Plutocracy

About

Plutocracy is a single player and multiplayer strategy game. It was developed by Redwood and was released on November 21, 2019. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Plutocracy" is a strategy game that simulates the rise of the first US billionaires during the "Golden Era." Players start with nothing and work their way up to become powerful financial leaders, buying out companies, dominating markets, and influencing politics. The game offers automatic management options for large-scale processes, as well as stunning visuals, but it has some performance issues such as grinding, poor optimization, and bugs.

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Play Modes

+16

Skip User Reviews

78%

Audience ScoreBased on 650 reviews

gameplay15 positive mentions

optimization9 negative mentions

The game has a unique and engaging concept that combines business simulation with political influence.
The art style and music are well-received, creating an immersive atmosphere.
The developers are actively working on updates and improvements, showing commitment to the game's future.

The game is still in early access with many features locked or incomplete, leading to a lack of content.
Frequent crashes and performance issues hinder gameplay, making it frustrating for players.
The user interface is clunky and not intuitive, making it difficult for new players to navigate and understand the mechanics.

gameplay
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
72%
10%
The gameplay of the game is currently a mixed bag, with many players noting that while the core mechanics are innovative and have potential, they often feel unbalanced and repetitive, especially in the late game. Users have pointed out that the AI is lacking, making it easy to exploit game mechanics, and that many features, such as agents and political mechanics, feel underdeveloped or unnecessary. Despite these issues, the developers are actively working on improvements, and some players find the gameplay enjoyable once they grasp the mechanics, suggesting that the game could evolve into a more engaging experience as it progresses through early access.
- “The devs remain active on this project and continue to make substantive improvements in gameplay, UI, and other key areas.”
- “The mechanics behind this game are very well thought out and once you get majority ownership of your first company, the game takes off.”
- “This game is really unique and the gameplay is fun.”
- “The game mechanics become too easy to crack too soon, and the AI isn't doing anything to prevent you from doing that.”
- “The game suffers immensely from a failure to scale the mechanics into the late game and offer the player tools to automate or bypass mechanics.”
- “The gameplay is shallow and annoying.”
graphics
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
49%
7%
Overall, the graphics of the game are praised for their charming and unique art style, which many players find visually appealing and immersive. However, there are significant concerns regarding optimization, with reports of lag, clunky UI, and minor graphical bugs that detract from the experience. While the artwork is considered stunning, players hope for improvements in performance and responsiveness in future updates.
- “The art style for the game is really pretty, and it gives it a chill business vibe.”
- “Gorgeous graphics & sound and love the historical comments on the quarter end screen.”
- “The art style is also unique and very pleasing.”
- “Please optimize the game graphics.”
- “The UI is a little clunky and the optimization is a bit slow, and I find myself lagging often even though the game is graphically and mechanically minimalist (EU4/CK2 runs better while having a lot more going on, comparatively).”
- “Graphics interface unresponsive.”
optimization
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
53%
35%
Overall, the game's optimization is a significant concern among users, with many reporting severe performance issues, including lag, crashes, and memory leaks, especially as gameplay progresses. While players appreciate the game's concept and potential, they express frustration over the frequent company popups and clunky UI, indicating a need for substantial improvements in optimization. Many reviewers are hopeful for future updates to address these issues, given the game's early access status.
- “I like Plutocracy, a very fun game, but it can use some performance improvement, and they have to do something about the constant company popups when you start to own more than 5 companies.”
- “Very fun game, only negative aspect for me is some performance issues, but looking forward to future updates and would recommend!”
- “There are, however, still work to be done to optimize the game's performance and get the rare crash in check.”
- “There are still some serious game optimization issues and the game regularly gets slow and eventually unplayable the further you get into a game.”
- “The performance is also very poor, as the game progresses the lags become more severe to the point your game starts crashing regularly. I'm on a rig that's an RTX 3070 Ti, i9 10850K with 32GB of 3600MHz memory, so it's definitely nothing to do with the specs.”
- “Very poorly optimized.”
grinding
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
85%
Players consistently describe the grinding aspect of the game as excessively tedious and time-consuming, often requiring a significant investment of time to progress. Many find the mechanics repetitive and lacking in rewarding feedback, particularly in the early stages, leading to frustration with the political and economic systems. While some enjoy the grind for improvement, the overall sentiment leans towards it being a burdensome experience that detracts from enjoyment.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The game is playable in its current form, but be aware that the first phase is very grindy.”
- “It is tedious, overly 'clicky', and provides too little feedback from the game.”
story
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
50%
21%
The game's story aspect is largely criticized, with many users noting the absence of a traditional narrative or campaign mode. While some appreciate the backstory and find the sandbox mode enjoyable, others express a desire for a more developed story, suggesting that the current offerings feel incomplete or lacking depth. Overall, the consensus is that the game could benefit from a more fleshed-out narrative experience.
- “The sandbox mode is very fun and I can't wait for the story mode.”
- “It sets enough of a back story, and like many before them, it is fine without a Hollywood plot and loads of fun.”
- “The idea and storyline are good, but the game itself isn't.”
- “The game does not need a single player story, nor does it require campaigns or scenarios.”
- “In this early access version, there isn't even a multiplayer mode or story/campaign mode.”
- “The developers are currently working on story scenarios, but I think the game should be more fleshed out rather than adding a one-time story mode.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews; while some players appreciate the original soundtrack and its fit for the game's theme, others find it repetitive and suggest that more engaging options would enhance the experience. Overall, the music complements the game's artistic design, but opinions vary on its long-term enjoyment.
- “Was tricky at first but with the amazing OST playing in the background and the tutorial, it was easy to get the hang of things.”
- “Plutocracy is a game with an interesting concept, awesome art, and good music.”
- “The music fits for the time frame and they got the gist of the idea for a game like this correct.”
- “The art, music, general game concept and design is quite good, but the technical aspects seem to let down the game.”
- “I'm not a fan of the in-game music; it got boring fast.”
- “The music fits for the time frame, and they got the gist of the idea for a game like this correct.”
stability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is a significant concern, with users reporting frequent freezes, crashes, and various bugs that hinder gameplay, especially in the late game when complexity increases. While the core mechanics are engaging and the developers are actively working on improvements, the current state is described as rough and unoptimized, making it challenging to enjoy the full experience.
- “My big gripe with it is though the game struggles to process late game once you're a billionaire and have a ton of companies. It struggles to process the info, constantly freezes, and just stalls. It can't fast forward through time, making it unplayable, which really sucks because once you've got the big stick, that's when the fun really should begin.”
- “Very badly optimized with crashes and freezes all the time.”
- “There are also a lot of bugs, particularly freezes, crashes, and the maddening one where the game is apparently still running, but the video has frozen.”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the numerous features and challenges that encourage multiple playthroughs, others criticize it for a repetitive gameplay loop that lacks variety in strategy. Many feel that the core mechanics lead to a predictable path to success, diminishing long-term engagement. As it is still in early access, there are hopes for future updates to enhance replay value.
- “I got about 284.9 hours on this game. Not sure how accurate it is to stocks and trading, but it's full and has lots of replay value, and you can challenge yourself in multiple ways.”
- “There are many different features and facets of gameplay which seem to make this game a replayable experience.”
- “Hopefully the developers bring in more playable challenges.”
- “This is one of those games which is really good, but doesn't have much in the way of replayability.”
- “The lack of replayability comes from the fact that the way to play the game successfully is always the same: buy stocks in a company, take the company over, save up the company reserves, expand the company, save up your own money, take over the competitors and boom you are at the top.”
- “Tldr: awesome game, horrible replayability”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express a lack of emotional engagement with the game's agents and ambitions, feeling they are unnecessary to gameplay. However, some note improvements in the game that enhance their overall experience, suggesting a potential for emotional connection despite previous shortcomings.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized for feeling overly aggressive and reminiscent of intrusive pop-up ads, detracting from the overall experience.
- “It's like someone took their inspiration for this game from pop-up ads.”
- “The monetization model feels more like a cash grab than a fair system.”
- “I can't enjoy the game when every few minutes I'm bombarded with offers to spend more money.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express disappointment with the current negotiation system, indicating that it lacks the humor and charm of the previous version, which they found more entertaining.
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is praised for its immersive representation of the era, appealing to players who appreciate historical settings. However, some users note that the experience may be hindered by the typical issues of an early access title, suggesting that the full potential of the atmosphere will be realized as the game develops further.
- “Recommended for those who don't mind the hiccups of an early access game, like the era's atmosphere, and do not mind enjoying its solid but limited gameplay while the game unlocks its full potential.”