Game Quicky: Game Dev Story (Android) ~ Still Updating

Wikipedia article

Before I started this blog, I used to write my reviews in Dutch on another blog. On that blog, I reviewed this game. Since I started this blog, I was convinced that I reviewed this game, but it turns out I was wrong. So, that’s why I’m going to review my first ever game I bought for my smartphone. Game Dev Story, I don’t remember how I found this game, but I do remember that I played this game for hours. But, what do I think about it? Let me tell you in this article. I have chosen for a game quicky since this game doesn’t have much else going on besides the basic tycoon gameplay. In a game quicky, I list all the things I like and don’t like about the game and then write a conclusion. So, as usual, feel free to write a comment with your opinion on the game and/or the content of this article. 

Introduction to the game

In this game, you are the boss of a game development studio. You choose what your team works on, a new game, a console or a contract. You also choose which employees work in your company and what training they have. You are also in charge of the advertisement campaigns. Each year you can attend GameDex (which is E3) and each year there is “Best Of” awards show.

This game is released for Android, iOS and in the summer of 2015, a Windows Phone port has been made. There is a Japanese version created for Windows computers. More details about the game can be found in the Wikipedia link at the top of this article.

The bad

In all other Kairosoft games, you have more than one save slot, but in this game, you only have one save slot. So, if you want to restart your game without losing your almost finished studio, tough luck.

The music is pretty good, but there isn’t too much music in the game. That’s a darn shame since the music gets repetitive quite fast.

There is a lot of downtime in this game. There is nothing else to do when your team is working on a game or on a console. Besides managing your advertisements and training your team members, there isn’t a lot to do. But, the game is paused when you are in the menus…

On my phone and tablet, the words sometimes cut off unnaturally. This happens when the word doesn’t fit on the screen. It’s a detail that annoys me to no end. I don’t see this happening in other games from the developers, so why this isn’t fixed in this game… I don’t understand.

I think it would be interesting if you can split your team in two and give them separate tasks. For example, one part works on a contract to earn money and the other part works on the new game. That would make the game more interesting.

I haven’t tested this too much, but I think this game drains a lot of battery in some cases. One time I fully charged my tablet and I played this game on the train to work. It was the only app running in the background and my WiFi and such were all off. After my workday, my battery of my tablet was almost drained. But, it doesn’t happen every time, since a week later I tested the same thing and my battery was at 95% then. So strange.

The good

This game can be challenging if you make too many risks. Sometimes I got lucky with my reviews and sales, but other times, I paid attention to what combinations worked and made my money that way.

This game is fun in short bursts but is really addictive in my opinion. I had play sessions of this game that took over 2-3 hours without a break. I’m so happy that this game has an autosave since I would forget that this game has a manual save button.

This game has some random elements, so the replay value of this game is very high. I have replayed this game several times and I enjoyed each and every playthrough.

The writing and humor in this game are amazing. There are a lot of pop culture references and some are really funny. I’m not going to spoil them but if you know a bit of gaming history, you will enjoy the humor as well.

Visually, this game looks adorable. It has the Kairosoft charm all over it. This game was my first introduction to their games and I don’t regret it. If you enjoy this style of gameplay, you will most likely enjoy all their other games.

The demo of this game provides the first years of the full game. But, the full game is rather cheap. I bought the game for 3€ and you get your monies worth!

There is a screenshot button built in the game that you can let it share with your Twitter or Facebook accounts. That’s such a neat addition to the game.

It amazes me that this game is over 10 years old but still gets updates from time to time. The last update was 25th April 2017.

Conclusion

This game is an amazing casual game. If you enjoy tycoon games or just enjoy games in general, I really advise you to give this game a go.

This game isn’t perfect. It has same flaws, but hey, who knows what future updates will bring. Maybe new gameplay mechanics get added and make the game more interesting.

But, I honestly advise you to buy the full version since it’s so worth it!

That’s all I wanted to talk about in this game. Thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, take care and have a great rest of your day!

Score: 4/5