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0 Recycling Center Simulator is a first person, management simulation game developed by Balas Games and published by PlayWay S.A. Yes, it is exactly the game you think it is, and it released on Steam today!
The World Needs Recycling, And I’m Reaping All The Benefits
I’m no newbie to simulators, nor to PlayWay S.A. In fact I recently reviewed two of their other sim games Crime Scene Cleaner and Gym Manager. Personally, I think PlayWay S.A. are trying to publish a game for just about every job out there, and I’m here for it. Now, time to briefly dabble in helping the planet in my next digital career in Recycling Center Simulator.
Gameplay
As soon as you open Recycling Center Simulator the game throws the player right in to get started. Via the computer, you must find a scrap deal to buy. You can negotiate with the seller on the price, but after so many offers, they’ll get fed up and settle on a final price that they’ll take from you. Luckily, it’s forgiving in that you can’t seem to lose the seller altogether, so you harass and annoy them to your frugal heart’s content. You can only have one active deal at a time, however. In this way the gameplay definitely has management elements.
Once you’ve secured your scrap deal, it’s time to go to the location via your truck and collect your scrap. If you’re a nervous driver, don’t worry, you don’t actually drive yourself. You sort of teleport. Which all good recycling centre workers know how to do, obviously! Once you have reached your destination, scrap litters the job location. All ready for you to collect and throw into your van. Each location has a handy percentage of how much of each scrap kind there is to collect.
Sorting & Processing Scrap
Once back at your factory, you can process the scrap you’ve collected. Offload your truck by tossing the scrap onto a conveyer belt. You sort the trash through a mini game; as the scrap travels down the conveyer belt, you need to click and drag the scrap to the correct bins. The bins are colour coded, such as green for glass and grey for metal.
As you pick up a piece of scrap, the correct bin it goes into highlights. Continuously putting the correct scrap in their corresponding bins starts a combo. In turn this rewards you with more scrap. Once you have finished this little scrap organisation, you are left with bins filled with each type of scrap. You can then take these to machines for processing, or simply put into storage to process later.
Making & Selling Products
It’s time to turn scrap into cash! You can buy various machines to turn each of your scrap types into products. For example using a shredder to turn paper into pressed papers. Whilst you can sell products normally using the marketplace, there are contracts for specific products. This nets you extra cash if you fulfil them within certain time limits. Sleeping on the on-site bed allows you to pass time, which allows new contracts to come in.
Just Can’t Get The Staff… Or Can You?
Hiring workers helps ease the workload in Recycling Center Simulator. Workers will sort scrap and process materials into product, freeing up your time. However, workers are never free and the cost of their wages will come out of your daily money. You also don’t get the extra scrap bonus for sorting the scrap if you use a worker to do so. Better workers do complete tasks faster though. Which you choose is up to you! Recycling Center Simulator allows you to send Trash Collectors to scrap spots to aid in gathering scrap too. Your compound is also upgradable, providing more room for machines and placing a recycling spots for passers-by.
Graphics & Audio
There’s very little to talk about here because of the lack of audio, textures and other visual detail. Besides some sound effects here and there, there’s hardly any audio and no music. While the menus for the computer are simplistic but well presented, the rest of the visuals are very basic. There isn’t a lot of shadowing or dynamic lighting. All the colours are incredibly bright but bland, which adds to its overly simplistic look. One oddly good thing I can say about the graphics is how reflective the puddles are.
Final Thoughts
Recycling Center Simulator is a fun and simple game. I wouldn’t say I liked it or disliked it. The gameplay isn’t anything extreme, and it depends if you enjoy doing the same thing over and over. I wish maybe some small secrets to find scattered around or some cheesy dialogue. If you’re unsure about picking it up, at the time of writing this review there was a demo for the game available. I’d suggest checking that out if you still can.
I’m awarding Recycling Center Simulator the Thumb Culture Silver Award, if you like playing simulation games like myself, then you might enjoy it. If not, then I wouldn’t bother.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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