Recommendation: Game Dev Story

Game Dev Story is an iPhone and Android game about my favourite thing, video games!  In it you play as the owner of your very own game studio.  Your mission is to turn your little company into a powerhouse in the industry.  There aren’t any specific set goals or missions to accomplish in the game which can be a little weird when starting out but provides lots of freedom.  Luckily your secretary walks you through the basics so you get a quick feel for the game.

Now like I said there aren’t any set missions to complete, the only thing the game asks of you is to have as much money as possible after 20 years.  That is when the game “ends” and your score is recorded (your score is the amount of money you have) but if you want you can continue afterwards and it will continue to keep track of your besting selling game.  I can’t remember how far I played till during my first play through but I believe it was well over 60 years, which is a strong testament as to how fun and addicting this game is.  At first the premise seems a little boring but once you start training your employees, moving to bigger offices, hiring more people, reaching the top of the sales chart, getting better reviews, making it into the Hall of Fame and winning awards including Game of the Year the game will have you hooked.  The management of all your employees and projects is really simple and loads of fun.  Also in addition to trying to make the best games once you level up an employee to level 5 in every job they can become Hardware Engineers which allows you to build your own console.  This is actually my one gripe with the game, once you are big enough to make consoles which may only come after the 20 years it is incredibly hard to make your console the most popular.  After the 20 year mark consoles are still produce by other companies with outrageously high sales numbers.

All in all the game is loads of fun despite my problem with the console aspect which should be noted is only a small part of the game which you don’t have to do.  Game Dev Story will provide hours of fun and allows you to make games of all different types and see if you really know what people want to play.  If you have an iPhone or an Android phone this game is one of the few you must own.