Game Dev Story. Massively Popular & Highly Addictive! Build Your Own Game Studio in this Tycoon Hit!
by Paul Wilks
Dec 22, 2011 10:30 AM –
Install
Game Dev Story is the massively popular, multi-platform, game company simulation game! Create games, advertise, attend game shows, win awards, make yours the best selling game of the year! Incredibly immersive, addictive and fun- if you haven’t played it, prepare to be consumed! But wait, those graphics looks a little bit 1992! That sound is terrible! Can it really be that good?
Price: Free, $2.50
Tested on: HTC Desire HD
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Incredibly addictive!
- Diverse and interesting gameplay!
- Hugely immersive!
- Lots of options and features!
- Game awards!
- Cute graphics!
Cons
- Sound is absolutely horrific.
Features:
Now, it has been popular for a while so I feel somewhat like someone who has joined Google+ and only just realised how great it was. So while there might be many of you thinking “Yeah, we know!” this is perhaps for the uninitiated. Maybe you’ve just somehow never heard of it, perhaps you haven’t played it for ages. Perhaps you downloaded in during the Android 10BN sale and just never got around to starting it up. This is for you, the enthusiast.
OK, so the game puts you in charge of a little game development company. The first thing you need to do is make a game. In order to do so, you have to perform the following tasks:
- Select the platform you want to develop on- you begin with just PC but you can buy licenses to develop on new platforms as they are released.
- Then you must pick the genre and type of game you want to develop. For simplicity’s sake, this could be say, ‘Action’ and ‘Ninja’.
- Then pick the direction you want the development to go in: Normal, Speed (game is developed quickly), Quality (slower but makes a better game), Research (focus on Research Data- more on that later) or Budget+ (Speed + Quality, but it costs more to develop)
- You then need to award the Direction points you have towards the games Cuteness, Realism, Approachability, Niche Appeal, Simplicity, Innovation, Game World and Polish.
- Pick who you want to write the proposal.
- Pick who you want to create the graphics.
- Pick who you want to create the sound.
- Debugging.
- Release! (with your fingers crossed that it will be a hit!)
Gameplay is very diverse and you really get a huge amount of input into the game. You get to name your title before release, present it to reviewers (I had to note the irony here!!!), advertise it in a variety of different ways, attend video game conferences, attend award ceremonies and even hire and fire your staff!
What’s wonderful about the game is that it rarely becomes repetitive. While you can develop games, you can also perform contract work for third party companies or even just come up with a sequel to a game you’ve already created. You can train your staff in a variety of different ways; from getting them to read a book to sending them on a long holiday). You can develop them and upgrade them.
Game elements that you have to develop are: Fun, Creativity, Graphics and Sound. These are measured by scores along the bottom of the screen as you develop the game. Build these as high as you can to create the best game possible. To help you, you can outsource the writing, sound or graphics to experts. Also, you can spend Research Data points to boost certain areas of your game: say the sound is pretty poor, you can have a staff member concentrate on it to give it a boost.
Once your game is developed, debugged, reviewed and released, you might choose to advertise it. The game lets you do this a variety of ways, from online adverts to hiring a blimp or writing on the moon. Then sit back and watch it sell- if it’s popular you might even stand a chance of winning a trophy at the end of year game awards!
Game Dev Story is loads of fun and, even though I appreciate that developing a game is probably no-where near as easy as it portrays, it’s a cute insight into the world of game developing. How’s this for post modernity: you’re playing a game company simulation game and, in that game, you can create your own game company simulation game! Just fantastic.
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Game Dev Story – Game in development
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Game Dev Story – Devs fire up when working hard
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Game Dev Story – Sales reduce over so many weeks
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Game Dev Story – Debugging
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Game Dev Story – Gamedex show
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Game Dev Story – Best design went to my Elf Sexy RPG game!
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Game Dev Story – Droid Beard 3 winning the Grand Prize!
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Game Dev Story – Select game type
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Game Dev Story – Select game genre
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Game Dev Story – Training
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Game Dev Story – Time to develop graphics
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Game Dev Story – Graphics boost
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Game Dev Story – Hiring
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Game Dev Story – Firing
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Game Dev Story – Salesman
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Game Dev Story – Reviews!
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Game Dev Story – Ready to ship
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Game Dev Story – Advertising options
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Game Dev Story – First week sales totals
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Game Dev Story – Fan base
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Game Dev Story – Fan letters
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Game Dev Story – Develop sequel
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Game Dev Story – License to develop for new console
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Game Dev Story – Blackouts!
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Game Dev Story – Good combination
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Game Dev Story – Fun boost attempt
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Game Dev Story – Alternative screen controls
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Game Dev Story – Game options
Fun Factor:
Oodles and oodles of rich and diverse fun can be had with Game Dev Story. Lots of small details make the game hugely enjoyable. Attending the Game Show Awards (called ‘Gamedex’) for example, how will you advertise at the show? Costumes? A celebrity appearance? There are also a host of crazy characters you can employ; from highly skilled hackers to Arabian royalty, masked mystery-men and even monkeys!! As the game progresses, you can even develop your own console!
I had lots of fun coming up with names for my games. I had a dance simulation game called ‘Step Hippy’ and a Fantasy RPG called ‘Droid Beard’. It’s a game you can really put your stamp on, making for an immersive and fun ride.
Addictive:
Addictive rating here is utterly off the scale. Check out the screenshots below, most of these (you will be able to see) were taken at around 1.30am! I have played this game to death and have been massively addicted. It’s greatly rewarding, lots of fun and you forever find yourself thinking ‘I’ll develop just one more game’… and that goes on and on, there’s always something else to do- it’s incredibly hard to out down!!
Graphics:
Graphics are actually quite retro. There are some cute details in the visuals (like the way developers set on fire when they’re working hard- wired in) but the game engine is certainly not focused on graphics. It features a unique 8-bit retro blocky yet vivid environment. I can’t knock the game for this however, the real focus is on gameplay and environment rather than beauty.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
OK, the sound is abysmal. Often sounding a bit out of tune, I challenge anyone to play Game Dev Story for more than 10 minutes and not turn the sound off. There are plenty of low-fi sound effects for different elements of the game but it’s outright awful. Just switch it off. The silence is far more preferable.