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0 Start your own gaming company in Game Builder Tycoon – the latest release from developers AM Playground and publisher Playway S.A. Choose your platform, game size and more as you take the reins and develop your own games. With plenty of areas to develop into and unlock, opportunities seem to be endless – even bankruptcy is a possibility!
Game Builder Tycoon is available now on Steam for £6.80 thanks to a launch discount. However this ends on the 14th October after which the game will cost £8.50.
You’ll be the next Ubisoft in no time
Gameplay
It’s now 2005 and you’ve decided that you want to set out into the world of game development! When you first load up Game Builder Tycoon you are prompted to choose your character, your company name and your favourite avatar. You can then distribute points into different skills which will aid in the creation of your games. There isn’t much in the way of customisation for this game beyond the 16 default characters. That being said, you don’t really see anything other than the back of your head anyway so it’s not the end of the world.
I didn’t see much difference based in results when changing my attribute points. When you’re making the games, the amount of points you can put into different elements is based on your priority areas.
After creating your character and getting set up in your studio, the game talks you through the basic steps of creating a game.
The basics
To begin with, you choose between making 2D or 3D games as well as the art style you want. However you are limited to single player and a handful of genres. The key to making money at the beginning of the game is making sure you have the right combination of elements to get good reviews and a good number of sales. This game really does go into the nitty gritty of everything. Marketing for your business starts purely from word of mouth. It isn’t until you have established yourself and increased your reputation before you can really make moves in the gaming world. If you have a game that does really well, you can even make sequels where you can improve on anything that gave you a low score in your earlier reviews!
Game Builder Tycoon’s gameplay is very clearly heavily inspired by Game Dev Tycoon. However, with additional gameplay elements and some upgraded hardware it has taken positive steps towards justifying its existence.
Scenarios
To break from the sitting and waiting that comes with game development, the game also provides little scenarios that can effect your company and reputation. These range from things such as investment from bigger companies, collaboration opportunities, and more. These come with some risk as bad partnerships can cause upset in your fan base. Sometimes these scenarios can provide a little cash injection which helps a lot in the early game as it means you can put more effort into your following releases.
Graphics & Audio
The graphics and the audio within Game Builder Tycoon are pretty basic though that’s not to its detriment. As the game has some depth regarding development, overwhelming graphics and audio would have made a terrible mix. Even with there not being much in the way of graphics, the rooms and offices that you move into make the game feel cozy. I also am a big fan of clicky keyboards which made up the majority of the audio. It made it easy to just relax and enjoy the game because there wasn’t too much going on at once.
Longevity
It’s really easy to lose time in Game Builder Tycoon. The amount of focus you have to put into developing a good game, and the time that is spent waiting for the game to be fully developed, work hand in hand. It’s an easy game to pick up, play for a while and not feel like you’re playing a game. If you are a fan of simulation games then this is the perfect addition to your steam catalogue. Even people who aren’t fans of the genre will have a good time in this game!
It can get a bit repetitive, especially as it can take a while to get to grips with everything. However, with plenty of progression for your character and your game business, you can easily spend hours working your way through to retirement.
Final Thoughts
The entire time I was playing Game Builder Tycoon, I couldn’t stop thinking about Game Dev Tycoon which came out a few years ago. All I could focus on was how much of an improvement this game was to games in the past. Despite its heavy inspiration, it does so much more that felt a little lacking in earlier attempts at this sort of game. It’s a game that you can pick up and put down whenever you want. Check out the Game Builder Tycoon trailer below to see whether there’s a space for it in your library.
As it can be a little overwhelming at first and the scenarios can get a bit repetitive, I’ve given Game Builder Tycoon the Thumb Culture Silver Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
You can check out our other PC reviews here to see other new releases on offer!
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