I want to love this thing, but I just don't? It's really hard to put into words my apathy for Mad Games Tycoon because, on paper, it should be something that I love. It's like Game Dev Tycoon with more depth to its mechanics; a more realistic look at the game-making process. And it gets close; I've had good fun with this in the past. But I've put more hours into GamersGoMakers, which is undoubtedly a worse game in many regards, and I had just as much fun.
A big part of the issue is that some of the mechanics here are outright annoying rather than strategic. Do pray tell, on which planet would you not accept a job offer because your employer doesn't have a specific couch you want to sit on? Having to assign people to a room so they can research topics is a bit off-kilter, too. It means you will always progress at a snail's pace until you hit sudden fortune. I believe that issue of pace is why I'm so uninterested in Mad Games Tycoon.
There are a few things that it does right, however. Copy-protection is not something that you magically apply to your game; it's a process of buying software whose quality degrades over time and porting it over to your game. That adds a layer of risk to developing larger games that isn't present in many games like this. There are also licenses for you to build your game off of. Unlike GamersGoMakers, these feel less static in terms of how they're used, which I think is a neat addition.
There are also a few extra things, like adding furniture to your rooms, production lines, managing employees, random events, quality assurance, and much more. And this is where things really hit rock bottom. Some of these are neat; others simply drag the game's already slow pace down. Mad Games Tycoon tries to do a lot but doesn't do much of it well.
My dream game-about-making-games has the superficial layer of depth that Mad Games Tycoon has with the polish of Game Dev Studio with a few things that haven't been tried out yet in this genre as an aside. A big trope I've noticed among these games is that employees aren't viewed as people but as assets. If they drag development down, it's because they're not talented enough or not trained in the right areas. They rarely have conflicts with each other, either. Software Inc gets the latter part down, but I think The Movies does a far better job of any of this than any of these Tycoon games ever have. It's just such a shame that I have yet to see a game about making games with that level of depth because making games is arguably a more team-centric effort than making a movie.
A big part of the issue is that some of the mechanics here are outright annoying rather than strategic. Do pray tell, on which planet would you not accept a job offer because your employer doesn't have a specific couch you want to sit on? Having to assign people to a room so they can research topics is a bit off-kilter, too. It means you will always progress at a snail's pace until you hit sudden fortune. I believe that issue of pace is why I'm so uninterested in Mad Games Tycoon.
There are a few things that it does right, however. Copy-protection is not something that you magically apply to your game; it's a process of buying software whose quality degrades over time and porting it over to your game. That adds a layer of risk to developing larger games that isn't present in many games like this. There are also licenses for you to build your game off of. Unlike GamersGoMakers, these feel less static in terms of how they're used, which I think is a neat addition.
There are also a few extra things, like adding furniture to your rooms, production lines, managing employees, random events, quality assurance, and much more. And this is where things really hit rock bottom. Some of these are neat; others simply drag the game's already slow pace down. Mad Games Tycoon tries to do a lot but doesn't do much of it well.
My dream game-about-making-games has the superficial layer of depth that Mad Games Tycoon has with the polish of Game Dev Studio with a few things that haven't been tried out yet in this genre as an aside. A big trope I've noticed among these games is that employees aren't viewed as people but as assets. If they drag development down, it's because they're not talented enough or not trained in the right areas. They rarely have conflicts with each other, either. Software Inc gets the latter part down, but I think The Movies does a far better job of any of this than any of these Tycoon games ever have. It's just such a shame that I have yet to see a game about making games with that level of depth because making games is arguably a more team-centric effort than making a movie.