Startup Company
- August 11, 2017
- Hovgaard Games
- 8h median play time
Get on SteamStartup Company is a business simulation game where you run a small startup with the goal of growing it into a successful company. You must manage and improve your website, hire and keep employees happy, and expand your office space, all while competing against major tech giants. Success depends on effective management, development, and marketing strategies.
Mac OS
PC
Steam Deck
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The game is easy to learn and offers a fun simulation experience of running a tech startup.
- The developer is very responsive to community feedback and regularly updates the game with new features.
- The gameplay is addictive, with a satisfying progression system that keeps players engaged.
- The game can become repetitive and grindy, especially in the late game when there are fewer challenges.
- The UI is clunky, making it difficult to manage multiple employees and tasks efficiently.
- There is a lack of depth in gameplay mechanics, leading to a feeling of monotony after a certain point.
- gameplay303 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Startup Company" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it initially engaging but ultimately repetitive and shallow as they progress. While the core mechanics of managing a startup and balancing resources are straightforward and easy to learn, the lack of depth and variety in gameplay leads to a decline in interest, particularly in the mid to late game. Overall, while the game shows potential and offers a fun experience for a limited time, it struggles to maintain long-term engagement due to its simplistic mechanics and repetitive nature.
“The game's core mechanics revolve around creating products, hiring and managing employees, and competing in a simulated market.”
“With its engaging gameplay, attention to detail, and high replayability, this game is sure to provide countless hours of entertainment and education.”
“I really enjoy the gameplay and the community attached to it.”
“I don't know, maybe once you get the hang of it, the game becomes one of the best experiences, and I really hope I'll be able to change this comment someday, but for now it's terrible. The tutorial fails to explain the basics in a timely and interesting manner, the interface is terrible, you can't find anything without reading the full tutorial a few times, and gameplay is slow, weird, and unintuitive.”
“What is a really promising premise and fun concept quickly falls flat when you realize just how bare-bones the gameplay experience is.”
“The gameplay is as shallow as any clicker game.”
- graphics108 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as colorful, vibrant, and appealing, with a charming art style that enhances the overall experience. While some players appreciate the simplicity and cleanliness of the visuals, others note that the graphics are basic and lack depth, particularly in terms of animation and detail. Overall, the graphics are considered decent for a simulation game, fitting well within the genre's standards without being groundbreaking.
“I also love the art style, beautifully colored and detailed in that classically animated style.”
“The colorful and vibrant graphics add to the game's overall charm, while the upbeat soundtrack keeps players energized and engaged.”
“The graphics are neat, modern, and pleasing to the eye.”
“Some downsides of this game are that the graphics aren't that good.”
“The graphics are pretty average, not going to blow you away from that angle; however, the nice feeling you get of winning a contract or being able to turn a project in on time is always nice.”
“This is a terrible game... just nicer graphics from Software Inc.”
- grinding92 mentions
- 3 % positive mentions
- 2 % neutral mentions
- 95 % negative mentions
The reviews consistently highlight that the game is excessively grindy, particularly in the mid to late stages, leading to a tedious and repetitive experience. Players often feel overwhelmed by the micromanagement required and the lack of quality-of-life features, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. While the initial gameplay can be engaging, many users report that it becomes monotonous and frustrating as they progress, often requiring significant time investment without sufficient rewards.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“Way too grindy... also too micro-managementy... you could probably actually create something productive instead of playing this.”
“The idea is pretty nice, but it ends up being mostly idle with small sections of intense micromanagement clicking to set things up correctly and then going back to idle again. The problem is there's very little quality of life options to make the tedious clicking less tedious, so personally, I stopped when I realized the last tier required me to click three times as much to set up an idle farm.”
“The main game loop is extremely boring because there are limited options, and the options are locked behind super grindy research barriers.”
- monetization88 mentions
- 3 % positive mentions
- 5 % neutral mentions
- 92 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game primarily revolves around generating revenue through advertisements, with players managing ad contracts and hiring employees to optimize their website's performance. While the early game is engaging, many players find the late game repetitive and lacking in challenge, as the focus shifts to simply juggling ad contracts and maintaining user satisfaction. Overall, the game effectively simulates the dynamics of running an ad-based online business, but some players express a desire for more diverse monetization options beyond just advertising.
“The balance between features and monetization is a nice concept.”
“Decent variety of website features, enhancements, and monetization methods.”
“Your employees build out components and modules that are used to add features to your site, develop monetization, or are used in other components and modules.”
“In startup company, you run a website company but the only source of income possible is advertisement.”
“Early game you make money by doing objectives, then midgame you figure out how to make money and from that point there is absolutely no challenge, just running ads (to bring new users and to make money), waiting for users to trickle in, and upgrading servers and hiring more employees.”
“But later down the line it just consists of juggling between advertisement contracts.”
- story49 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 80 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its lack of depth and engagement, with many players noting that it feels more like a simulation of running a business than a narrative-driven experience. While there are some elements, such as a retirement goal, the overall storyline is minimal and often overshadowed by gameplay mechanics, leading to a sense of boredom and disconnection from characters. Players familiar with similar management games express disappointment in the absence of a compelling narrative or character development.
“One recent addition I liked is that they recently added a retirement part, like in the old Sid Meier game 'Pirates' that tells the story of how your life would be when you retired, just text, but still an endgame goal to work towards.”
“A startup starts with innovation and convincing co-founders, employees, customers, investors, and the rest of the world that your company, its team, and its mission has a future.”
“The developer who created this game had very little time to make this into what this is, according to the story of how he crafted this game (kudos to that really), and with that he has made a game that is very well interesting.”
“I have never been able to finish the story mode.”
“There's no story, you're just a guy who wanted to open his own business, and you have about 60 years to develop it, until you grow old.”
“There is no action or story, or anything else to do once you have enough employees.”
- music37 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as calming and pleasant, contributing positively to the overall experience. However, many players find the soundtrack repetitive, with only a few tracks available, which can become irritating over extended play sessions. While some appreciate the simplicity and relaxing nature of the music, others suggest that it lacks variety and depth.
“The colorful and vibrant graphics add to the game's overall charm, while the upbeat soundtrack keeps players energized and engaged.”
“The music is really nice, very calm and relaxing.”
“The visual aesthetic is beautiful, music is perfect, and gameplay is both addictive and realistic; this could be a trainer game for how to handle yourself as a new startup!”
“The game does offer soundtracks, but in the end, it repeats the same soundtrack over and over again, and I must say, it irritated me.”
“Just like there's only about 2 or 3 pieces of background music, which gets annoying quite quickly.”
“The music is repetitive, but acceptable.”
- optimization36 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews. While some players appreciate its potential for process optimization and find it playable on low-end devices, many report significant performance issues, particularly when managing a large workforce, leading to sluggish gameplay and lag. Despite recent updates improving stability, there are still calls for better UI optimization and additional performance options.
“If you enjoy optimization and the idea of making numbers go big, then this does those things really, really well.”
“Process optimization and cost efficiency are things that people get paid to do as actual jobs, so the upside is this is a game that, if you enjoy improving and seeing what you can manage, the sky's the limit.”
“At release, this simulated management strategy title had a few performance issues and some game-breaking bugs; thankfully, the developers have been releasing regular updates and not only is the game now stable and performing well, but it is extremely well fleshed out, cleverly implemented, and full of content.”
“The game's performance felt very sluggish.”
“Extreme lag with an extremely unoptimized game.”
“Only downside, performance gets kind of slow when you max out your workers.”
- replayability32 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The reviews for "replayability" present a mixed picture, with some players praising the game for its engaging mechanics and potential for multiple playthroughs, while others criticize it for a lack of diversity and repetitive gameplay. Many users note that while there are elements that can enhance replay value, such as different tech paths and updates, the overall experience can become monotonous once the core mechanics are mastered. Overall, the game offers varying degrees of replayability, with some players finding it highly enjoyable and others feeling it lacks depth for long-term engagement.
“Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Startup Company, however, is its replayability.”
“With its engaging gameplay, attention to detail, and high replayability, this game is sure to provide countless hours of entertainment and education.”
“A great game and fantastic value considering the sheer amount of replayability.”
“Replay value is where this game hits a major problem.”
“Once you understand the mechanics of getting to a profit, the replayability of the game tanked for me as I realized there literally is one (or maybe two) paths of getting there.”
“I cannot recommend this game for its current state as there is nearly no replayability.”
- stability29 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 7 % neutral mentions
- 72 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with some users reporting frequent freezes and bugs, particularly when using certain features or mods. However, many players also note that it runs smoothly overall, with minimal crashes and a generally polished experience for an early access title. While there are occasional glitches, the developer is actively addressing issues, leading to a positive outlook on future stability improvements.
“Great game for passing time, the creator is on top of keeping the game up-to-date and bug-free.”
“No glitches or crashes.”
“This has to be one of the most polished, bug-free games I've ever played, being it just released.”
“Sometimes if you hold ctrl while double-clicking the name of a new management plan, the game freezes and you have to close and reopen it to be able to do anything, which will set you back to your last save.”
“The game freezes a lot so it needs to be fixed.”
“Laggy, freezes every 5 seconds.”
- humor22 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as lighthearted and often crude, featuring clever parodies and social commentary that resonate with players. Many reviewers appreciate the amusing company names and quirky in-game scenarios, which add a layer of fun to the gameplay, although some note that the humor can become repetitive. Overall, the game successfully blends comedy with its simulation elements, making it an entertaining experience for players.
“Lighthearted sense of humor, parody, social commentary.”
“And boy do I love the hilarious company names XD.”
“Having worked for a number of startups myself, I found my sociopathic tendencies towards my employees both hilarious and profoundly disturbing.”
- atmosphere9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players appreciate its polish and engaging elements, others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking depth. The office environment is often described as mundane, with calls for more dynamic and unique mechanics to enhance the overall experience. Overall, the atmosphere is seen as a key area for improvement, particularly in creating a more immersive and enjoyable setting.
“Great game with a nice atmosphere.”
“Amazing that this is a one-man product; it is so well polished and has a great atmosphere.”
“A startup company is a good idea for a game; micromanage the atmosphere of your company, build your team, and live for the next contract.”
“Repetitive, simple design without the atmosphere, not fun overall.”
“The office atmosphere is kinda mundane.”
“In Startup Company, I don't like the passive atmosphere.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of "startup company" is characterized by a mix of stress and attachment; while some players find it emotionally taxing and unrewarding, others develop a connection to the software they create, leading to moments of genuine emotion, including sadness. Overall, the game elicits a range of feelings, from frustration to a sense of relaxation, depending on the player's experience.
“Made me cry after I wanted the money back.”
“You develop an emotional attachment to the software you make.”
“Less features in the game due to lack of development made me feel relaxed and easy to play.”
