Above the Fold

Full Disclosure- I got my key at no cost, from the developer, to playtest the game, from Alpha 4 on. [b]This in no way affects my review of the game. If it sucked, I would be brutally honest about it. I call then like I see them.[/b] Okay, that said, up there ^^^... I don't really tend to enjoy manangement sim games, I usually find them too simple, shallow, or just plain uninteresting. This game is different. It may be because I have been inside, watching it evolve (and will continue to do so through Early Access, and beyond...), but this game has depth. The subject matter, a paper print newspaper from the 1980's- (when I was a teen and young adult) is very relatable for me. The game is still in development, but it already very rich with details that hold your interest, tension that makes you hustle and make snap decisions, humor that pops up and relieves some of the tension, in a very silly way, and more challenge than I expected. I like challenge. Needing to manage finances, pay for upgrades to the skills tree, get adverts to pay for upgrades and salaries, keep the political balance of the paper's articles in line with the political balance of your subscriber base, keep the politics in line with your advertisers' preferences so they will pay to put adverts in your paper, matching reporters to stories, trying not to upset reporters so they quit or leave for another paper... the list goes on. It is complex, but not in a "brain-bleed" sort of way. It really simulates what a managing editor back in "the day" might have had to deal with, taking a tiny "nothing" local paper and trying to make it into a national or international headline news source. And it allows for different playstyles to all have viability. The dev is very approacable, via Steam, social media and the game's website. Good guy, and I am not saying that just because I got a key to playtest. He really is a nice, relatable, easy to deal with fellow. He has taken feedback, negative and positive, very gracefully, and has dealt with bugs or glitches in a very timely manner. Honestly, I am very impressed with the quality of the game in Alpha, especially being from a solo dev. I expect it to get better as time goes on, and Ras can hopefully add to the dev team if he chooses to, and/or add more features to the game. The story right now is a bit middling in depth, but the game is really more about managing and building up the paper and your staff, rather than telling a deep story like a narrative driven game. The quirky owner and random characters (Like poor Mrs. harriett, or the angry homeless folks who may visit...) give enough story to make the game fun, for me, anyway. I can't wait to see where the game goes from here. Absolutely Recommended, especially for folks who love "realistic" management sims and love small Indies who make games with huge love. No number rating in Alpha or Early Access... let's let the game get out of its training pants first. I'll review again as the game grows and matures, if needed. (Minor edits for typos... dyslexia happens.)

The game is in alpha so I'll try not to bash it, but it's not that good yet. Somethings that would make it more strategic are, allowing the user to pause so they can scan the map, allow the user to get a newsfeed of stories on the right side of the map, allow the user to zoom in and out, make the map 3d instead of 2d so that their is more obviousness and it is easier on the eyes, also, allow the user to read the research options before they are unlocked. One big problem I have is not having a good way of sorting through all of the available news stories and picking the right reporters. If you were to incorporate a news feed and then allow a drop down menu that sorted by the best reporters that matched it and showed how much time it would take to report on that would help. The UI is not very friendly right now, and could really be improved a ton, I don't like having to click through the different employees. If this layout were more like This is the police it would make it more fun, but you can replicate that layout without the complexity, by pausing the game when a user clicks on a news story and allow them to view a menu that has more useful information giving relationships with the reporters that have good fits. Also, overall the whole strategy of matching the reporters to story that they are interested in and politically related to is not cool or fun, and I wish the stories were more obvious when it's important (e.g. they show a star ranking right on the map before clicking). I like the concept of the game but it is not well implemented, it would just make it more fun to have a UI that was more intuitive and gave more relevant information where it was needed, i.e. show less information all at once and have more compartmentalized information that can be shown when users have to interact. The game is also all randomly generated which is less interesting to me than one with a story that unfolds over time, the headlines are cool, but I don't get to read about the story behind them so it seems really one dimensional, maybe hire a writer (not many coders are also good writers). I will keep the game but I will wait for some quality of life improvements until I take it seriously and play it through to the end.

[h1]ENG[/h1] The game was given via curator connect. If you want to see more of our reviews, subscribe: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32623253-True-Reviews-English-Edition/] True Reviews English Edition [/url] Narrowly focused ideas usually take not much attention. So if you choose to make a such game you need to add as much functions from life as possible to make it more original. Pros: - idea; - gameplay is ok, though it needs improvements and additions. Cons: - it's very uncomfortable to use map with news. First, you have to quickly search all you need but can't do it because it tooks time to move the map. Second, you have to attach the tasks to journalists but it tooks time to switch between them; - you should add the tutorial. My first impression was "OMG, what I need to do? Where to press and why?"; - graphically game looks very cheap. You need to make a better design to make game more attractive. I could accept this picture if there was an incredible satisfying gameplay but it's not; - there's no music, seriously? A lot of free music in the internet, you should add some just to make game not so boring. Price: It's not a 14 dollars game for this moment. I'd give it 4 bucks maximum. [list] [*]Gameplay: 5 [*]Graphics: 3 [*]Sound and Music: 4 [*]Interface and Control: 3 [*]Novelty: 6 [*]Rating: [b]4[/b] [/list] [code]Verdict. Don't look at the mark. Above the Fold is admissible game. But I won't recommend it at this state if you're not ready to help the developer. It has very much things to improve and become more attractive.[/code] [h1]RUS[/h1] Игра была получена по программе взаимодействия с кураторами. Чтобы видеть больше наших обзоров, подпишитесь: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32526152-True-Reviews/] True Reviews [/url] Узконаправленные идеи обычно не привлекают большого внимания. Поэтому, если вы решили сделать такую игру, вам нужно добавить как можно больше функций из жизни, чтобы сделать ее более оригинальной. Плюсы: - идея; - геймплей в порядке, хотя ему необходимы улучшения и дополнения. Минусы: - очень неудобно использовать карту с новостями. Во-первых, вам необходимо быстро найти все, что вам нужно, но не можете этого сделать, потому что требуется много времени для перемещения карты. Во-вторых, вы должны приложить задачи к журналистам, но требуется много времени для переключения между ними; - вы должны добавить туториал. Мое первое впечатление было «OMG, что мне нужно делать? Где нажимать и почему?»; - графически игра выглядит очень дешево. Вам нужно сделать лучший дизайн, чтобы сделать игру более привлекательной. Я мог бы принять эту картинку, если бы был невероятный геймплей, но это не так; - нет музыки, серьезно? Много бесплатной музыки в Интернете, вы должны добавить немного, чтобы сделать игру не такой скучной. Цена: На данный момент это не игра на 14 долларов. Я бы дал ей максимум 4 доллара. [list] [*]Геймплей: 5 [*]Графика: 3 [*]Звук и музыка: 4 [*]Интерфейс и управление: 3 [*]Новизна: 6 [*]Рейтинг: [b]4[/b] [/list] [code]Вердикт. Не смотрите на оценку. Above the Fold - допустимая игра. Но я не буду рекомендовать ее в этом состоянии, если вы не готовы помочь разработчику. Есть много вещей, которые надо улучшить и сделать более привлекательными.[/code]

In its current state i wouldn't recommend, £11 for game that needs so much more to even be worth a buy, as a free game i could see it being fun but for now id say stay clear until its more fleshed out

Still in the early access and a few bugs and a few things that needs to be iron out. I recommend this game if your into sims. Win or lose in this game, I enjoy playing this game and can't wait to see where it goes. 10 out of 10. Well do a re-review when needed.

(Update): The game has had development, and I can see they are on the right track. One thing I would suggest changing is how stories are collected. I don't know what a better option is, but I know that the current method hurts my eyes. Concept: 100% Work in progress: 100% I think this will be a fantastic game! The developer has a long way to go though. I haven't played much, but I feel like until there is more work done, I will get aggrivated at the lack of work done so far. I look forward to the future development and will probably check back in a few months.

At this point the game is clearly unfinished. Yes, it is an Early Access Game, but I did expect a bit more. The music is horrible, but it's not a big deal. You can turn it off, but first you need to find out where the Options are. (Hint: You have to press Esc!) The graphics are old-fashioned in a bad way. Some of the design is nice, though. I particularly liked the reporter portraits and story type icons. I can see there is a lot of work to be done with the user interface, though. It is currently hideous. The gameplay was the biggest disappointment. It consists of nothing more than scrolling around on a very small city view and clicking some unrewarding buttons. I have played browser games that have more depth than AtF! In addition, the game crashed a little too often. This was not at all entertaining.

easy to get into it.... i like the concept, it has alot of potential. still in alpha so errors are excpected (GUI specially). in my opinion i would recommend buying this game only if you have money to spare .

Automatically gets a thumbs down for not having a tutorial. I always feel like a game doesn't value my time when they're too lazy to release a game that I've paid for which doesn't include a tutorial. I don't care that it's Early Access, it's a game for which I've spent money. If the developer doesn't think teaching their players to play the game they released is important, I couldn't care less about learning it. I'm not interested in spending hours learning how to play their game before playing it.

In 13 minutes, I had 2 CTD's. The little time I was able to play it, I saw that the stories appear and disappear. So you find a story about politics. By the time you have located the reporter that likes politics, the story could disappear. Plus you have to right click drag to see more of the city, and more stories. They don't tell you that. So instead of a newspaper management game, it's a pixel hunt as you drag the map around and hope you're in time to click on a story and assign it before it goes away. Who thought this was a good idea? I was gifted this game, otherwise I'd be hitting the refund button, fast. (edit) I thought I would give this game one more chance. Now clicking 'Start new day' immediately CTD's. I can't even play the game.