Music Band Manager
- December 7, 2017
- Hamsters Gaming
- 20h median play time
Get on Steam"Music Band Manager" is a game that lets you live your dream of creating and managing a musical group. Start from garage rehearsals and work your way up to performing on world-famous stages. Record songs, release albums, and manage your musicians in four popular genres: rock, electronic music, pop, and R&B. Choose from three difficulty levels and hire managers to help promote your group. Face various challenges as you strive for success in the music industry.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a great concept and can be amusing for short play sessions.
- It offers a nostalgic feel reminiscent of classic tycoon games.
- Some players find it addictive and enjoyable despite its flaws.
- The gameplay is extremely repetitive and lacks depth, often feeling like a clicker game.
- The economic model is broken, leading to frequent bankruptcies and frustration.
- There are numerous bugs, poor translations, and a lack of customization options for characters.
- music120 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 80 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The music aspect of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many users criticizing the soundtrack as bland and repetitive, often described as "elevator music." Despite the game's premise revolving around music creation, players feel that the actual musical experience is minimal, lacking variety and depth, and that the gameplay mechanics do not effectively capture the essence of managing a band or creating music. Overall, the music component is seen as a significant missed opportunity, detracting from the game's potential enjoyment.
“If you want to conquer the world with your musical talents - go, play, compose!”
“Create music, release albums, manage your band; if you're looking for a good, fun game to play and enjoy tycoon-ish or management games, this is definitely it!”
“Pros: enjoyable soundtrack, at least halfway-realistic music industry scenarios (including the frequent option to accept bribes from other artists in exchange for good reviews), good balance of random and player-strategy-influenced outcomes, reasonable variety of customization options.”
“Oh, and finally: you might have four musical genres, including 'rock', to choose from for your fictional band's adventures...but the game's sole soundtrack is the most banal, faceless electronic music you can imagine, and it churns in endless circles.”
“For a game about music, almost no effort was put into giving the game a soundtrack.”
“My only complaint is that the soundtrack was basically four tracks of elevator music.”
- grinding17 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews consistently highlight the grinding aspect of the game as tedious and repetitive, with many players expressing frustration over the lack of engaging mechanics and the overwhelming reliance on monotonous tasks. The gameplay often leads to a sense of stagnation, with little strategic depth or meaningful progression, resulting in a low replay value and a general feeling of boredom. Overall, the grinding experience detracts significantly from the enjoyment of the game.
“Ultimately, I went 'bankrupt' so many times that I threw in the towel; repeatedly going back to my last autosave proved too tedious in the long run, especially since I couldn't really tell what I'd done 'wrong' in the first place.”
“Last but not least, the game has quite a lot of bugs and seems to be lacking a lot of quality of life improvements for making the game less grindy, because let's be honest, year 2-3 you are just writing songs, stacking genre boosters, rinse and repeat, that gets old really quick.”
“Fun for about 5 minutes then gets tediously repetitive.”
- gameplay14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 29 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive, simplistic, and lacking depth, often relying on tedious mechanics like clicking and grinding. While some appreciate the addition of new mechanics, others feel the overall experience is juvenile and derivative of other games in the genre. Overall, the gameplay is seen as underwhelming, with limited choices and insufficient tutorial guidance.
“There's no denying that the appeal of this type of game depends heavily on the context/setting and the weight it carries for the individual, unless the gameplay is so utterly compelling that even boring things like farming can emerge as exciting for some players.”
“Especially liked the latter, where the new mechanics were added.”
“This one is more polished and has better gameplay mechanics.”
“Not much gameplay, very little choice, limited visuals.”
“Quite boring, and the limited mechanics are not well enough explained during the brief tutorial as to what they do and which are most important.”
“The gameplay is very juvenile and feels like an exact clone of several other games in the same genre.”
- graphics14 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some users praising the cute and nice visuals, while others criticize them as generic and lacking creativity. Despite some appealing elements, such as well-matched colors and beautiful menu designs, there are notable issues like cut-and-paste graphics and geographical inaccuracies that detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the graphics are decent for the price, they do not significantly enhance the gameplay.
“Nice music, nice graphics, beautiful windows of menu and blocks inside.”
“For such a price and graphics, the best that you can buy in your genre!”
“Decent art and graphics”
“2D graphics are generic at most, and not particularly engaging.”
“The visuals are okay, but there is no creative space for the player itself.”
“- Cut and paste graphics.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by silly wordplay and amusing band conversations, which can initially elicit smiles but tends to wear thin quickly. While players find some enjoyment in the comedic elements, the overall humor lacks depth and could benefit from added complexity to enhance the experience.
“So the fun thing is writing silly words so they appear as a funny sentence when your music is up for awards.”
“You can name songs in a way that can be funny.”
“The funny band conversations add a delightful touch to the experience.”
- story4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The story is criticized for its simplistic approach to the complexities of band dynamics, focusing more on psychological issues than on realistic music industry challenges. While some find the narrative intriguing, others feel it lacks depth and coherence, leading to mixed reactions about its overall effectiveness.
“Very interesting storyline.”
“Very interesting storyline.”
“The story didn't really engage me, as it simplistically treats a 'job' that is ultimately more about balancing psychological issues between bandmates than anything as straightforward as 'spending more money on a recording makes a better song and guarantees a hit.' Somehow, a poor recording of a song apparently reduced the quality of the song itself at some point... pretty sure that's not how it works!”
- replayability3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is considered weak, with some users noting a lack of engaging content and a poor tutorial experience. While a few find it enjoyable, many feel it falls short compared to other games in the genre, particularly in terms of replay value.
“A good little game that could be stronger in replayability value but still good.”
“After playing Rock Manager on the PC, that game was fun with great music and replayability.”
“I'm not too sure about the replayability.”
“The game lacks incentives to play through again.”
“Once you've completed it, there's little reason to return.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Reviewers note that the game's optimization could be improved, particularly in how interactions between band members influence their performance and writing. Additionally, the performance visuals do not vary significantly between different venue sizes, suggesting a need for more dynamic and responsive performance elements based on the audience scale.
“The interactions between musicians in the band significantly affect their playing and writing performance.”
“Performance shots remain consistent, whether in a club with 100 people or a stadium with 100,000.”
“Revamp the performances so they evolve with the level.”
“Performance shots are the same regardless of a club with 100 people or a stadium with 100,000.”
“Revamp the performances so they change with the level.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is currently experiencing significant bugs, but there is potential for improvement in stability.
“Still very buggy, but promising.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers highlight the game's ability to create a deeply immersive atmosphere, effectively simulating a realistic environment that enhances the overall experience.
“This is a real simulator that allows you to immerse yourself in this magnificent atmosphere!”
