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1 Blockbuster Inc. is the debut game of developer Super Sly Fox in partnership with publisher Ancient Forge S.A. (The Tenants). I was pleasantly surprised this came from a 3-person team who have added a quality business sim/tycoon game to the genre. The elements of The Sims franchise and the Two Point series especially caught my eye. I was excited to be able to play and review the game and hopefully you are too.
Blockbuster Inc. is available now on PC/Steam.
Bring your Hollywood dreams to life in Blockbuster Inc.
I was excited to play Blockbuster Inc. and it didn’t disappoint. Mixing the mechanics of the business simulators with tongue-in-cheek humour at pop culture, you will have an entertaining time. Comment below what you think of the game and what your favourite movie or TV show was to make.
Gameplay
Blockbuster Inc. takes place on a large plot of land beneath the Filmwood Hills where you will build your studio from scratch. After a very helpful tutorial, the game leaves you to your own devices and sink or swim. Luckily a good amount of starting money will keep you afloat as long as you avoid box office bombs. The game’s long-term campaign is to achieve certain goals at the end of 10 years. This can range from achieving a certain level of prestige to putting rival studios out of business.
These 10-year goals almost took a back seat for me. Instead, I focussed much more on the film/TV I could make. I had a great time learning about the depth and scope of Blockbuster Inc. and how it encapsulated cinema over the past 100 years or so. Being able to choose which decade your career begins, 1920s to 2010s plus various genres made for an immersive experience.
While the aesthetic reminded me of Two Point Hospital, there’s much more detail than expected. The tongue-in-cheek humour about the entertainment industry leans into the Hollywood setting. You are often kept on your toes with various curveballs, from actors being divas halting production to cut-throat execs poaching your staff. This was a fun part of the game but I felt it missed the personality of similar sim/tycoon games.
It is easy enough to progress in Blockbuster Inc. with the surface-level mechanics but if you seek them out there are mechanics for video and sound editing, directing close-ups and more. This is helpful for critics enjoying your films & TV shows and is often part of your 10-year goal. The pace of working towards those goals did feel a bit repetitive but unlocking more creative options from genres and themes to new equipment helped a lot. I also felt this level of variety and detail shows the complexity of making a movie in an entertaining and palatable way.
Graphics & Audio
A common element of business sim/tycoon games is stylised graphics which Blockbuster Inc. does well. There isn’t much animation from the staff and crew, but when filming, each genre has a trope, like a gangster shootout or a Saw-esque room for a horror movie. This was especially fun when fast-forwarding and worked well with the different genres and the game’s humour. Playing on PC there are a lot of options when it comes to graphics, from resolution to shadow and texture quality. For me, it looked and ran just as well on medium as cinematic mode plus wasn’t as taxing on my PC.
I did encounter a few issues with the game, particularly staff seemingly disappearing and being unable to finish a project. Also, it got to a point where the game was often crashing which made for a frustrating experience. Blockbuster Inc.’s music worked well enough but sounds and sound effects didn’t add much which could have meant providing the personality/emotion missing from the gameplay.
Longevity
After playing for several hours I am still enjoying Blockbuster Inc. Even with the in-depth tutorial, there is much more to the game than I expected. I was consistently entertained and enjoyed the variety of projects you can produce and the decades of cinema you can be part of.
The numerous combinations of genres and the choice of how in-depth production you want were fantastic. I had a lot of fun where Super Sly Fox practically encourages you to parody real-life film & TV. From The Godfather to Grey’s Anatomy (which I did make) maybe the next Barbie movie or superhero blockbuster you produce whatever you like.
Super Sly Fox was great at listening to feedback and post-launch improvements. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see even more content, I certainly hope so anyway.
Final Thoughts
I had a good time with Blockbuster Inc. and it’s a solid addition to the business sim genre. The freedom to use the variety of content was great, from genres to equipment. The humour of this parody of Hollywood also added to the fun experience. It did miss some of the personality of other games in the genre and bugs and crashes did affect my experience. However, those issues aside I had a great time playing and there is plenty to experience and approaches to do so with.
I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next with Super Sly Fox. I’m pleased to award Blockbuster Inc. the Thumb Culture Gold Award. Thanks for reading my review. If you liked it you can check out my experience with Planet Zoo on the PS5.
Disclaimer: A code was received to write this review.
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Overall, I believe that this game is a worthy purchase. I am certainly a big fan of the amount of customization you can do, especially with the ability to fully customize the films that you produce, but the game does get a tad repetitive after a while. The game is also still being constantly updated and revised. I would recommend buying the game.