This game... is super addictive. This point cannot be stressed enough, it gets you into the mentality of playing/creating one more game and seeing how well it sells and before you know it, hours has passed and yet you still just can't put it down. The appeal of creating your own games, personalizing it (to a small degree), advertising your studio and seeing how well your sales are, is massive and cannot be understated. In the 'main' game (you get a score after twenty in-game years has passed and then anything after that is like a 'zen' mode), new advancements often happen. This kept the first playthrough fresh and dynamic since just when you thought that you have seen everything the game has offered, something new gets introduced, from new consoles, moving to a new office, new genres and even creating your own console. Since there is a rapid rate of new things being introduced and next-to-nothing in the post-game, it can feel jarring and makes you wish that Kairosoft could have introduced even more things during post-game.
One of the neat things are the references to real-life companies, video games and consoles. It was hilarious when you see Sonny's PlayStatus, Intendro's Game Kid or Senga's Harpo Drive. The graphics are the same as all the other Kairosoft games, in that it is reminiscent of the 8-bit (or 16-bit) games of old. These simple sprites are perfect for this type of game. Unlike some of the latter Kairosoft games, the camera angle/viewpoint is fixed, you can't zoom in/out or move the camera around the office. Not that is matters but it's just something that you'd notice if you have been playing a lot of their other games. One of the things that could be done better here though is the stats display. It would be nice if you could get more out of them (since this is a simulation game that puts a lot of emphasis on numbers, you would expect that there would be some rich statistics reports). It also would be nice if it didn't start deleting the records of your previous games once you've created more than 32 games. The music is not memorable but does what it has to do. Some of the sound effects don't seem to suit the actions, like the "warning" sound that plays whenever one of the staff gets motivated and performs well in a game currently being developed.
As per usual with these types of games, once you know how the game mechanic works and can use it to your advantage, you can break the game quite easily. However, on a first playthrough with no idea of what is going on, it can get tough during the latter stages where the cost of things skyrocket. For example, the game system that you're developing on is being discontinued but you don't have enough money to purchase a development kit for one of the newer consoles and you're stuck wasting time trying to earn enough money from third party jobs or developing for the PC (which is the one with the lowest market share in the game). Once you figure out how everything works such as what makes the game sell well and how different elements combine together, it gets substantially easier and more satisfying. Overall, this is an amazingly addictive game that you will pour hours into. Just due to how it works, there is amazing replay value. Definitely recommended if you like simulation games because there is much more depth to this game than what the graphics suggest.
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