Game Dev Tycoon

A really fun and engaging tycoon game. It encourages you to try different genres together and feels like you're in the game development/console race golden age.

A comfort game I come back to time and time again. Sometimes I wish there was a Game Dev Tycoon 2, because just a few tweaks here and there would've made it perfect, but it's still a 9/10, 9/10, 9/10, 8/10. That's a GDT joke :P

I want to like it, but I can't accept how random the chance of success is. I've done dozens of playthroughs, tried tons of combos, got the market research on what's important for each genre, etc. Your success is a cointoss, and that just doesn't feel rewarding.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☑ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☑ Kids
☑ Teens
☐ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☑ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☑ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☑ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☑ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☑ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☑ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☑ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

Gamers love games so how about playing a game on making games? This little gem offers great fun and infinite replayability. I can't recommend it enough!

Lots of nostalgia, but needs some depth and player agency. It feels like a black box and the skill needed to master the strategy is not clear.

Sure making a phenomena title is like gambling in real life, but I it's the frustrating part of the real life that I don't want to simulate for

although fun at first, it became a spread sheet of combos, and just remembering patterns, lack of rng.

My First Steam Game

To be honest just publish games with an editor before having the last studio, it's much simpler.

ironically i have hundreds of hours on a pirated copy of this game

The gameplay loop of this game has always taken hold of me. It's definitely addicting in a good way. There's a lot of depth as well that's continuously introduced as your company ascends. The developer also seems to be a class act.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☑ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☑ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☑ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☑ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☑ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☑ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☑ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☑ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☑ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☑ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

---{ Author }---
☑ https://vojtastruhar.github.io/steam-review-template

This game can make one realise that they are indeed creative.

Proof:


- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (AFTER the release of Skyrim)
- Baka Nu School Demon
- The Elder Scrolls VI: REDACTED
- The Elder Scrolls VII: DONT STOP! (which flopped)
- Ashley, This Resident Is Evil
- Doki Doki in 1404
- The Elder Scrolls VIII: Stop.
- Leon, This Resident Is Evil
- This Resident Is The Most Evil
- Dokidokidokidokidokidokidokidoki
- Kalli Linkoks - The Game
- Tesco-
- John Disaster

Nice casual game about games. Gameplay could be better, but it's good for chilling out

great game, but someone stole my bank card while i was afk for 2 minutes

The bubble noise during game development still lives in my head all these years later

One of the first and most simple game development games, with its simplicity meaning its really easy to jump right into and start playing while still having a lot of depth and width to explore. Its addicting as hell and one of the best management/simulation games from an addiction POV I've played

I remember when this game came out in 2013.

How did I only get it in 2019?

And play it in 2025?

It's a fun sim game that allows multiple playthroughs to help you get better.

Kinda like a rogue-lite.

Classic game, though. ^^;

super addicting, and has a decent learning curve. Also sweet easter eggs

I don't know why it is fun. It just is. I apparently devoted 46 hours of my life to this game. Definitely wins in the cost/benefit analysis.

Despite its age it is still one of the better tycoon style games for game development. The experience is further enhanced by some mods which modernize the game a bit.

I'm not sure that more modern games of the genre have expanded on the ideas here to any great degree either (they all have pros and cons), and that just makes Game Dev Tycoon an even easier game to recommend in 2025.

I make-a da video game!!
Super fun little game, really engaging and deep if you wanna get into it

Went bankrupt when trying to make Concord like Sony. 100% accurate simulator.

very fun i keep coming to the game

The game is Okey, but lacks depts.
It would have been fun for the game making process to be deep with a lot of complicated variable.
Instead, it feels very generic, to the point were the optimal solution is akin to a formula.
For example, you try to make military game? Action is a good type choice.
Seek a console that makes good Action type games, and allocate your resource acording to the ACTION type games.
Yes... That's right, all action type games are all basically the same, you just need to find an approriate theme and a good work ratio for Graphics, Gameplay, Dialogues, AI, Audio, etc. FOR ALL ACTION TYPE GAMES.
So what if it's a shooter, a platformer, a music bit-mania type game, everything is the same if it's an action type game...
This makes the game overly simplistic, and frankly, a bit lazy in its design.
You shouldn't put all Action games, Strategy games, RPGs, Simulations games, and Adventure games into the same bucket. Shooters and Platformers are both Action games, but they are very different in their nature, and they are likely appreciated in different platforms.
Btw, PCs in this game are not the best for actions games, but in reality, they are the best for First Person Shooters, but not as good for other action games like platformers fighting games.
TLDR: I didn't like the game because it is a bit too generic, lacks real dept, and doesn't make sense in a real world context.

Eh i mean... its not the worst simulator gae. and absolutely not my worst purchase. But i dunno man it just feels repetitive. i didnt get too far into it so maybe the later gameplay when you get like 50 employees is more interesting

One of the best games I've played in a long time. I didn't realize how much I'd enjoy a simple Game Dev Sim (on Game Engine #9 I assume) until I gave this a try. It's fun to play through multiple times challenging yourself in different ways. Some people say there isn't much replayability, but I strongly disagree, you just have to think outside of the norm and give it a shot. 10/10 will be playing again.

Simple strategy game. Good fun for videogame enthusiast. Trying to create games that people will like and buy to keep your company afloat gives you a small glimpse into actual game development.

I love making the same games 510158 times

it is a fun game to kill some time with.

Game Dev Tycoon is a pretty fun role playing game but not the best game dev game. I would recommend not going for the higher difficulties and have fun growing your company and making sequels and creating gaming universes for your games or whatever you come up with. At higher difficulties the game starts relying more heavily on some weird math files coded into the game that take away from the experience and you have to rely on nonsensical charts to get the big numbers and its not as fun. Otherwise the little mechanics and gimmicks it uses to simulate game dev are pretty engaging and some runs are pretty satisfying/fun to play.

one of the best, most concise games out there. A love letter to gaming history.

the game half life 1 got a 10/10/10/10,peak.

muy buen juego, lleno de huevos de pascua super graciosos, referencias muy gustosas y mil cosas mas, no me arrepiento de jugarlo y mucho menos de divertitme con el ;)

Really fun, casual game. I completely ripped off Civ, the Sims, Resident Evil and even Guitar Hero. It's fun to create your own rip-offs of real life games and get fame and money for it. If you like simulations, being creative and having a laugh, give it a shot :)

the graphics are to simplistic and a bit bland, the gameplay are too simple for a tycoon game

So I wavered on whether to leave a positive or negative review. Ultimately the game is pretty meh across the board. What tipped the scale for me personally was the cost. Even for $10 this game just isn't delivering. I got it on sale for around $3.80 or so in December, 2024, and for that price it's very fair. I'd price this game at about $5.

Here is why:

- Not enough moving parts. You can choose a mechanic genre and a topical genre, a system to release on, and once you unlock the option you can choose your custom engine that you spend an ungodly amount of money to put options you already spent an ungodly amount of money researching together, and when you build the game they simply unlock and cost you even more to use... Even though YOU researched it, YOU built the engine, and YOU are developing the game and have to pay any staff you have separately. Rather than adding parts together and assembling a game and making choices on developing your game what you get instead is sliders in 3 stages and you have to guess at how high to set them. USUALLY it's going to be 100/80/0 or 100/0/0 and there's very little deviation past a certain point. So you basically just put a few rough-hewn legos to put together to build a giant die and then you roll it to see how randomly well you did with very, very little control.

- False Starts. So about your 3rd-5th game you'll find you suddenly get a huge, random success and you'll start to believe that you're figuring out the game. You're not, it's scripted to get you to move into the office. You'll generate around $2m and it'll be gone before you know it if you choose to move. If you instead choose to stay and pave a proper path to that office you'll be bugged by the move to the office message every 5 min. You are probably not ready.

- Intrusive Messages and Progress Delays. So you'll want to be somewhat careful about doing contracts too close to your monthly expenses because if you have to pay your bills your character takes a few days to rub his head and stall your progress. ACTUALLY manage to pull off a contract in the last seconds? No you didn't, the generated progress point has to travel to the goal bubble or it doesn't count. On a role and focused? Better hope no one comes out with a new console ever couple minutes or you'll lose your focus in the constant, slow, and annoying news that needs to be in your face. Rather than just having a little side scroll notice and a way to check the news if you care it's game freezing popups with the slowest text printing you've seen since Pokemon Red and Blue.

- No Skills or Progression. So speaking of not having any control over anything... Want to have some idea or minigame on how to make faster progress or else to add things to a game to maybe make it perform better? NO! BAD GAMER! You only get to pull the arm on a slot machine! THAT IS ALL YOU DESERVE! I am very annoyed over this one because it's a simulator game but this is really more of a casual gambling game set up as a Game Dev Simulator. I am not kidding. There's ways to train up certain skills but to no degree of usefulness. This isn't the game for you if you want a strong hand in your own success besides memorizing matches and traits. Frankly, Huniepop is more complex and deamnds more from you and it's a match-3 adult anime game.

Honestly there's more to winge about but at the end of the day the game just misses the mark in a LOT of strong and important ways. HOWEVER, if you can pick it up for $5 or less you'll be getting about what you payed for. It's nothing special and nothing crazy but it's a little fun, at least while you stay in the garage, and you'll have fun moments. So as long as you know what you're getting into this is a fair purchase on sale. That's all I can really say for it.

Has been a fun game i like to come back to to relax with some small bit of fond memories of growing up with game consoles.

Game Dev Tycoon will always have a special place in my heart! I used to play it when I was a little kid, and now, being able to play it again and finally finish it, I couldn't be happier! The nostalgic vibes and the satisfaction of building my own game empire are just unbeatable. It’s such a clever, fun, and rewarding game. Honestly, it’s amazing how a simple concept like running a game studio can be so addictive and engaging. If you haven’t played it yet, I highly recommend giving it a go it's a true gem!

Would have loved it if it didn't lock up on the first g3. Had fun for over an hour tho b4 the fatal bug. i guess i could start over and avoid g3 but i'm over it rn at least.

An awesome game. It is simple, yet very dettailed. Has some strategy in it. Just a very good game to chill

this game is really fun, chill, and casual to play. It also quite easy, and can make time fly by! Totally recommend.

A few short steps away from just being an "idle" game. Never understood why these tycoon games made it big in the early 10's, but I'm glad that's all in the past now.

really easy to get into the groove and relatively monotonous but chill gameplay loop, I'd say it's a nice way to relax and turn off your brain to

Game Dev Tycoon lets you craft the next gaming hit—until your "Masterpiece" flops and you’re stuck wondering where it all went wrong.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

Got sucked into this game for a couple days and probably won't play it ever again. Having said that, I think the game is great and worth the price, especially if you can get it on sale. (65% off during Steam Winter sale 2024 for $3.49). The game play experience and loop is good. It just lacks replay-ability.

This is a fun sim to play through the history of gaming and incorporates many aspects of creation gamers may have not considered before.

I really like this game. It's fun and interesting and just the right amount of challange. However i can't recommend this game since there is a bug if you play on WIndows 11 that makes the game open multiple background windows at random. You alt-tap to look at something and bam you have 10+ windows just sitting there. You can't close them either. I have to restart the computer every time i play. So sadly i wont complete this game.

So simple, but its weirdly addicting and fun, just PLEASE fix the bug where all the animations suddenly go into slow motion!!! Its not too frequent but its super annoying.

Pros:
- One of the best games ever made about game development, gaming history, and rewarding the player for knowledge of gaming history.
- Easy to learn, hard to master.

Cons:
-The math involved for "Turn it up to 11" makes the achievement extremely difficult late game (past 40 years). You run out of things to research and your score is essentially capped. Modding was the only method that worked for me.
- Very light on the corporate management side of things.
- Very opaque when it comes to how games are rated and why (again, a whole lot of math in the game files)
- Does not account very well for new genre combinations being good.

Made a company, made games, they did not succeed, took to many loans.
went bankrupt.

10/10