In the management games category, Game Dev Story for iPhone and Android has met with huge success since its release a few years ago. It must be said that the game is particularly complete and attractive in addition to easily attracting video game enthusiasts since you have to manage a development studio there. Like almost all management games, there are certain tricks that you can only discover after several dozen hours of playing. Don’t panic though, we’ll give you all of these tips in this article.
How to properly train your employees?
Throughout the game, your development studio will have to try their hand at developing different types of games to vary their production and be more successful. However, at first you will not be able to develop multiple types of games. To unlock them, you must first hire and train employees in different trades.
The different jobs are: Coder, Writer, Designer, Sound Engineer, Director, Producer, Hacker and Hardware Engineer (the game is in English only). Each employee can be assigned to an activity and thus earn points in a trade. It is possible to earn up to 5 points per trade.
Among the trades, there are some more advanced than others, that is to say that it will take a combination of two levels in two different trades for the employee to master a third trade. Here are the four advanced trades:
- Producer: Designer level 5 + Sound Engineer level 5
- Director: Coder level 5 + Writer level 5
- Hardware Engineer: Producer level 5 + Director level 5
- Hacker (most difficult): Coder level 5 + Writer level 5 + Designer level 5 + Sound Engineer level 5 + Producer level 5 + Director level 5 + Hardware Engineer level 5
You can also simply wait for an employee with an advanced trade to show up on your list of potential hires if you don’t want to waste time training an employee.
How to unlock new games?
As we told you a little earlier, your development studio will have to unlock new types of games to progress and increase your chances of success by varying your productions. For that, you will have to learn new trades and new skills, but which ones? Here is the full list of unlockable games and the skill level required:
- RPG: Writer level 5
- Simulation: Coder level 4
- Sim RPG: Director level 1
- Action: Writer level 3
- Shooter: Writer level 3
- Action RPG: Producer level 3
- Racing: Sound Engineer level 3
- Online RPG: Producer level 5
- Online Sim: Hacker level 5
- Life: Designer level 3
- Board: Producer level 1
- Music: Director level 5
- Audio Novel: Director level 2
- Motion: Hardware Engineer level 4
- Card Game: Hardware Engineer level 3
However, leveling up your employees won’t be enough to automatically unlock the new kind of game you want to produce. You will have to send your employees, after their leveling up in a specific area, to carry out certain activities. If you complete all the available activities with level 5 employees in all trades, you will unlock all types of games.
How do you produce a game that will sell well?
The future of your development studio depends mainly on the sales figures of your games. At first, they will necessarily be low, but they will gradually climb. The number of sales depends on the quality of the game, itself related to the skills of the employees who worked on it, but also to the mix of types and genres that you offer.
Indeed, in addition to the types of games we have already told you about, there is also the question of genres. They are very numerous and determine the style of your game (cowboy, ninja, medieval, etc.). You still have to choose what genres and types your playing will mix, but you have to choose carefully, because not all styles and genres make good combinations.
So here is the list of types and genres that will make the best games:
- Action: Basketball, Historical, Horror, Ogre, Sumo, Ninja
- Action RPG: Poncho, Hunting
- Adventure: Cartoon, Cowboy, Detective, Mystery
- Audio Novel: Cowboy, Cutie, Detective, Movies, Romance, Dating, Horror
- Board: Chess
- Life: Animals, Pop Star, Soccer, Town, Word, Comics, Dating, F1 Racing, Game Co., Mushroom
- Motion: Dance, Drums, Fitness, Skiing, Snowboard, Volleyball, Pinball, Pop Star, Slots
- Music: Drums
- Online RPG: Medieval
- Online Sim: Architecture, Conv. Store, Cutie, Game Co., Pop Star, Stocks, Swimming, Virtual Pet, Mushroom
- Puzzle: Checkers, Reversi
- Racing: Motorsport, Snowboard, Swimsuit
- RPG: Fantasy, Ogre, Mushroom
- Shooter: Horseshoes, Robot
- Simulation: Architecture, Bookstore, Cartoon, F1 Racing, Game Co., Motorsport, Movies, Pop Star, Romance, Soccer, Train, Comics, Cutie, Mushroom, Town
- Table: Mahjong, Poncho
- Trivia: Comedy, Cosplay, Sumo, Mini-skirt
A few loose tips
The game incorporates a notion of time and displays the number of days, months and years that pass. A seller comes by once a year in May and gives you the opportunity to purchase three items. Once you’ve purchased these items or May is over, he’ll be gone.
Employees can get bored and they should not be tied to the same task over two games in a row, because they will do less well. It is therefore important to train them on at least two tasks in order to be able to alternate. Also, consider focusing the best employees on the task they are best at on the same game in order to have huge success. Let them “rest” on the next game.
Finally, each year the GOTY (Game of the year) award is given to one of the games. The podium has five places and if you manage to climb on it, you will unlock special rewards:
- First place: Grizzly Bearington employee
- Second place: Employee Chimpan Z-force
- Third place: Employee Kairobot
- Fourth place: Jupiter 512 game console
- Fifth place: Gamejohn game console
