This month we’re going to look at a game that I’m more than certain you have never heard of before reading the title. GamersGoMakers is a Game Dev game much like the wildly popular Game Dev Tycoon. I’ve debated on whether this game was worthy of a review or a place in the Gaming Graveyard for quite some time. It was a difficult decision because despite its flaws I do enjoy this game and as of right now I’ve logged in 55 hours of game time according to Steam.
GamersGoMakers was one of the first games to try and capitalize on the success of Game Dev Tycoon. The game took a slightly different approach to the genre by trying to make it less cartoony and more of a realist look. You also have the option of starting your journey in 1980, 1990,or 2000. Personally I find retro gaming to be rather interesting so I always start at 1980. Unlike GDT, you don’t start off with only 2 systems to work on. Instead you start off with 4 options, the Atari 2600, Apple II, Sinclair ZX81, and Commodore Vic 20. Another interesting tidbit is before you start you get to select what country you want to be based out of. For example, if you choose the US you will have the ability to have access to more skilled employees while somewhere like China will have a development process for all your games dropped by 20%. Canada has a 20% decrease in running costs while Japan has a 10% decrease in development time and 10% sales increase if you release your games on consoles.
The other thing that stands out among the game development is the option of specifically picking what game you want to work on. Instead of just picking a military action game like in GDT, you can click on Action genre and pick from FPS, Tactical Shooter, Platformer, etc. while also having the ability to set a budget to devote just to the story, and the option to customize the box art via preinstalled pictures and colors. This makes the customization options more details without truly having them be a lot to handle.
So I know I’m doing nothing but praising the game so far, but why is it being placed in the Gaming Graveyard? Well despite receiving “very positive” reviews on Steam, the does have its problems. The game is not in early access and still have a slew of bugs. For example, an employee saying will say they are sick, but not really go home for any amount of time while your schedule will say they quit despite still staying. Some users have reported they’ve had random bugs that have caused the game to crash and lose their saved data, but I haven’t had any of these issues. The big problem is that apparently the developer went MIA and has not received an update of any kind in over a year. One of the makers of the game released a small update back in September noting that the developer and him had a falling out and couldn’t come to an agreement on the future of the game. He has since stated he plans on developing a version 1.5 and 2 expansions for the game, but has been quiet since that announcement as well.
It’s really sad as this has a 9/10 rating on Steam and is considered by many to be the closest rival to Game Dev Tycoon. However, backstage politics ruled its ugly head and has affected everyone involved including the people who matter the most, the players. Will we ever see a update? It’s possible. However, I do know that regardless of if we ever get one, the developer and all parties involved in the process should be happy they created a great game and they will go on to give all of us some other games down the road.
