Game Dev Story (iPhone/iPod Touch)

If you like to keep up to speed with the games industry as a whole, rather than just play the games it churns out, then you'll probably be aware that a fairly alarming number of games development studios are closing down these days. To the casual observer, this might seem a bit odd... all games sell millions, so developers must be bathing in money, right? Not so. Maybe you'll understand the situation a little better if you play Game Dev Story.

In this game, you take the management reins of a new software house. Naturally, the aim of the game is to rise from nothing to become a Valve-like behemoth, but the course of the games industry does not run smooth...


Five? Great! Send 'em in!

First things first. You can't knock out a game with just your secretary for help... you're not Jeff Minter, after all. Nope, to get anywhere in this game, you're going to have to hire some staff. Fortunately they're queueing up to work for your fledgling company. The difficulty comes in hiring the right staff. You're not going to get the best on your limited budget, but if you hire for their potential, you can train them over time and hopefully develop them into award-winners.

Having said that, there may be times when they're not quite up to the task at hand. No fault of their own... it's just inexperience. When this happens, you can give your project a boost, either by using items in conjunction with your research data, or by contracting some aspect of the work to a specialist outsider. What you have to bear in mind is that these things all cost money, and until you have a hit on your hands it's in limited supply... so choose wisely.


This project is really heating up...

Once your game is finished, it's time for the release. It'll help if you pay for advertising at this time... you need as many people to know about your game as possible. Then you can sit back and watch the sales mount up. Or can you? It doesn't pay to sit around, and while your staff might be a bit burned out to be considering anoher game, you can take on other projects to keep funds ticking over, such as creating scenarios or sound FX work. There's always plenty to do.

This all sounds a little bit dull, but it isn't at all. It's entertaining... interesting, even, to see how this game industry works. And it helps that it has a nice sense of humour. The game is littered with cute little references, and the best thing is they tie in (somewhat) with real gaming history. So if you know your consoles, you should be able to figure out which ones to throw your weight behind in the game... and which ones to avoid!


Damn! We were hoping for the Dreamcost 2.

I've seen a lot of reviews that complain about the graphics... that although the style is nice, the iPhone is capable of better. I think that's missing the point. Just because "better" is possible, it doesn't mean it's suitable. The pixel-art style this game employs fits really well, and that's much more important than adding extra flash. Similarly, there are complaints that the game doesn't fill the whole screen. If this affected gameplay, fair enough... but it doesn't. To me, Game Dev Story has very cute graphics that fit perfectly... that'll do for me.


Hurray! What a bunch of stars we are!

If there's one game that Game Dev Story reminded me of, it's Rock Star Ate My Hamster, which I played back at the beginning of February. It has the same reliance on hiring the right people, making the right choices regarding work and advertising, and some nice subject-related humour. That also means that there's a chance the repetitive gameplay will become stale over time. And with the relatively expensive (for the iPhone) £2.39 price tag, some might not feel like taking on the risk. Personally, despite my usual apathy towards resource-management games, I've fallen for the charms of Game Dev Story, and it's a very welcome addition to my iPod Touch.

Number 10.

Before the countdown begins, I'll explain how the games made it into the top 10. Basically, these are the ten games I've most enjoyed discovering (or in one case, rediscovering) in the time I've been writing the blog. If I've specifically picked it for a feature, I'm not going to count it, but anything else stands a chance of making it in. Or should I say, stood a chance... the top 10 is already picked and ready to go.

So, without further ado...

Number 10 - Rock Star Ate My Hamster (Commodore 64).

If you'd told me a year ago that after more than two hundred posts, Rock Star Ate My Hamster would have been in my top ten blog games, I'd have thrown a telly out of the window. It seems ridiculous to suggest that... it's not even a very good game.

Doesn't matter. For all its flaws and lack of any sort of long-term play, Rock Star Ate My Hamster will give you two solid hours of pure addiction as you try to manage your mismatched band of reprobate rock stars to the top.

Here's what I originally thought of it...


Three days? I suspect that three months wouldn't knock my lot into shape.

I think the appeal with this game lies in the fact that everyone wants to be a rock star or pop star. There's nothing that seems more attractive than being top of the charts... why else do you see film stars or sports stars releasing records? It's not enough that they're famous and have glamorous careers, they want the adulation that only crowds of concert-goers can give.

Rock Star Ate My Hamster doesn't let you become a rock star, but managing them is incredibly addictive... up to a point. That point being when you manage to have a hit record. Really, once that happens, there's nowhere else for this game to go. It's a shame, but back in those days, games were often a lot more limited. With the likes of Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Singstar and Lips out there now, the music game market is on a real high (or has been... it might have reached a saturation point by now). I wonder if there would be any market for a much deeper version of this game now?

I don't know. Maybe it's best left in the Eighties. What I can say is that, in terms of pure enjoyment, the two hours of glued-to-my-screen clicking that ensued upon loading Rock Star Ate My Hamster are enough to make this my tenth favourite blog game.