I Wanna Be A Game Dev!

About

I Wanna Be A Game Dev! is a single player casual role playing game. It was developed by Lyko Studio and was released on November 22, 2024. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

Experience the final year of high school by balancing friendships, passion projects, and relaxation in a fully explorable world. Engage in varied minigames and trivia while shaping relationships with diverse classmates. Dive into a 15-20 hour story where your choices define how you spend senior year to the fullest.

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Play Modes

Single-Player

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98%

Audience ScoreBased on 136 reviews

story17 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

The game features well-written characters with unique personalities and engaging dialogue, making it a fun and relatable experience.
The blend of visual novel elements with mini-games and exploration adds depth to the gameplay, keeping players invested in the story.
The unexpected cliffhanger ending and intriguing plot twists create anticipation for the next act, leaving players eager for more.

Many characters fall into stereotypical tropes, which can detract from the overall originality of the story.
The game suffers from performance issues, including crashes and high resource usage, which can disrupt the gameplay experience.
Some mini-games lack clear instructions, making it difficult for players to understand how to progress effectively.

story
66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
69%
5%
The game's story is engaging and well-crafted, featuring relatable characters and intriguing plot twists that keep players invested. Many reviewers appreciate the character development and the emotional depth that unfolds as the narrative progresses, despite some initial concerns about common tropes. Overall, the story is described as charming and enjoyable, with players eagerly anticipating future expansions and developments.
- “The story is captivating, drawing you in with rich characters and intriguing plot twists.”
- “I absolutely love this game, you can really tell the care and dedication put into it, it’s very satisfying, great characters and story that keeps you playing and wanting more, looking forward to the next act with excitement!”
- “The initial dialogue had me worried it was going to be another irony visual novel or something, but I walked away with a genuine appreciation for the characters and the story.”
- “For some quick clarification, this story is still unfinished.”
- “We are currently left with a massive cliffhanger and a promised story expansion.”
- “The overall story is okay with some twists that have gotten my interest, and character stories are generally good.”
humor
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its witty and relatable dialogue, with characters delivering memorable quips that resonate with players, particularly those reflecting on their own experiences. Many reviewers highlight the engaging banter and humorous interactions among the cast, which keep the gameplay entertaining and enjoyable. Additionally, the humor often references modern topics and in-jokes, appealing to a niche audience while still providing plenty of laughs for everyone.
- “The humor used is a really nice touch; I always appreciated when the game poked fun at modern topics, for example, Felix's obsession with VTubers. Despite that, he still remained a well-liked character by me, along with the rest of the cast.”
- “Hilarious and witty dialogue; I don't think I've ever laughed as much playing any other game.”
- “The dialogue is hilarious and self-aware and feels very realistic for a group of teenagers.”
music
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
52%
16%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many players appreciating its catchiness and emotional resonance, effectively complementing the gameplay and story. While some players found it enjoyable enough to keep them engaged, others noted that it wasn't compelling enough to prevent them from turning it off in favor of their own playlists. Additionally, there were some criticisms regarding timing issues in music-related minigames, which affected the overall experience.
- “The music was good enough to keep me from putting on my own while playing, and I'm looking forward to act 2.”
- “The background music always fits, and I like the use of silence when the game takes on a more serious tone.”
- “The music and visuals are also on point.”
- “I typically turn off background music in a game and listen instead to music from a paid streaming service.”
- “That's just how I operate, unless a game's music is so integral to the experience that I'm compelled to listen, and that wasn't the case here except for a couple of places in the story.”
- “Unfortunately, it seems that in the timing-based minigames like the music game creation and Streetz Fighter, the notes you're meant to hit tend to lag or speed up unpredictably, making them difficult to master without luck on your side.”
graphics
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
The graphics of the game feature a unique blend of 2D anime art for characters and pixelated visuals for the environment, creating a charming aesthetic that many players find appealing. While some users appreciate the low-resolution graphics and lighting, others note issues with jagged edges and blurriness that can detract from the experience. Overall, the art style is praised for its creativity, though it occasionally struggles with consistency between character and background visuals.
- “The art style is cool—it mixes 2D and 3D in a way that looks unique.”
- “The artwork is stunning, and it truly enhances the immersive experience.”
- “I don’t know why, but the low-res visuals combined with pretty lighting look quite appealing.”
- “I would have loved to get into this visual novel, but the jagged edges and blurry graphics of the surroundings hurt my eyes so much I couldn't even complete this for the achievements.”
- “What pulled me in initially was the graphics; it appeared like a horror game disguised as a visual novel, but after about an hour of gameplay, it seemed to not be the case.”
- “The after-school hours fully showcase the graphics of the game: a mix between the 2D/anime art style for the characters and a very pixelated, hard-to-make-out-what's-in-the-distance look for the world, which surprisingly manages to not be jarring and gives the game a unique look.”
gameplay
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
58%
18%
The gameplay is characterized as a standard visual novel experience enhanced by quirky characters, engaging mechanics, and relatable scenarios. Players appreciate the open-world elements, character interactions, and mini-games that add variety, while the clean pixel art and catchy music contribute to an enjoyable casual gaming experience. Overall, the game successfully combines light simulation mechanics with a compelling narrative, reminiscent of non-combat aspects of titles like Persona.
- “Love the catchy music, the cute characters, the clean and nice pixel art, the fun gameplay, and the great story, perfect for me since I like to play games casually.”
- “I definitely enjoyed the UI and how you could see your progress on different story paths and the teleport mechanic.”
- “I enjoyed the variation in gameplay during the mini-games and the timed aspect of it too!”
- “Pretty standard gameplay for a visual novel - but the ability to move around the map is a nice feature.”
- “The story is simple, the closest thing to its gameplay is the non-combat parts of Persona games, but the audio fits the moment perfectly and there were no bugs present in the demo.”
- “This game is a visual novel with light simulation mechanics.”
character development
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
43%
Reviews highlight strong character development, particularly praising Daniel's growth as he evolves without losing his core identity. The character designs are noted for their charm and individuality, enhancing the overall experience. There is hope that the full game will further deepen character arcs and avoid clichés.
- “I love Daniel's character development and how he softens up.”
- “I hope the full game builds upon them by introducing character development and depth to their characters outside of any clichés they may fit into.”
- “Daniel goes through real character development, as he doesn't become another character, but instead learns to grow as a person.”
- “Anyways, I love Daniel's character development, and how he softens up.”
emotional
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is described as a mix of heartwarming and unsettling, with well-written characters that evoke strong feelings. While some players appreciate the depth and emotional engagement, others find the abrupt shifts to creepy elements puzzling and potentially distressing. Overall, the game is praised for its emotional impact, despite some dissatisfaction with the ending.
- “The characters are beautifully fleshed out, the game design is absolutely heartwarming, and there isn't a moment of 'what do I do now?'”
- “This game is such a heartwarming experience, I don't know how to sum it up.”
- “I can say that as much as the ending made me upset, because I just wanted a wholesome visual novel to play, this game is amazing in terms of what it has so far!”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is praised for its unique blend of 3D pixelated environments and 2D character cutouts, creating a distinctive visual style. Players particularly enjoy the immersive vibes during key moments, such as the snowy train trip and cabin scenes, highlighting the attention to detail in storytelling and character design. Overall, the atmosphere significantly enhances the gaming experience.
- “I find the atmosphere to be very unique with the 3D pixelated environment and the 2D character cutouts.”
- “I loved the atmospheric vibes in the train during the snow trip and the cabin during the snow trip.”
- “This game is amazing in its storytelling. I haven't finished it yet, but so far it's been incredible how the characters are crafted and how the atmosphere shows so much attention to detail.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The game's optimization has shown improvement since its initial demo, addressing previous performance issues. However, it still demands significant CPU resources, utilizing around 50% of the R5 7600X, which may affect performance for some players. Overall, while progress has been made, there are still concerns regarding resource consumption.
- “I initially found this game through Steam Next Fest and I enjoyed the demo. I remember it had some issues with performance, but that seems to be fixed now, which is great.”
- “I expected this game to be pay-to-play, but it’s a surprise the developers opted for a free-to-play model.”
- “If the developers had read my review, I said I was going to update my review soon, but I only updated it after 2 months of my first review, and honestly, I feel bad about it.”
- “I have not yet finished the story, but all I can really complain about performance-wise is that this game really hogs up CPU resources, using up ~50% of my R5 7600X.”
- “I initially found this game through Steam Next Fest and enjoyed the demo, but I remember it had some issues with performance. While that seems to be fixed now, I still have concerns about optimization.”
- “The game runs poorly on my system, with frequent frame drops and stuttering, making it hard to enjoy the experience.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and time-consuming, often detracting from the overall experience. While some appreciate the narrative depth, the repetitive nature of grinding can feel like a significant burden, suggesting that it may require an excessive time investment.
- “It's just a little tedious and time-wasting more than anything, but as I take the narrative of a visual novel game very seriously, I take the choices I can make in said games very seriously.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the game's replayability, noting that missed storylines can be explored in subsequent playthroughs, encouraging multiple runs to experience all content.
- “Even if that's not the case, the missed stories could be played during another playthrough, which increases the replayability of the game.”

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11h Median play time

11h Average play time

11-11h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

I Wanna Be A Game Dev! is a casual role playing game.

I Wanna Be A Game Dev! is available on PC, Mac OS and Windows.

On average players spend around 11 hours playing I Wanna Be A Game Dev!.

I Wanna Be A Game Dev! was released on November 22, 2024.

I Wanna Be A Game Dev! was developed by Lyko Studio.

I Wanna Be A Game Dev! has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its optimization.

I Wanna Be A Game Dev! is a single player game.

Similar games include Lucid9: Inciting Incident, Heartbound, Crystalline, Night in the Woods, Hush Hush: Only Your Love Can Save Them and others.

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