Most would consider Windows 8 to have its share of problems especially the store as it has to cater to mobile processors due to Windows RT and doesn't really allow for more graphically intensive games you'd see on Steam or Origin. This weekend however I discovered a great little gem in the Windows 8 marketplace: Game Dev Tycoon.

I started my new business in my garage with my desk pressed up against the green peeling wall, a poster of Pong besides me and my car and work tools behind. As with any new company, you need to have a name so being the twat I am, I went with DickTit Games and named my character Titty. With my first foray into game development I went with the PC. The upside was that development was cheaper over the G64 but it didn't have as much marketshare. As it was the 80s I thought I'd make something space so I made a Space Action game called Space Conflict. For my first title it sold reasonably well with just over 10K units and was profitable enough for me to release the sequel Space Conflict HD. Due to its success I was able to research new genres and made SCHD a Sci-Fi Simulation for the G64. Both of which reviewed decently with scores around 6.5/10. Success only got better once I continued research and invested in my own gaming engine and made the pirate adventure game Muhngkee Ahyluhnd selling over 40K units.

Soon after, Ninvento joined the gaming industry so far dominated by PCs with the TES which was met with hesitation by press but loved by consumers and quickly rose to take a large percentage of the market from PCs. I recognised I had to get onboard but a development license for the TES was 80K so I released a sport sim game in the meantime to raise the funds. It did well enough to help me get the money but was met with middling reviews after the success of my previous game. Once on the TES though, I was unsure of the demographic so I played it safe and went with an action racing game under the name of Small Cars. The game continued to bring in money but again was met with average review scores.

At this point I decided to research Fantasy for an upcoming RPG I wanted to make called Fahynl Fantuhsee. Some reviewers saw it as niche but others loved the combination between fantasy and RPG. Unfortunately it wasn't the sales boom I was hoping for but did allow me to research in target demographics which would help with my next game which was a casual sports game for targets towards children that I unfortunately forgot to title so went to press as Game #6 and was critised for it.

After that mistake I decided to essentially remake the game with a few changes to graphics, sound etc but keep it mostly the same but release with a name this time: TES Sports Party. Biggest mistake yet. Critics panned it for lack of innovation especially considering my past work and its quick release schedule after Game #6 was still on shelves. Consumers also hated it with only 9K units sold, lower than my first game even though I had built up my skills.

I had to turn this around and make my company profitable. While my games had been selling well, it simply wasn't enough to keep going due to the flop TES Sports Party was. I even had to do some contract work to raise some money to help with production. It was very risky but my time was coming to an end with the games 5 year trial so I bet it all on a mature rated medieval action game with the titled JumpingScreamingMan. Due to the nature of the console and my previous titles, this lead to my company being interviewed and building up hype for the game which no previous game had. Once the game came out however, critics absolutely loved it earning 9s and 10s and destroyed previous sales of any other game I had made and thus ended my 5 years.

If you've enjoyed Game Dev Story on your phone, chances are you'll enjoy this and while the game launched exclusively on Windows 8, it will be coming to Steam via Greenlight but it's available now via the devs website for PC, Linux and Mac.

Sounds a hell of a lot like Game Dev Story, like you mentioned in your post. Any real reason to get it if I already play Game Dev Story on my phone?

@redbullet685: To be honest, I only played GDS on my friends iPhone a couple of times at the pub where we'd dick around and I had a blast with it but I own a Windows Phone and no such luck on that front. There is a trial avaiable (which is actually what I played through here) that gives you the first 5 years which you can get on either the Windows 8 store or for Windows 7/Mac/Linux through the devs website which is linked above so you could try it out and see if its worth your time if you've already played GDS.

@mrcraggle: I gotcha. I guess I'll give the demo a shot, since I adore GDS so much.

@redbullet685: Cool, make sure to reply so I can see what your impressions were. I'll be updating this post or making a new 1 after I've done the 30 years.

@mrcraggle: I'll share my thoughts tomorrow when I finish the 5 years.

So far, though, early impressions are that it isn't as good as Game Dev Story.

If game dev story is now a genre of game, this is definitely in that genre. So many things that are very similar and almost any/all game systems are directly similar. The game feels a bit more modern though, and things move a bit slower. There ARE some systems in there that are unique or at least have twists that are different than 'Story. I got the game on the dev's store, cause I don't wanna run it via the Modern UI in Win8.. the desktop version is the same minus the modern UI stuffs.. which is the ideal way to play :)

I only played it long enough to ship 2-3 games, but it didn't do anything for me. I played the hell out of Game Dev Story on my Android phone a few months back and had my fill there. The art is different and some of the names and systems are tweaked differently, but the game is just way too much like Game Dev Story for me to want to play it again. It's on the level of Zinga rip off kind of bad. So I just shut it down.

This looks startlingly like game dev story. Almost too much like it