly research new technology to improve your game development, which you then put into new game engines. You also will get to hire more people, all of which, including your main character, have stats for design, tech, speed, and research; which influences how many points they add to your game for those style things.
I found the act of discovering new topics, combos, researching tech, and managing employees a LOT of fun. I kept finding my time disappear as I said just one more game, or oh lets see how this new game engine, or new specialty does.
What makes this game incredibly replayable, is it has a set end time, 35 years of play, which takes about 6 hours. At the end you are given a score, based on a bunch of factors such as money at the end of the game, number of fans, number of good games developed, ect.
After my first play through I thought I could do better, since I understood the long-term strategy of employee development and tech research. However, starting topics are random, and I immediately lost 4 times in a row LOL. I just finished my second full play through (6th attempt), I was struggling with some new topics, but leaned heavy into developing RPGs, particularly successfully later in the game once I got quest/story and dialogue specialists.
At the end of the game my final score tabulated, 5 million less points then the first one! I had to resist diving right back in for another attempt!
I can see how this game isn't for everyone. It is more about managing a whole company, rather then developing individual games. I took a lot of joy in naming my games based on a theme, so my second play through was TSR, so everything was D&D themed. But the individual games themselves are less important then the long term trends and successes you are building towards. Nothing was more enjoyable though, then to have a few duds come out, and then finally release a 9.75 or perfect 10 game (I even got a 10.5 one time), and seeing your income sky rocket!
There are a lot of strategies to reach higher scores at the end. Which style games do you lean into? Do you eventually develop an MMO or a console of your own? How do you build hype? Do you stick to a few genres and topics you know, or develop more broadly to better flex with trends? There are a LOT of paths you can take that I think make the strategy and planning of the game really fun.
Overall, if you like simulation games, but don't like getting bogged down in decorating, I think Game Dev Tycoon is worth giving a try.
