Showrunner

About

Showrunner is a single player economy city builder game with drama, economy and business themes. It was developed by Inexplicable Games and was released on January 17, 2023. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Create and run your own TV show! An isometric management game where you craft scripts, populate your world with characters and cast actors to play them. Hire and manage staff, develop your studio and gain a dedicated following.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

74%

Audience ScoreBased on 95 reviews

graphics3 positive mentions

gameplay4 negative mentions

Fun and engaging tycoon-style game with a unique TV studio production theme that scratches the creative and time management itch.
Good potential and promising roadmap from developers with active community engagement and steady content updates.
Allows significant creative freedom in show creation and some depth in staff and episode management that can inspire players’ imagination.

Currently very bare-bones and linear gameplay with limited content, leading to repetitive and grindy progression after a few hours.
Frequent game crashes and bugs, including issues with crashes during actor reviews and UI quirks, affecting stability and user experience.
Lack of key features such as being able to fire or rehire actors, more challenging mechanics, better tutorials, and more impactful management decisions.

gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
63%
21%
The gameplay revolves around a card-based storytelling mechanic that offers a solid 20-hour experience but suffers from a lack of depth, poor tutorial, and missing or unclear features. While the core episode creation loop is straightforward and has potential for complexity through upgrades, many mechanics feel oversimplified or incomplete, leading to a somewhat repetitive and bare-bones experience. Overall, it’s an addictive concept that would greatly benefit from expanded mechanics and better explanations.
- “The main mechanic is the storyboard: you collect cards that provide points for plot, drama, comedy, character development, action, and visuals.”
- “The key gameplay 'episode creation' loop is already well thought out and straightforward to manage. More complexity comes from expanding and upgrading your studio equipment and staff while researching more scene cards to add depth and variety to your productions.”
- “At the moment, you can get a good 20 hours of gameplay out of it, and as it develops, that will grow.”
- “It does a really poor job of explaining its core mechanics, and really just was not enjoyable.”
- “Some of the mechanics are questionable (random drawing of cards), some are over-simplified (putting together episodes, production process), some are missing (firing actors), some are not fully explained (I'm still puzzled by some of the icons in the interface).”
- “Half the menus don't work and the gameplay loop is so bare bones you can just click around make money.”
story
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
The story aspect centers around managing a TV studio and creating show narratives through a card-based system representing various story elements like plot, drama, and comedy. While not heavily story-driven or realistic, it encourages player creativity and investment by allowing them to imagine and customize the evolving narrative of their studio and shows. The randomized events and character customization add depth, making storytelling a fun, player-driven experience despite some polish issues.
- “Somewhat uncut, and there's noticeable bits of polish missing, but I got really invested in the story of my plucky TV studio and their marginally popular science fiction thriller on a backwater network.”
- “Playing showrunners, in my opinion, will fulfill players that like to make their own stories in their head; getting the right combination of scene cards to make people watch your show is satisfying, but making up the plot in your head just by naming episodes has been a delight.”
- “It's pretty fun to think of the sort of narrative and story your studio is creating as you make one series after another.”
- “It's a fun little concept, I'm just not a fan of grindy tycoon games with no story.”
- “☑ no story”
- “Fail missions, but get credit for succeeding!”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
33%
17%
The graphics are described as basic but effective, supporting an addictive gameplay experience. While aesthetics like sets and costumes are likely in development, the visual focus ties closely to game mechanics like action and special effects, enhancing immersion without relying on advanced visuals.
- “Pretty basic mechanics and graphics but it works well for an addictive experience.”
- “Upon picking your contract you go straight to the hiring process—based on what your show has a stat importance to, for example this modern/horror show that I'm showcasing needs visuals and action the most, with a good mix of drama, little to no comedy, some plot and some character. It's highly recommended you hire people who are at least competent in your preferred areas.”
- “With that in mind, things I would 'like' to see, some of which I'm sure will probably go without saying, and I'm not including things like sets, outfits, monster costumes (for horror/scifi), these are aesthetics that I am sure the devs are already working on.”
- “Pretty basic mechanics and graphics, but it works well for an addictive experience.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
Replayability for this management sim varies, with some users excited by the creative potential to remake favorite shows, while others find it currently linear and lacking depth, leading to limited replay value beyond the initial few hours.
- “Replayability is going to be off the charts in this interesting take on a management sim as we can all think of any number of favourite shows we'd like to emulate or remake.”
- “Doesn't have a lot of replayability at this point, more of a time waster.”
- “Lots of potential but right now very linear and easy, with not a lot of replayability past the first couple of hours.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the grinding aspect to be a fun concept but feel that excessive grinding, especially in tycoon games without a storyline, can be tedious and may require significant time investment.
- “It's a fun little concept, but I'm just not a fan of grindy tycoon games with no story.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is integrated into the gameplay through a story board mechanic, where players collect cards that contribute to advancing the plot and enhancing character growth alongside other elements like drama and comedy. This approach ties character development directly to player choices and narrative progression.
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game shows some stability issues, with users experiencing occasional bugs that affect the overall smoothness. Improvements are needed to ensure a more stable and reliable experience.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The provided text does not address the game's optimization; instead, it discusses a narrative idea unrelated to technical performance. Therefore, no relevant summary about optimization can be derived from it.
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect is shaped by player choices in character archetypes, allowing for customization between logical or emotional traits and varying alignments like chaotic or lawful, enhancing role-play based on the character's role in the story.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization is criticized as overly aggressive, feeling like a blatant cash grab, with players frustrated by the emphasis on payment over gameplay. Early access status offers some leniency, but it doesn't fully justify the pay-heavy approach.
- “If this was a fully released product, it would be one of Steam's most blatant cash grabs on the site; I'm inclined to give it a degree of early access leniency, but that's not an excuse for a game without the game part of it.”