The Invisible Hand
- May 7, 2021
- Power Struggle Games
- 5h median play time
A well put together, and politically clever role playing stock broker simulator. This game can provide a few play throughs possibly offering something fresh each time. Well worth a look if this genre interests you.
Get on Steam"The Invisible Hand: Family Office Update" is a simulation game where you serve as a financial advisor for a wealthy family, aiming to control increasing percentages of the global economy in an improved Endless Mode. With immeasurable options, players strive to achieve impressive results, potentially impacting the developers' future plans and testing the true meaning of 'endless.' This thought-provoking experience offers a unique blend of challenge and amusement for those eager to manipulate the digital market.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a fun and humorous take on stock trading, providing an engaging experience for players interested in finance.
- It serves as a light-hearted educational tool, giving players a simplified understanding of stock market mechanics and the impact of their decisions.
- The endless mode allows for continued gameplay after completing the story, providing opportunities for players to experiment with market manipulation.
- The main story is very short, typically taking only 2-4 hours to complete, which may leave players feeling unsatisfied with the overall content.
- Gameplay can become repetitive and lacks depth, with many mechanics feeling unbalanced or easily exploitable, leading to a lack of challenge.
- The game suffers from performance issues, especially during high-stakes transactions, which can detract from the overall experience.
- story82 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally perceived as short and lacking depth, with many players noting its comedic elements and satirical take on capitalism. While some found it mildly interesting and enjoyable, others criticized it for being railroaded and not truly responsive to player choices, leading to limited replayability. Overall, the story serves more as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a compelling narrative, with many players preferring the endless mode for its gameplay mechanics.
“The story mode is really interesting.”
“Interesting story, fun and fast-paced gameplay, and something unique for sure.”
“The storyline has a few possible endings depending on how you react to certain situations, you can also get fired if you don't reach certain goals or lose a lot of money in a day, etc.”
“This is a railroaded story with the guise of being responsive to player action on the first playthrough, and I feel cheated.”
“The overall story is just an absolute mess that never actually says anything other than a bunch of random nonsense.”
“I didn't even believe it when I got the message that the story was over after an hour or two; the ending feels incomplete.”
- gameplay39 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a mix of engaging stock trading mechanics and humorous narrative elements, but it suffers from a lack of depth and replayability, with many players finding it easy to exploit the system. While the core mechanics are satisfying and the game offers some clever ideas, the overall experience is short-lived, often leaving players feeling that the game is unfinished or lacking in complexity. Despite its fun premise, the limited gameplay duration and simplistic mechanics may not justify the price for many players.
“The gameplay can get challenging if you challenge yourself to constantly day-trade the news, but as I said, you can easily just do meta stuff; however, the daily challenges shake it up a bit.”
“There are a lot of clever ideas in this, from how the trading mechanics work to the wit in a lot of the writing and situations.”
“Funny writing that adds to the social commentary aspect with core gameplay mechanics that are both engaging and addictive, with new challenges and twists just when you start to get a feel for the game.”
“The game is very short and most of the mechanics are pointless. You can hold parties and buy larger properties, but it doesn't really affect anything in the game.”
“After a few days, the game introduces dividends, a mechanic which just ends the need to try. Just short some stock and sign a dividend agreement, then keep buying that stock to push the price up. At the end of the day, you get a percentage of the profit, which will be huge, and you can finance it by just infinitely shorting some other random stock. There's no need to even bother playing the game or reading the news feeds.”
“They charged a fat sum for a game with minimal (and poorly explained) gameplay mechanics, no voice acting, horrendous visuals, little depth, a horribly ham-fisted narrative, a runtime of a little under 2 hours, and an undercooked, desolate, and shoddy-looking primary environment, which is the only environment you get to explore in the entire game.”
- humor20 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for its witty, satirical take on capitalism and the stock market, providing a fun and engaging experience without being cringeworthy. Players appreciate the clever writing and funny situations that enhance the gameplay, although some feel the story could be longer. Overall, the humor effectively balances with the game's mechanics, making it a recommended choice for those seeking a lighthearted yet thought-provoking experience.
“Fun stock market simulator with witty and not cringe sense of humor.”
“Very funny (and eerily relevant) social commentary on capitalism and the stock market.”
“Funny writing that adds to the social commentary aspect with core gameplay mechanics that are both engaging and addictive with new challenges and twists just when you start to get a feel for the game.”
- graphics10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 10 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Overall, the graphics of the game received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing them as subpar and poorly optimized for a 2021 release. While some noted occasional nice visuals, the presence of glitches and a lack of depth in the environments detracted from the experience. The consensus suggests that the graphics do not meet the expectations set by contemporary indie titles.
“The game offers some nice graphics; although there are some ugly glitches here and there, it is pleasant all the same.”
“Very good graphics.”
“More of a graphical novel morality tale than a trading simulator.”
“If this game was originally released in 2015, I'd say the graphics were passable for an indie title, but it released in 2021, so my standards are higher.”
“It takes an unusually long time to load the game when you hit play for such a simple game with bad graphics and a tiny world.”
“They charged a fat sum for a game with minimal (and poorly explained) gameplay mechanics, no voice acting, horrendous visuals, little depth, a horribly ham-fisted narrative, a runtime of a little under 2 hours, if you don't leave the game running while doing other things (like I did in order to end up with a 2.4 hour playtime), and an undercooked, desolate and shoddy-looking primary environment, which is the only environment you get to explore in the entire game.”
- replayability7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the multiple endings and find enjoyment in the stock trading mechanics, many feel that the short main story limits overall replay value. A few users suggest that it may appeal to those who particularly enjoy its themes, but most agree that it doesn't offer significant incentive for multiple playthroughs.
“Tons of replayability and is quite relevant in today's climate.”
“Would recommend as a pick up (especially on sale); it feels like it has some replayability, but I wouldn't expect to get more than one playthrough unless you really enjoy the mechanics of messing with stocks and destabilizing developing countries.”
“I have 10 hours of gameplay and there is no replayability factor.”
“There are multiple endings, so there is some replayability value, but it is true that the main story is itself very short.”
“If you can afford to spend the price for 2-4 hours of gameplay with no replayability, this is a great game for you.”
- stability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been reported to have several bugs and glitches, which can detract from the overall experience. While some players find it enjoyable despite these issues, the instability remains a notable concern.
“So either the game is buggy or it doesn't follow the rules and boundaries it sets.”
“A lot of fun, kinda buggy at the moment though.”
“Very boring and buggy, though.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with users reporting significant CPU throttling and poor graphics performance, particularly in the 3D world. While the 2D market simulation is the primary focus, the overall performance issues detract from the experience.
“I really want to like this game, but for what it is, it is either incredibly poorly optimized or has a miner built in because within a few minutes this game causes my CPU to throttle terribly.”
“The quite poor optimization of the graphics for the 3D world is annoying, but doesn't really matter since you spend all your time in the market simulation (2D) for the most part.”
“The game appears to have performance issues.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players express frustration with the grinding aspect of the game, noting that the campaign feels too short and the ending is abrupt, leading to unnecessary grinding for content that doesn't materialize. Additionally, the inability to skip lengthy introductory sequences during new playthroughs adds to the tedium, detracting from the overall experience.
“Balancing things so that the campaign is longer and successions less tedious would have helped a lot.”
“I didn't even believe it when I got the message that the story was over after an hour or two. I thought the first part of the story was over and I kept grinding in anticipation of something else happening - the ending feels incomplete.”
“When you start the game, even if you played before and you want to start a new playthrough, there is, as far as I know, no way to skip the tedious 5-minute long intro before you can select your game mode and actually start the game. It would be nice to have an option to skip all that when you want to start playing immediately instead of watching an unskippable cutscene for the fourth time.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game effectively captures a compelling atmosphere that enhances the trading experience, distinguishing it from typical paper trading simulations. While the storyline adds some depth, it is not essential to enjoying the overall ambiance of the game.
“But it still captures the atmosphere perfectly, and it's as close as you can get in a trading game without making yet another paper trading simulation, which wouldn't be a fun game.”
“The game storyline is somewhat interesting; I wouldn't say it's necessary to play it, but it adds a bit of atmosphere.”
“The game story line is somewhat interesting; I wouldn't say it's necessary to play it, but it adds a bit of atmosphere.”
- music2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as a complex blend of background tracks and ambient sounds that complement the gameplay, but it can become overwhelming due to the constant influx of audio elements, including dialogue and various sound effects. Overall, while it effectively conveys the game's atmosphere, the sheer volume of auditory information may detract from the experience.
“This song explains everything you need to know about the game.”
“The background music and ambient sounds create an immersive experience that enhances the gameplay.”
“Green and red arrows, constantly changing colors, up and down, new stocks popping up, too much text going on, then if someone is talking to you that shows up, along with the talking sound they make, with the background music and ambient sounds on top of that.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is likened to a parody of news networks, suggesting that it heavily relies on constant advertisements and information overload, which may detract from the overall experience.
Critic Reviews
The Invisible Hand: An Easy Way to Reach the Moon – PC Review
The Invisible Hand introduces you to the basics of stocks without ever getting too complicated. It gives you new concepts in a timely matter and never feels overwhelming in the process. However, if you are already familiar with stocks, you might find the experience relatively easy.
70%The Invisible Hand Review – Buying shares in satire
The Invisible Hand is oftentimes more frustrating and confusing than it is fun. It’s definitely made for people who are more knowledgeable or interested in the subject matter of trading stocks. Though, even from the point of view of someone who knows nothing about stock markets, I can see its value to those who do. It’s satirical and well crafted for what it is. Even I could have some fun while playing the game. Ultimately though, this game is not made for everyone, and that’s okay. Those who find themselves in The Invisible Hand’s niche corner will no doubt find some nefarious fun to be had.
60%The Invisible Hand Review (PC)
The Invisible Hand could have been a great if simplistic stock trading-focused game, if it dropped the satire elements, choosing to focus on how the market can be manipulated and on how rivalries develop between traders. The title could also have been a solid satire of modern wild capitalism and the way it lacks morals or compassion if it allowed itself to invest more in relationships and good dialogue and less in the actual stock-based gameplay. The problem is that the development team wants to deliver on both concepts and fails to reach the potential of either of them. The limited appeal of the presentation does not help with either of them. Even worse, the narrative side feels too arch, too designed to show off the evil of a system rather than portray somewhat believable people. As it stands, The Invisible Hand is an ambitious but shallow video game that fails to deliver on its solid initial pitch. Review code provided by the publisher.
75%
