Game Dev Tycoon--The Last of my Steam winter sale purchases.

Happy New Year!  I predict that 2015 will be filled with more great (and not so great games).  The Steam sale is winding down with only two more days left.  You can still get many great games for low (or lower) prices.  I've been writing about my purchases and only have one left that I haven't written about yet.  I haven't quite finished a full playthrough, but I'm enjoying Game Dev Tycoon.

Game Dev Tycoon is an indie game that recreates the history of gaming.  Your goal is to start a small game development company and grow it into a mega-gaming company.  The early parts of the game have you working alone in your garage creating small games.  As you create games you rack up points for design and technology (I still haven't really figured out how this is calculated).  Part of the game is figuring out which genre/topic combinations work best.  So you want to make a casual zombie game?  Maybe not the best combo, but go for it!  After you've picked your genre and topic you use a simple slider system to decide which design elements are going to go into your game.  This also involves some logic--better sound is more important in a music based game than in an RPG.  Your design choices influence the success of the game you create and part of the puzzle is figuring out which aspects of game design work best for certain types of games.

Once you've racked up enough technology points you can perform research and unlock special features to create your own gaming engine.  At first the engines are rather simple with only a few choices about graphics, sound, and gameplay.  As you progress you can add even more features to your engine to make it even better--3D graphics, cloud saves, AI companions, etc.  If you have enough success and make some cash you are given the option to move up to a bigger office and hire employees.  Your employees are instrumental in helping you design bigger, better games.

Fullmertronics.  Working hard on making great pirate games.

I've reached the point where I have six employees working for me and a fairly large fanbase.  Games cost millions of dollars to design and I feel the pressure of constantly trying to make them better to keep up with the rapidly changing technology.  I now have the option of creating large games across many platforms.  My most successful games have been pirate themed action/adventure series known as "Captain's Booty."  The sequel "Captain's Booty 2:  Bootylicious" also did quite well.  I guess my company has found it's niche.

Some people might not find Game Dev Tycoon to be that exciting.  Much of the game is looking at charts and graphs--a fairly typical management game.  I am enjoying the decision making aspect of this game.  It has been fun to see how my choices turn out--sometimes a game I think is going to be a total success is a complete flop.  If you like management games you might enjoy Game Dev Tycoon and can pick it up for low price.  It's still in early access, but is polished enough to be quite enjoyable.