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When I was first shown it, I wasn't at all surprised that Game Dev Story had captured the imaginations of many gamers. Its simplicity combined with a subject matter that universally appeals to us all — the creation of games — has made it somewhat of a sleeper hit amongst game enthusiasts. It wasn't long before I clicked "Buy App" and downloaded it straight to my iPhone.
Whilst the cute retro-styled graphics and the fact that it's sandwiched between two thick black bars on the screen — almost certainly because it was ported from an older Japanese cell phone — will keep it out of the iPhone's top ten (though I would love to be proven wrong), neither of those issues matter to its intended audience. For them, it's a nothing short of a sleeper hit in a year of incredibly strong releases.
Combining the simplicity in function that a small screen game demands, the fact that it's a game making sim, and that "just… one… more… go" factor has worked well in its favour, and will almost certainly satisfy the flights of fancy for many a gamer who has often dreamed about making a hit title, much in the same way as Theme Park was an immensely satisfying experience to anyone who fantasised of building the next Disney World.
For me, however, it wasn't enough.
I've read some of the complaints: that it's too easy, that there should be competing studios, and how you should be able to work on multiple games or juggle more than one development studio with larger, segmented teams. And whilst I agree with all of these complaints, and hope they're rectified in the sequel, and there will be one — this game, after all, would've made it onto the "Hall of Fame" if it were developed inside itself (try not to dwell on that paradox too much) — they're not my issues with Game Dev Story.
It goes back to my creative side. When I was younger I took a stab at making maps for Duke Nukem 3D, and before that I used to spend my breaks and lunch hours at school with two friends, drawing levels for Sonic, Super Mario Bros. and sometimes our own games (usually Sonic and Super Mario Bros. clones) on pieces of paper. Admittedly, even for a pre-teen I was a dreadful artist, so I quickly changed my creative output to storytelling.
And that's where the problem with Game Dev Story lies. The "story". Now, bear with me, as I appreciate the fact that it's a cute simulation game, and such games don't have traditional narratives, but even the player narrative – the one we're supposed to create with our imagination – was missing. Beyond coming up with a title for your studio and your games, Game Dev Studio allows no creative output from its players. The speed at which it progresses at grants little time for players to even have an idea about the game they're making, let alone allow that idea stew and grow into something creative and wonderful.
It's ostensibly numbers, metrics, stat porn, whatever. From the concept of the game, with different genres and scenario types ranked from A-C in popularity; to assigning the game points for cuteness, innovation, polish and other characteristics; through to numerical values for fun and creativity whilst in development; and then the final review scores, Game Dev Story is essentially a giant game of statistics.
Is it game developer Kairosoft's cynical look at applying a numerical value to everything? Perhaps. Or maybe the game developer subconsciously drew on their view of how things in game development inherently are, and then conveniently weaved it into the framework of a simulation game. Either way, the impression I got from playing was that I was witnessing how robotic and hit driven the games industry has become. If the graphics aren't this good, the idea not that original, or the reviewers simply aren't giving it scores higher than 7, then unless it's an anticipated sequel it's going to bomb.
Deriving fun from managing an unimaginative sequel farm is, as you'd imagine, quite depressing when looking back on it.
Eventually it became too much of a distraction whether I was playing it or not. When I was, I'd lose hours at a time trying to give my next game slightly more numbers than its predecessor. When I wasn't, I began to unleash all my pent up creativity by thinking about the games that I'd mindlessly churned out in Game Dev Story. It was unhealthy at a time when I should be completing more realistic endeavours, such as filling in my JET application, making preparations for NaNoWriMo next month and writing a first draft of my themed short story collection, not to mention looking for a job.
Needless to say, despite it being a well-made, fun and charming game, I lost a weekend to Game Dev Story and I see even more productive hours vanishing into thin air if carry on with it. At least I can say that I've certainly got more out of it than most of the games I've played this year. However, it's time I stopped, for the sake of my creativity, if anything. But before I do, maybe I'll make just one more game…
You can tell Chris he's wrong on Twitter: @akwinters. Or if you want to know more about him, check out his review backlog on Been There, Played That!