Software Inc.

I bought this game in February 2016 for $14 and while I stopped playing it for many years, I recently picked it back up and I am blown away. It is unbelievable how far this game has come; to say I was overwhelmed by the amount of new content and systems when I launched it back up last week would be an understatement. There are very few Management/Business Simulation games that reach this level of complexity and continued support, with a price point that has remained practically the same when accounting for inflation over it's DECADE long development cycle. If you are a fan of this genre, you'd be an absolute fool not to buy this game.

I don't normally write a review, but Software Inc is the best Simulation game that I have ever played. It is better than Sim City, and it is better than Civilization; it is better than anything else that I can think of that I have played. At 1,350 hours in, I am still learning new in-game strategies; coming up with new efficient team configurations, and game-play styles. Currently playing on very hard, the simulated market is more than competitive. Using console commands to cheat or not, provide so many hours of entertainment, that this game is deeply gratifying, and is worth the cost compared to the entertainment value that it provides. I can play it over and over again on any difficulty, On any difficulty, I still find it to be entertaining. The updates to the core game seem to be common; every few months or so. The attention to detail is more than apparent. I highly recommend this game to anyone that is seeking an in-depth software simulation game that is continually being upgraded and updated by a devoted developer. I highly recommend this game for anyone that appreciates a single-player strategy game with an emphasis on turn-based strategy gaming. It is a game that I return to every three months or so.

Você pode sonegar imposto. 10/10

How does this game still not have ceiling fire alarms. Cant have nice glass walls because the fire inspector only allows wall fire alarms that cant be placed on glass. 2/10 game. If it had ceiling fire alarms it would be a 11/10 game.

This game sits close to my heart. It is one of my most played games on steam! Something about it just speaks to me. Afflicted with glorious (GLORIOUS!!!) sprawling indie feature creep. The learning curve is steep. The systems are complicated and extremely deep! (But, very fun and rewarding if you get into it) I was still discovering new menus with over a hundred hours committed! (and I loved it) You will know if this is your type of game. If you love that deep, yet sprawling soup of ideas, this game is pristine. If you can obsess over, labour of love, one grand vision, type projects- this is one of the best. Especially with a business management specialisation. Much love for Coredumping. Playing since 28th November 2015, 10+ Years of Software Inc.

Played for over 400 hours. The game is great. Flexible. Many different ways to play and scratch the itch. I have never reached endgame (post 20-30 years in-game) because I always feel like fixing something in the next run. Early game can maybe do with some improvement, early bootstraping. Beyond that, no complain.

literally the worst UI any any game i have ever played, so cluttered and so hard to use. but on top of it all, it looks absolutely horrendus. Gameplay is decent, but the ui makes it an eyesore

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this game to anyone in its current state. This game has been in development for a very long time, and while I appreciate the addition of features and dedication to making this game better, this strategy can also HARM a game, which is exactly what happened here. At some point, the features become overhwleming and bloat the game needlessly, especially if there isn't a carefully implemented balance to keep them at bay. This game has no balance. It doesn't feel like anything other than what it was ten years ago. Sure, there are many new features, but they feel hollow and superficial. As a great example, take a look at marketing. This is quite possible the worst mechanic in the game, with no rhyme or reason to it. It often feels like something hastily slapped on rather than a deep and well made mechanic added over the years. There is a large focus on building and mild simulation in terms of taking care of the people running around, but I can't help and compare it to the Sims. Side by side, even though this game is about business and not life simulation, this pales in comparison to the Sims 2 or 3 or 4. The building mehcanics feel clunky, the simulation mechanics feel useless, and when you finally jump into the business management, it becomes a game played through ugly UI's and wittles down to clickers and sliders. The UI's and their ugliness cannot be overstated. They are also poorly designed and organized, making you root around endlessly to find things that should have been easier to access. If you absolutely love micromangement this game might scratch that itch for you, but it falls woefully short of being an in depth business simulation like some people make it out to be. I've played games both much more simplistic and more complicated than this game, and had fun with them more than I did here. So the issue isn't complexity, it's design. Game Dev Tycoon is a much more bare bones game, for example, and yet it was designed well and looks more appealing than SoftWare Inc., and I enjoyed it a lot more. Capitalism Lab is a much more complex game, but has some outdated visuals, and yet its depth allows for better roleplaying than with Software Inc. I don't know if the dev hasn't taken this game out of EA because he doesn't feel it has hit that sweet spot, but I suspect that is a reason. You can feel that the balance is off and there is no dopamine rush once you hit any of your accomplishments here. It doesn't feel earned. In fact, the game is extremely exploitable through its stock market and contract based system. You do not need to do anything else to become rich within the first few months of play. It's a fundemanetally broken system that the dev refuses to fix. The achievements are extremely lacking. This has been in development for a decade, and there are less achievements for this game than games with a dev time of one or two years. It is probably trivial to add more achievements, and yet the dev won't do it. This speaks volumes about the level of care the dev is putting into this game. People often point to the long dev time and early access period as evidence of caring, but it can just as easily be the opposite. Countless poorly made features are a sign of neglect, not dedication. I'd rather have a much more bare bones game done well with tons of achievments, than a bloated game with useless mechanics. Finally, the tutorials in this game are abysmal. This cannot be understated. This game has become so complex that new users frequently have to watch hours of youtube footage just to learn the basic mechanics. While this is fine for deep and complex games with good design, it doesn't quite work here and only makes this game more frustrating to get into. The tutorials provided in the game through the ugly and clunky UI system are bare bones and only give you the bare minimum. They don't properly show you how to play, rather they tell you where to click to get the tutorial over with. There are many mechanics that are not properly or adequately explained in the game, or are glossed over entirely. For these reasons, this is not a game I enjoyed or will come back to.