RPG Tycoon
- February 12, 2016
- Skatanic Studios
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"RPG Tycoon" is a simulation game where players build and manage their own RPG empire. Create quests, build shops, and design dungeons to attract adventurers and grow your tycoon status. With various customization options and strategic gameplay, players must balance the needs of their customers with the growth of their businesses.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a lot of potential and interesting concepts for a tycoon game.
- The developer is responsive and actively working on updates and improvements.
- The gameplay can be enjoyable and addictive when it works properly.
- The game is riddled with bugs that can break the experience, such as save file issues and heroes getting stuck.
- The questing system is confusing and lacks clear feedback on what works and what doesn't.
- There is minimal content and variety, leading to repetitive gameplay and a lack of engagement.
- story179 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 85 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story revolves around managing a kingdom by sending heroes on various quests to earn resources and improve the settlement. While the quest system offers a mix of quick and epic missions with different strategies, players often find it repetitive and lacking depth, with many quests feeling like chores rather than engaging adventures. Additionally, numerous bugs and unclear quest requirements hinder the overall experience, making it difficult for players to fully enjoy the narrative potential of the game.
“The variety of different quests is interesting and leaves the door open for even more complexity in future development.”
“You send heroes on quests to earn experience, gold, and loot.”
“Items have been added and loot being given by quests is very satisfying; it feels like you are really progressing from quest to quest.”
“The game has a fun premise, where you create an RPG town, but the quest system needs a major overhaul.”
“The quests are awkward and there is no way to let the hero go by themselves.”
“It feels like the playtesting was only done for the first hour of the game (i.e. the demo), at which point things start breaking down... guild quests that can't be completed, broken competition grounds, five people in a town with 20 stores, etc.”
- gameplay59 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The gameplay has been described as complex and engaging, with a variety of mechanics that can be enjoyable, particularly for fans of tycoon and RPG genres. However, many players have noted significant issues, including a lack of clear tutorials, numerous bugs, and performance problems that detract from the overall experience. While the game shows promise and can provide hours of entertainment, its execution is marred by unrefined mechanics and a frustrating user interface, leading to a mixed reception.
“Overall, the gameplay is really fun but you do eventually come to find that it's actually really one-dimensional.”
“Very addicting gameplay with tons of interesting mechanics.”
“Solid gameplay and a lot going on at once keeps your attention and you don't get bored.”
“A very complicated game, where you can see a lot of thought has been put into the mechanics, but it's executed poorly, with bad/no explanations, tons of bugs, etc.”
“I genuinely enjoyed playing the game but I got discouraged from playing because of the amount of gameplay-breaking bugs, crashes, and corrupted save files I endured.”
“Very slow during gameplay and very buggy; it's a good premise but it freezes and crashes all the time. Some of the mechanics could use balancing, such as the attractiveness and how fast it goes down even though you have limited space.”
- stability53 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous users reporting severe bugs, glitches, and crashes that significantly hinder gameplay. Many players have experienced issues with saving progress, leading to lost files and frustrating freezes, making the game nearly unplayable in its current state. While some acknowledge the game's potential and ongoing development, the consensus is that it is too unstable to recommend for purchase at this time.
“Among other issues, the save itself is buggy as well, and reopening old saves results in a black screen, so I definitely can't recommend buying it until it's updated.”
“Unfortunately at the moment it seems so buggy that it is nearly unplayable.”
“But RPG Tycoon is still in early access; the major reason I do not recommend it is bugs. The game is currently full of bugs and glitches, which is not surprising for an early access game, but due to some game-breaking bugs, I can't recommend it.”
- graphics35 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 46 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many users describing them as simplistic, blocky, and reminiscent of older indie titles or classic simulation games. While some appreciate the cute art style and find the visuals adequate for gameplay, others criticize them as being poorly executed and in need of significant improvement. Overall, the graphics are not a primary focus of the game, and while they may not impress, they do not detract significantly from the overall experience.
“The game seems to be in a strange harmony, with the graphic-based kingdom management and the text-based quests, where you need to find the balance between these two aspects to be successful on your journey.”
“Awesome graphics, awesome soundtrack, and an awesome game in general!”
“Very cute game, the art style is adorable, the glitches have been mostly fixed and the very few that remain are not a huge concern to the game.”
“The graphics are bad, and not just indie dev bad.”
“For a beta, the graphics are definitely the worst I have seen.”
“The aesthetics are okay - very simple, blocky graphics that remind me of games you could easily find on gaming websites like Kongregate and Newgrounds.”
- music19 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for its soothing quality and ability to enhance the overall experience, with many players finding it relaxing and immersive. While some users appreciate the soundtrack's charm and fitting nature, a few express concerns about its repetitiveness and high-pitched tones. Overall, the music is considered a strong point, contributing positively to the game's atmosphere despite some technical issues.
“The music also fits with the game and the graphics are generally good enough.”
“Very nice music and very good quality sound to it; for me, this is always a selling point for a game. It's nice to be able to get lost in a game, and the music enables this tremendously.”
“I love the music; it's soothing and helps me to relax whilst doing other things. I love the unlocking of quests and the sense of achievement as you build your town up and upgrade it.”
“However, if you try to load a saved game, all you get is a black screen with a cursor and music.”
“I get stuck at a black screen, with music playing in the background.”
“The music is decent, but can and will get annoying fairly quickly.”
- grinding11 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, as it often involves repeating the same quests and managing limited resources, which can feel monotonous over time. While some appreciate the ability to multitask during gameplay, the lack of polish in the interface and the repetitive nature of tasks detract from the overall experience, making it feel artificially prolonged.
“Within a single game, you'll come across the same quests multiple times, and while it's nice the first playthrough to see what the alternative choices would get you, it gets a bit grindy.”
“Questing is tedious with a lack of polish to the interface.”
“You can find new villages and missions with the 'explore' option, but it just unlocks more boring, tedious artificial game lengtheners.”
- monetization6 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with some users labeling it a "cash grab" due to a lack of substantial content and unresolved issues, suggesting it should have been a free-to-play title with microtransactions. Conversely, others appreciate the absence of microtransactions and commend the developer's active engagement and commitment to fixing bugs, contrasting it with the typical early access pitfalls seen in the indie game scene.
“No microtransactions!”
“But don't support a developer that refuses to fix their save file glitch over the course of four years, then it is just a blatant cash grab release.”
“Total cash grab.”
“I hate to encourage microtransactions, but this game should have been a free game with microtransactions slapped in because there isn't much of an independent offline single player game here.”
- replayability6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players express a lack of desire to replay, others appreciate the improved replay value due to the gradual unlocking of supplies and the variety of buildings and quests available, which encourages multiple playthroughs.
“Replay value improved.”
“You also do not get all the supplies straight off the bat; while I can't say I like having those supplies withheld, it makes for a lot of replayability as you try and earn all the supplies, so it ends up being pretty enjoyable.”
“Not really any desire for replayability.”
“You also do not get all the supplies straight off the bat. While I can't say I like having those supplies withheld, it makes for a lot of replayability as you try and earn all the supplies, so it ends up being pretty enjoyable.”
“With tons of different buildings and quests, this game has a lot of variety and replayability.”
- optimization5 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been criticized for numerous bugs and performance issues, with players noting that core mechanics, such as building rotation, are lacking. Many users feel that the game's performance has deteriorated over time, impacting the overall experience significantly.
“Quests and your heroes' quest performance are central to the game.”
“There were plenty of bugs, some performance issues, and the core mechanics seemed like they could use some ironing out (you couldn’t, or rather can’t, even completely rotate buildings).”
“It honestly seems worse coming back to it in terms of its bugs and performance issues.”
“From the moment you turn it on, optimization issues abound.”
- emotional3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate a lack of emotional engagement in the game, with players feeling little attachment or reward for their time investment. The game's design seems to fail in capturing attention or evoking strong feelings, leading to a disconnect with the audience.
“There is just nothing that captures attention, or makes me feel emotional attachment, or reward for the investment of my time.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is derived from its amusing glitches and unexpected bugs, with players finding the instability and broken mechanics to be laugh-out-loud funny. Many users share their experiences of humorous mishaps, such as keyboard malfunctions leading to comical in-game messages.
“This game is hilariously broken, holy shit.”
“Whilst mid-game, I pressed Shift + Tab to type and my keyboard died, holding down keys for ages. The resulting messages were hilarious.”
