Desolation Tycoon

As a fan of casual trading sims like [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1040070/Merchant_of_the_Skies/?curator_clanid=33780629]Merchant of the Skies[/url] which I've played until the very end ([url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUA869M7z8M&list=PLu-THx6SwAB63BCwQXtVShv3iEwbHopLs]Watch here![/url]) or the more strategic one, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/666730/This_Merchant_Life/?curator_clanid=33780629]This Merchant Life[/url], I'm delighted that there's another game that I can really show(off) my money-making prowess. [b]Desolation Tycoon[/b] really throws you in, headfirst, with only a handful of tips here and there as to how certain systems work. You'll still need to figure out how some stuff work yourself - stuff like how to heal yourself if you get injured; how to heal your people if they are sick or injured; how to increase supplies; etc (for the first two questions, the hint is "Time heals all" ;) ). Once you know how things work, then you can really figure out how to push the boundaries in the game... in the name of more profits, of course! For example, did you know that being overburdened isn't as bad in this game as in say.... The Witcher 3 or Skyrim? Most games will drastically reduce your walking speed the moment you exceed the carry weight by like 0.01kg, but this isn't the case here. I've noticed that as long as you're not TOO overburdened (like 20-30% more cargo than I can carry), my trading caravan can still move at a reasonably good pace. This is great info to have if you want to cash in some great trades and just needed to travel to the next closest town to offload the cargo for some cha-chings! ----------------------------------- [h1]Watch me play![/h1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_FWnkM3_l4 ----------------------------------- I've also noticed that there doesn't seem to be any adverse effects for going into the negatives. At one point, I was chugging along with more than (or should that be lower than... heh) -4000 in balance and haven't been paying any of my crew wages. I still managed to eventually make all that money back (and then some) once I (finally) get to the town where I can offload most of my stuff. The game has a bit of idle element to it too. Travelling between towns is mostly uneventful so I'll play something else on my phone while waiting. Due to this, it would be nice if I can just click on a town on the map and the game will auto-move my caravan in a straight line towards said town. Saves me on the clicks :) ...err that is, of course, unless you intentionally go out of your way to dive into events, though, personally, I'd recommend just avoiding those events altogether unless you are really close to a town. You never know, you might end up like me, and have the bad luck of meeting a "demonic presence" (or something along that line) that took 22-30 of my crew out of commission in one fell swoop :/ Imagine crawling at 3% speed for ages! As with any good trading caravan that travels extensively, you'll gather Stories, Mysteries and Warnings along in your travels. These can be "traded" for extra stats and perks through the game's Schemes system, though sometimes, you can use coins instead. Each town has 3 notable persons that you can engage in a Scheme with. However, before you can have access to it, you'll need to get at least 50 reputation with that said person by either buying the stuff they sell or selling them the stuff they want. There's a bit of RNG here as well since there are oftentimes 2 outcomes for every Scheme - a positive and negative one. According to the game, the amount of positive or negative outcomes you'll get depends on the person's personality, whether they are the kind to screw you over or not. There's also a helpful tracker to show you how many positive or negative outcomes you've gotten from that specific person. However, I have to say... I've done at most 3 Schemes with the same person and I get 2 Positives in a row and then a sudden Negative. Maybe the "personality" of the person will be more clearly shown if I sign up for more Schemes with that specific person, but at this point, it seems to me that the outcome you get is quite arbitrary here. You've been warned! I should also point out that the game has combat but it's more of the "auto-resolve depending on the stats you have" kind. You can't really control the outcome by going into battle yourself. That said, the game gives you several options whenever a combative event pops up. If you don't fancy your chances fighting, you can always try fleeing. Now, for the downsides... I think the main downside of the game is its lack of an overarching storyline that spans your career or even the world. After well into the last half of my career in my first run, I end up thinking to myself... why am I doing this? By then, I've already amassed several thousands in cash and assets, am not particularly driven to complete the criteria required for those promising towns (since they demand a whole lot), and have seen what the game has to offer. [h1]Feedback[/h1] 1. Maybe add in pop ups for events (sandstorm, etc)? There are all too many moments when I've completely missed an event and didn't notice that say... my supplies are being reduced at a faster rate. 2. I think it's also good to have notifs showing when stock in a town is refreshed. Maybe a ticker on the side instead of pop-ups for this one? 3. It's not very appealing to trade in towns that are in the outskirts of the map. Maybe it's good to add something special there - maybe a unique crew member or pet that we can recruit? - to entice players to really go out and explore. 4. Most trading games I've played (case in point, Merchant of the Skies) offers fetch quests for some extra cash. The quests also force the player to travel to towns they might not plan on going. Might be something you can consider, also note #7 5. I think players ( I mean me specifically) could use more pointers as to how the "setting up a new town" work, like do we really need to fulfill all those criteria before we could set up a town? From the way I'm playing, that would take me 2-3 careers! 5.1 Also, could you add in a quest log or something so that I can track and remember the criteria I need to fulfill for each of the promising town I've encountered? I've found 4-5 promising towns so far and I can't possibly memorize all of the criteria while keeping track of how much I've done and which promising town it was. 5.2 Please add in the name of a promising town under the associated town icon in the game world after it is discovered? 6. If this isn't too much to ask, please add the town names to the map (the one after you press Tab) as well. Maybe after we've discovered them? 7. Maybe some story? To gather bits and pieces from different towns and to learn more about why the world ended up the way it did... desolated. Mini-story quests involving some special characters would be great too if you don't want to delve too much into the story of the game world as a whole. [h1]Side Note[/h1] [quote]If you like this review and would like to follow me for more, please feel free to drop by my curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33780629-The-Midcore-Gamer/[/quote]

[h1] Симулятор каравана [/h1] Игра в супер-минималистичном стиле. Без спойлеров обзор. [h1] СЮЖЕТ [/h1] Образуется по ходу игры. В начале путешествуем по пескам, торгуем, завоёвываем уважение жителей пустошей. [h1] ГЕЙМПЛЕЙ [/h1] Игровой процесс представляет собой RPG с заявкой на серьёзность. В начале выбираем героя. Роллится с десяток его статов и с пяток перков. Получаем первый караван, немного деньжат. А дальше процесс одновременно прост и интересен. Странствуем между поселениями, торгуем разнообразными товарами. Рыночная система крайне хорошая, можно смотреть - какие товары где нужны, где производятся, планируем маршруты с учётом своих способностей. Отлично реализована система выживания. В каждом поселении нам автоматически выдают припасов на определёное количество дней. Если еда кончается, начинается ряд проблем. В общем, рутина сведена к минимуму. В городках не только торговля. Там имеются NPC, с которыми налаживаются отношения (по факту покупок и продаж в поселении), что даст ряд бонусов и возможностей. Можно нанимать бойцов или вьючных жуков в караван, всего видов десять юнитов. Некоторые городки заброшены, но по всему выходит, что их можно отстроить. В песках рандомно генерируются сокровища и опасности. Поиграл достаточно мало, многого не видел. Если то, что указано в описании (погодные катаклизмы, гигантские монстры, демоны) верно, то игра из хорошей превращается в отличную. Рассмотрим плюсы и минусы игры, подведем итоги. [h1] ПЛЮСЫ: [/h1] + Очень простая графика, но приятная. + Отличное музыкальное сопровождение. Но с ним же связана главная проблема. + Отличная ролевая система. Много статов, перков. + Интересные (потенциально) NPC. + Хорошая атмосфера путешествий по пустыне. + Хорошая оптимизация. Весит 48 Мб. Запустится на любом калькуляторе. [h1] МИНУСЫ: [/h1] - Реализация саундтрека. Имеется, как минимум, несколько красивых мелодий. Но они как-то криво переключаются между собой. Таким образом, несколько минут можно просидеть в полной тишине. - Нет русской локализации текста. Английский язык не так уж сложен, но определённый уровень познаний нужен. [h1] ВЫВОДЫ [/h1] Простая, но отличная игра. Есть ролевая система, исследование мира, торговля. Ещё один бриллиантик, скрывающийся за скромным внешним видом. [code] Если понравилось - жмите палец вверх и подпишитесь на [b][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6851324/]куратора[/url][/b]. Вступайте в группу [b][url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/RunnerStreams]RunnerStreams[/url][/b], у нас здесь обзоры, конкурсы, актуальная информация о скидках на годноту, раздачах и прочее.[/code] Видео геймплея (спойлеров нет - только начало): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppE94z9qQ8w&ab_channel=LVVrunner Всем хороших игр!

This game has so many little annoying quirks for some bizarre reason.. No indicator to where your currently clicked destination is. You stop and forget your destination and need to re-click if you check the map. No names on towns in demand map. No way of seeing demand again once you've bought item. No way of seeing last known demands outside of city. But those are small issues, the main one is it's not very interesting. It has a reasonable premise but is very bare-bones and makes you grind the same thing over and over again.

Absolutely loved it! Played it last night until it crashed(probably due to Facebook somehow being able to send me a notifaction in game) Which were the only sign of civilization I saw all night. Game has alot of potential, is quite fun as it stands already; and the amount of hours you could squeeze out of this is actually quite large. For a trading game; it's somewhat original, has some fresh ideas, and doesn't feel like any other. That is indeed a good thing. Recommend this game to anyone at full price. A steal when discounted.

This is a niche recommendation. Desolation Tycoon is the perfect game for anyone prone to moods where they want to play something, but everything feels like too much effort. There are no stressful timers, important decisions, anything to keep track of, and nothing you do matters. Watching your little colored peg bounce across the landscape is quite soothing. Traveling between equally featureless towns is a kind of honest monotony you’d find living on the road. What is this game’s power is also its weakness. What you see is what you get. There is no strategy or depth here. Character creation is random yet doesn’t change the flavor of your playthrough at all. It makes some things harder, others easier, but you’ll be doing the same thing no matter what. Unlocks change nothing either and is likely why this game features one of the harshest unlock treadmills I’ve ever seen outside of an abusive F2P game. It’s harsh because it doesn’t matter. They’re a trivial bonus, not a feature. Once you unlock something, you’ll likely never see it in the game as it gets added to the big bag of stuff the game blindly shoves its hand into. This is besides the fact you’re offered five possible unlocks at a time, yet may only choose three, with no ability to change your mind later. Getting to this point will have cost you a dozen real life hours at the mercy of random chance, too. Futile repetitiveness can be appealing to some people, myself one of them. I like this game a lot. But if you’re looking for effective rewards for progress, emergent gameplay, or options to flavor a gameplay loop, you won’t find them here.

I found this game while looking for a replacement for Caravaneer. This isn't it. But it is a fun game with some similar elements, it just lacks any real depth. With 31 hours in, I feel like I've seen everything it's going to offer. I'll keep it for days when I don't have any brain power to invest, but still want to play something :/

Reminds me of Tradewinds

While the graphics may seem simple, this trading simulator has some deeper and more interlaced mechanics. There are enough different decisions, destinations and choices to make to make the game complex, but still simple enough that it doesn't feel like a spreadsheet simulator. The meta progression of founding new towns while the re-shuffling of supply and demands between characters is a neat way to keep the world growing, yet feel familiar. If you want to see the game in action and judge for yourself, I have a video series on it which you can find here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrmmPKYXqaFYGsTLShNhhMgBNkhucaDFT

A fun game with good exploration and a nice feel to it that feels alive with loads of potential. So far I am intrigued by it and its possibilities and can't wait to see how it develops.

This game is great for the price (I got it at $15 CAD) and I would happily recommend this to anyone who wants a more laid-back, minimalist experience with some great atmosphere. There is a surprising amount of depth here along with some great encounters and flavourful factions. However, there are a few things that I would love to see that would bring this game to a 10/10. Bear in mind, there is still a lot of game left for me to play (founding towns, etc.) so perhaps this will come back to bite me later. 1. Add visual effects for things like sandstorms, etc. (as of now the only way to tell is the far top-right of the screen; not ideal in my opinion) 2. Add in some extra schemes & fix some current schemes as some of the options are reversed (for example, sometimes the dishonest outcome advances settlements founding and the positive outcome does nothing; this should be reversed) 3. Adding something to rework the wealth system as there is no real punishment for going into debt (no revolts, special events, creditors, etc.) 4. adding in extra ways to interact with certain encounters (for instance, maybe you can set up a trade deal with the cannibal cult, or the true sons of the coast, etc. if you find something like a stronghold that belongs to them. 5. not necessary, but maybe some dialogue or a special scheme that allows you to learn more about any backstory and/or gives you access to special excavations, etc. Overall though, this is a great game for the price and is a steal if you get it with a sale.