Arcade Tycoon: Simulation

I hope you’re ready for Arcade Tycoon: Simulation by Squidpunch Studios. If you’ve ever been to the seafront arcade and thought “why do none of the machine’s work? Did this machine eat my note and not give me any coins? It can’t be that hard to run a place like this. Did I really spend like 50 bucks on games and all I can get with the tickets is a keychain?” You will inherently understand the desire to test your skills at building and managing your own growing arcade, and that’s exactly what this game offers. Do it your own way and stay on top of the needy guests, useless employees and faulty machines in this surprisingly amusing game about amusements. Let’s get into it.

Gameplay

Okay, so this game functions a lot like you would expect; it’s a simulator after all. That said, this game goes hard in giving you the opportunities to do things your own way: design the layout how you want it, handle customers however you feel is appropriate, pick what machines you want from a list of over 300, there’s little that you cannot control.

Inspired by games like Two Point Hospital, Prison Architect and Megaquarium, this title takes all the best things and runs with them in a way that is nothing short of inspiring.

A campaign with 12 levels will have you handle daily operations with increasing difficulty. Not only to you have to make sure there are enough amenities for all the guests but you also have to make sure you manage your power output so all machines are powered properly and that they aren’t faulty, lest you electrocute a guest and get yourself into trouble for negligence.

You have to stay on top of hiring and firing, marketing and finance and much more as you strategically become the best arcade in town.

Visuals

The visuals have a kind of Habbo Hotel vibe that I found to be really, very charming. Everything from the arcade games to the little people who walk around are very well rendered and look unique and interesting. When designing your arcade, you can choose to have a few different themed areas that might reference pirates, space, Halloween or cowboys. It added some great diversity to the game and made you think about how you were going to set it all out so that everywhere gets a fair cut of the floorplan.

Upgrades and Unlockable

A huge part of this game is the ability to upgrade and unlock some hot new tech that will help your arcade function more smoothly and will help you earn a fair bit more money. An interesting research and upgrade system are available for the players and it makes the whole game more entertaining. Expansion is the key to success here and how well the game handles this makes for some impressive replay value.

Pros

• Great gameplay
• Upgrade system is brilliant

Cons

• The AI’s will drive you insane sometimes