Rise of Industry

74%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,809 reviews
  • gameplay
  • graphics
  • grinding
Rise of Industry Game Cover
Beautiful style, polished interactions, but ultimately it just runs out of things to do.
Starting at €19.99Buy now
Get on Steam Get on itch.io Store

"Rise of Industry is a strategic tycoon game set in the 1930s, where you build and manage a growing industrial empire in a procedurally generated world. Construct factories, manage supply chains, and trade resources to make your business thrive, while dealing with unpredictable events and AI rivals. Strive for market dominance and avoid hostile takeovers in this engaging and challenging game."

Play Modes

Reviews

74%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,809 reviews
gameplay77 positive mentions
grinding61 negative mentions
  • The game offers a deep and intricate production chain system that keeps players engaged.
  • The art style is charming and visually appealing, enhancing the overall experience.
  • The developer is very active in the community, responding to feedback and continuously improving the game.
  • The user interface is clunky and can be confusing, making it difficult to manage logistics effectively.
  • The AI competitors are not challenging and often do not interact meaningfully with the player.
  • There are several bugs and performance issues, particularly with transportation and warehouse logistics.
  • gameplay319 mentions

    The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting a steep learning curve due to poorly explained mechanics and a lack of effective tutorials. While some appreciate the depth and complexity of managing production and logistics, others find the gameplay repetitive and frustrating, often feeling that it lacks meaningful challenges and engaging content. Overall, the game offers a blend of enjoyable mechanics and frustrating design choices, leading to a varied experience depending on player expectations and familiarity with the genre.

    • “Challenging and rewarding gameplay: mastering the intricacies of managing production, transportation, and finances can be challenging, but also immensely rewarding when you see your empire flourish.”
    • “The gameplay loop revolves around managing your balance sheet to break even, researching the tech tree to get to the end game which is a car prototype, creating new production chains to meet demands and contracts, and looking out for logistical and production efficiency.”
    • “Great gameplay, beautiful simple graphics and challenging!”
    • “Which wouldn't be a big issue by itself, but this game really does not teach you half of the mechanics of the game, like zeppelins and docks, for example.”
    • “The gameplay leaves me wanting more, but not in a good way.”
    • “The mechanics are too simplistic; there are no importation mechanics as far as I know, so if your region misses coal, your only option is to buy an entire region in order to get the resource.”
  • graphics244 mentions

    The graphics of the game are generally described as charming and simplistic, with a low-poly art style that appeals to many players. While some appreciate the clean and colorful visuals, others criticize the graphics for being underwhelming or lacking depth, particularly when compared to more graphically intensive titles. Overall, the aesthetic is seen as a strong point, contributing positively to the game's atmosphere, though performance issues and a lack of variety in visuals have been noted.

    • “Beautiful and detailed visuals: the isometric visuals are charming and detailed, bringing the bustling factories and sprawling towns to life.”
    • “The graphics are simple yet very beautiful.”
    • “The graphics are charming and consistent in style, the sound effects and music are very good without being quite up to the standard of TTD's ragtime, and the feeling of watching an anthill enjoyably expand is probably unmatched in any game to release in the last decade.”
    • “My main issue is the actual graphical design.”
    • “The graphics are terrible.”
    • “From the graphics losing all the charm of the promo shots due to pixelation and render errors to the clunky and chaotic UI, the severely limited building and infrastructure options to the even more limited products and research - this game looks great on the store page but disappoints in every single aspect once you load into the game.”
  • grinding62 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game is frequently described as tedious and overly complex, with players expressing frustration over the extensive micromanagement required for production and logistics. Many reviews highlight the lack of clear user experience design, making it difficult to optimize supply chains and manage resources efficiently, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. While some players appreciate the depth of strategy involved, the consensus leans towards the game feeling grindy and repetitive, particularly in the late stages.

    • “When I not only have to figure out ratios, but work them out completely out of game because of a lack of clear UX design, the game ticks over from intellectually challenging to simply tedious.”
    • “What really annoyed me though was the tedious aspects of the game such as setting destinations per warehouse, having to tweak destinations for every contract, and especially the lack of ability to copy settings between warehouses.”
    • “The game is very grindy late game.”
  • optimization51 mentions

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, especially on larger maps and during late-game scenarios, leading to frustrating slowdowns and crashes. While some users appreciate the fun and engaging mechanics of logistics and management, they note that the lack of optimization and clunky UI detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the game appears to be in need of substantial performance improvements to fully realize its potential.

    • “It created a fun competitive economic dynamic that rewarded heavy optimization and planning, which in my opinion, was the high point of what the game offers.”
    • “Production chains are interesting to set up, performance is good, and the game provides a lot of assistance for some of the micromanagement needed for this type of game.”
    • “A supply chain game that allows for high-level fun watching ants bustle, or a deep fiddly bits game with direct influence on efficiency and optimization control.”
    • “This game is buggy, very unoptimized, and managing the trains in mid to late game is horrible due to the lack of granularity on how to manage items for the logistics of the game.”
    • “Warehouse design compounds this issue because you are gated to two configurations that both only have one input and one output, severely limiting design and optimization.”
    • “Performance started degrading rapidly for me in mid and late game, especially when running in x4 fast forward mode; the game rarely got more than 30 fps at 1440p on decent hardware.”
  • music46 mentions

    The music in the game is generally praised for its pleasantness and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with many players finding it enjoyable and fitting for the gameplay. While some users appreciate the soundtrack's quality and soothing nature, others suggest a lack of variety, leading them to prefer their own playlists. Overall, the music contributes positively to the game's aesthetic appeal, though opinions on its repetitiveness vary.

    • “The graphics are simple yet highly effective, and the music is outstanding.”
    • “Great soothing music, lovely stylised graphics and fun gameplay.”
    • “The music is also fantastic, reminiscent of World of Warcraft's soundtrack and maybe even Age of Empires.”
    • “The game's visuals and soundtrack are solid overall, but a total lack of variety across cities/regions makes repeat playthroughs unappealing.”
    • “The sound is mediocre at best, some you can barely hear; you may as well play your own music while you play.”
    • “Audio: not kick ass, not boring; it is there, some sound effects are there you can hear trucks running while music is playing.”
  • stability36 mentions

    The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous users reporting persistent bugs, crashes, and pathfinding issues that hinder gameplay, especially in mid to late game scenarios. Many players express frustration over the lack of optimization and unresolved bugs that have persisted since the game's initial release. While some users note occasional minor glitches, the overall consensus is that the game is a "buggy mess," making it difficult to enjoy the intended experience.

    • “Great game and runs great on Linux.”
    • “I understand that some players might have issues with it, and no game is bug-free, but in my opinion, the level of polish as well as the amount of content already part of the game and what is to come more than warrant the asking price.”
    • “Overall, the game runs great for an alpha project, and I believe it has a bright future with upcoming changes and upgrades.”
    • “Apple's M1 is not supported, and since I upgraded my Mac, the game freezes after five or ten minutes.”
    • “Probably one of the most buggy sim games you could play, and the devs don't seem to have done much with fixing them since the same bugs I get now were the same ones I had years ago when I first played.”
    • “In its current state, it's a buggy, buggy mess.”
  • replayability36 mentions

    The reviews present a mixed perspective on replayability, with some players praising the game's variety in maps, scenarios, and community-driven updates that enhance replay value, while others criticize the lack of significant differences in gameplay and AI shortcomings that diminish long-term engagement. Overall, while some find the game highly replayable due to its procedural elements and customization options, many feel that it lacks depth and variety, leading to a limited replay experience after initial playthroughs.

    • “High replayability: with various maps, scenarios, and research options, Rise of Industry offers countless hours of replayability.”
    • “It has infinite replayability, a dev that sometimes updates his game by the week, listens closely to his community, adds user-suggested content into the game, and caters to the community to make a space for everyone to collectively work together and share experiences.”
    • “Interesting maps provide radical changes in placements, topography, and landmark features for endless replay value.”
    • “Zero replay value.”
    • “One major drawback to the game is its lack of replayability.”
    • “Not really able to see any replay value, no multiplayer and you can't just unwind with a sandbox mode.”
  • story31 mentions

    The game's story is described as lacking depth and engagement, with many players expressing a desire for a more developed narrative or campaign mode to enhance their experience. While some mention a sad underlying story, it does not significantly impact their overall enjoyment of the gameplay, which they find repetitive and shallow. Overall, the absence of compelling missions or scenarios leaves players feeling unmotivated and disconnected from the game's world.

    • “I like Anno games much more, which contain characters, stories, missions, and surprising turns while managing the economy.”
    • “That being said, I would like some sort of story or scenario, because after putting about 20 hours into my first playthrough, I don't really feel like playing again unless I have something to compete against or some sort of goal to accomplish.”
    • “This is a heartbreaking story, and there is more to it, but a sad story around the game doesn't change the feelings I have about how it plays.”
    • “- lack of any kind of a story/campaign mode.”
    • “The game lacks the element to keep my interest going; I don't know if it's because it needs a storyline or better upgrade mechanics, but I do not know what to do after I built 5 orange juice factories.”
  • monetization12 mentions

    The monetization strategy of the game has drawn significant criticism from users, who describe it as a cash grab due to intrusive in-game advertisements for unrelated titles, which detracts from the overall experience. Many players feel that these ads breach trust and diminish the game's value, likening it to a mobile game model without microtransactions. Overall, the monetization approach is seen as exploitative and poorly executed, leading to frustration among the player base.

    • “This is more like a mobile game, except without the microtransactions.”
    • “Original developer is a real wimp and the game is a cash grab.”
    • “I can't support a game that has advertising pop-ups.”
    • “Ads for their next game are directly integrated into the game.”
  • humor9 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by its quirky graphics and a lighthearted tone, with players finding amusement in the game's bugs and absurd scenarios, such as impossible objectives and ironic challenges. Many reviewers appreciate the developer's playful approach, feeling as though they are being humorously taunted for their mistakes, which adds to the game's charm despite its content limitations. Overall, the humor contributes to an enjoyable and engaging experience, even amidst frustrations.

    • “Good game, funny and addicting :)”
    • “Nothing revolutionary here, but I like the funny graphics and the relaxed mood.”
    • “It's a very funny and interesting game because you have to have many things in mind.”
  • atmosphere6 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is praised for its enjoyable aesthetics, enhanced by a strong musical score and appealing visuals, including a cartoonish graphic style. The recent expansion introduces a high-quality sci-fi dystopian flavor, further enriching the overall ambiance. Players appreciate the minimal bugs and the clear, pleasing design that contributes to a stellar atmosphere.

    • “It's not a deep management game; it is more casual than others (like Cities: Skylines), but it's enjoyable, and I quite like the aesthetics and the overall atmosphere, to which music contributes a lot.”
    • “The expansion adds a new, high-quality sci-fi dystopian flavor to the game, with similar mechanics and a better atmosphere.”
    • “There is a nice sort of atmosphere to it; the visuals are pleasing and clear.”
    • “It's not a deep management game; it is more casual than others (like Cities: Skylines), but it's enjoyable and I quite like the aesthetics and the overall atmosphere, to which music contributes a lot.”
    • “It is good; the expansion adds a new, high-quality sci-fi dystopian flavor to the game, similar mechanics, better atmosphere.”
    • “I love the cartoonish graphics; they work very well with the design of the game and the general atmosphere.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    The game is noted for its heartbreaking narrative that fosters deep emotional connections, allowing players to become genuinely attached to the story and its characters, despite any gameplay criticisms.

    • “This is a heartbreaking story, and there is more to it, but a sad story around the game doesn't change the feelings I have about how it plays.”
    • “Let players get emotionally attached to something.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

64% average critic score

Buy Rise of Industry

Play time

16hMedian play time
29hAverage play time
19hMain story
56hCompletionist
9-26hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 21 analyzed playthroughs

Videos

Similar Games

Game News