I’m about 8 hours into the game, which I feel is roughly the point where you start deciding whether you want to keep playing or not. So I definitely haven’t seen everything the game has to offer yet, and some of my impressions might change later on. This is simply how I see the game at this point, and I’ll update the review as I play more.
First of all, its addictive :D
There’s so much potential in this game. The "early game" is especially great, particularly when you’re setting up your first business and don’t have enough money for everything yet. Driving all over the city, visiting different stores, buying supplies and equipment, trying to parallel park as close to the entrance as possible, throwing everything out of the car, and rushing off to the next store. Meanwhile, you’re working a side job just to get enough money for the equipment you need to finally open your business, because that loan is already ticking away. It actually does a pretty good job of capturing the life of someone starting a new business.
After your 20th delivery run, though, once the business starts making money and getting out of bed no longer feels worth it for $300, you reach what I think is the turning point of the game.
I started on Hard mode because I wanted as much challenge as possible, but I don’t really find it difficult. Once a business gets going, you have a fairly predictable profit, and from that point you can basically just wait for the daily money to roll in.
Employees can work 50 hours a week, don’t need days off, and can still be 100% satisfied with their lives as robots. :D Human resources barely require any management, even though in real life people are usually the most unpredictable part of running a business. :)
I also haven’t noticed any indication that buying more equipment increases things like your electricity bill. Because of that, there isn’t much strategy involved in deciding what equipment to buy, how much of it you need, or which business is worth investing more money into. If you have the money — which is basically just a matter of sleeping enough days — there isn’t much risk involved.
Once your existing businesses are fully set up, they basically become money printers. Nothing breaks down, and there don’t seem to be unexpected problems that suddenly need your attention ASAP. Because of that, there’s not much reason to build up an emergency fund for difficult periods either. For me, this takes away some of the excitement.
Time stops while you’re managing your businesses through the apps, which makes sense. But once everything is automated, there isn’t much else to do while waiting. So if you actually want time to pass, you end up repeatedly going to sleep. Although one of my employees has just developed a requirement that the boss needs to be happy, so maybe I finally have a reason to get out of bed instead of sleeping through entire weeks just to collect the money. :D
Overall, though, this is a really good foundation for a game, and I’m sure I’ll put many more hours into it. I hope there’s still plenty left to discover and that more challenges are waiting for me later on.
Things that would make the game more exciting for me:
I’d love to see more risk and consequences behind business decisions.
Employees shouldn’t feel like robots. For example, if I make someone work 7 days a week, they could eventually get sick, become exhausted, or demand some time off. Surely these people have families somewhere in this virtual world. :)
Equipment could have maintenance costs, electricity consumption, reliability, etc. Maybe cheaper equipment is more likely to break down, while expensive, high-quality equipment costs more upfront but is less likely to let you down at a critical moment. Those are the classic business dilemmas: price vs. quality, how much you’re willing to invest, and how much risk you’re willing to accept.
In their current form, I also don’t really see much purpose in the sleeping and eating and happiness mechanics. But I think they’re actually a great idea. If developed further, they could become one of the foundations of the whole game. After all, why does anyone start a business in the first place? Why do we keep pushing forward and building more? There’s a reason our society is so obsessed with growth.
A great 1.0 release. I’m very curious to see where the game goes from here.
