Management Games Discussion

DieGrootHammer

DieGrootHammer

Daddy TK
Is it just me, or are we seeing more and more management style games coming into the gaming landscape? Not just are there more management type game, but they all seem to be rather high in quality. I've round up some of the stand-out games and their Steam ratings:

RimWorld - 95% on Steam, still in early access though
Mad Games Tycoon - 91% on Steam
Project Highrise - 82% on Steam
Factorio - 98% on Steam, still in early access though
Prison Architect - 94% on Steam
Planetbase - 80% on Steam
Offworld Trading Company - 77% on Steam
Parkitect - 89% on Steam, still in early access though
Software Inc - 93% on Steam, still in early access though
Empire TV Tycoon - 90% on Steam

I am extremely interested in management style games, remembering all the time I've spent in the old Tycoon style games. I really missed this genre, as there was a time that nothing really came out that made an impact. But with a list of games like this one, and the current reception they are receiving, I am ready to jump back into managing my virtual worlds. I'm especially interested in Project Highrise, Prison Architect and Planetbase, and I am currently playing Factorio and Rimworld. Both absolute excellent games, really complex in nature and robust enough to hold your interests even though they are still early access games.

So, are you interested in Tycoon style management games? Which from the list makes you the most excited? Which ones did I miss and should add to the radar?
 
yeah and it's mainly indie devs making them. guess they saw the gap in the market

Planetbase looks a lot like the old Sierra game Outpost, so I'm keen to look into that at some point
 
Prison Architect is one of the deepest management sims I've played of late. The mechanics in the game are just so deep, especially you had been reading/watching a lot of their alpha updates while the game was still in Early Access. Always enjoyed seeing those in my inbox.
 
From those I have only played Factorio and I loved it, my only gripe is time. It feels like you only played 1 hour but in reality it is more like 3 hours. They just eat so much time, hence I shelved Factorio for now.

I would love to play some more Management type games (I must say Rimworld looks great), but if I play one of them, I won't have time for anything else.
 
Planet Coaster is on my Wishlist. I will most certainly pick it up once it gets released later in the year. Between that and Parkitect we should be covered with awesome roller coaster tycoon style games, seeing as the new RCT seems to be in development hell and probably gonna fail.

Which is really sad, as it does seem that indie developers has picked up the baton for management games, and just run with them.

But yes these games are huge time sinks. Before you know it, half the day is over and you haven't eaten or moved, and day has turned into night and stuff. But I love them!!
 
DieGrootHammer said:
Planet Coaster is on my Wishlist. I will most certainly pick it up once it gets released later in the year. Between that and Parkitect we should be covered with awesome roller coaster tycoon style games, seeing as the new RCT seems to be in development hell and probably gonna fail.

Which is really sad, as it does seem that indie developers has picked up the baton for management games, and just run with them.

But yes these games are huge time sinks. Before you know it, half the day is over and you haven't eaten or moved, and day has turned into night and stuff. But I love them!!
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I wish I was better at them, I tend to suck at them. But Hammer I know why you love them :P
 
Blazzok said:
From those I have only played Factorio and I loved it, my only gripe is time. It feels like you only played 1 hour but in reality it is more like 3 hours. They just eat so much time, hence I shelved Factorio for now.
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I have the same experience with Factorio - love the game but it is a huge time sink so I've also got it shelved for now until I've got the extra time.
 
Also "Free Enterprise" an oldish game

Free Enterpri$e is a business simulator in which you build a company from the ground up and try to become a giant in your industry. To accomplish this, you must rent a building to house your industrial equipment and offices.

Unlike other buisiness simulators where every employee is a mindless and loyal robot chained to his desk, Free Enterpri$e incorporates a unique AI that makes every worker you hire unique in his or her character and professional traits. Work ethics, public relations abilities, and even drug and alcohol (ab)use are factors that determine how well every employee does his job. In order to find workers, you must post wanted ads and review applications. When you are seeking new employees, the results of a candidate's interview are displayed and show information about job-related skills and past job history.

Like other manufacturing simulators, Free Enterpri$e allows you to choose from many different products for your company, however you are not held to your choice throughout the game. It is generally a good idea to start with one basic product before expanding into more complex products of the same type or even branching out into completely different products. Products require raw materials to be manufactured, and consumers to buy them. Depending on the city you are based in, the number of suppliers of raw materials and the consumers of your product change; some cities are not good for producing one type of product because of lack of materials, while others do not have many consumers.

When you are developing your building, you can purchase machinery to produce your products, designate storage space for finished product and raw materials, and set up offices for yourself and your staff. You can purchase conveyor belts, forklifts, and hand trucks to make moving boxes easier for your workers, and upgrade office space to improve efficiency.

Your employees include purchasers who buy raw materials, marketers who sell products, accountants who oversee finance, and workers to staff the machines. You can also hire supervisors to improve the workers' productivity and cut back on goofing off. Employee morale is affected by their salary and stress, and is also influenced by firing or hiring employees. You can review an individual employee's daily work routines right down to bathroom and smoke breaks and see how much time they are spending doing actual work.

As the game progresses, you may be able to hire consultants to compare your company with your competitors and help plan strategies to corner the market in your field. Consultants even work in the shadows by providing information about your competitors--for a price, of course. Transactions involve the use of a checking account at a bank, and you can also wire funds into a savings account to draw interest. Loans, of course, allow you to borrow money from the bank; you'll have to repay it with interest later, but sometimes it is worth it.

Prices for raw materials and products are not fixed throughout the game; rather, they are based on supply and demand. Salaries are determined by an average salary for all employees of a kind currently in employment; applicants may ask for less than the average salary, but you can pay more if you want and influence the global average.

The game uses the standard 40 hour work week, and divides game time into turns. In the beginning, turns ending at the end of each day are sufficient, but once your company runs itself, you can increase turn size to a week, month, or year. You can also speed up or slow down turns. The time between turns is best used to add to your building or seek new employees.

Free Enterpri$e includes a detailed and informative tutorial, and is a lot of fun whether you are a business student, a fan of manufacturing or other simulators, or just a casual gamer.
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You can download it from Abandonia
 
I'm a big fan of Management Sims as well. Toss in an element of city building and I can easily get lost for hours on end. Have played, or had/have wish listed most of the games mentioned in the thread, but like many others I'm hesitant to commit to too many of them at once because of the way they so easily suck so much time out of the day.

At the moment I'm enjoying the heck out of Project Highrise, and it's the perfect example of the time-leech factor. Think I've had 4 sessions with it so far, and am already over 16 hours registered.

Without a doubt, the one I'm looking forward to the most right now is Planet Coaster. It's out 17 November, and comes with a challenge mode that forces some strategic business management thinking. There's a YouTuber doing a series on this that I'll go find and link up in the Planet Coaster thread.

Another one on the radar that I'm keeping an eye in is Urban Empire, is due to release in January 2017. It's from Kalypso who also did the Tropico series, another worthwhile addition to the list.
 
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