Desolation Tycoon

I like this travel & trade concept. The art style is interesting and visually pleasing and the gameplay is not complicated, but very engaging.

Surprisingly addictive game. The trailer shows you the graphics you will get, and you will get nothing more. But the game play is more than simply doing trades on a randomized market. The market does have some depth and can be influenced and cheated. Wealth is not necessarily defined by money, it's also in stories, warnings and mysteries and those can be worth a lot too. For me it's a bit of a combination between Fallout 2 (style/feel), Sunless sea / skies (stories, mysteries, ...) and Merchant of the skies (trading and mining). There is certainly some luck involved, but most of it can be omitted by playing safe and/or smart. I love being able to free roam. I also like the fact that it doesn't have hard limits but gradual limits. For example: over encumbrance is not necessarily a bad thing. There is replay value, because every game you play will unlock parts of new towns with new stuff in the long run. Music is very nice, graphics are OK and fit the style (although I am not a fan of the font) and the game play is though out well and has a bit of a 'just one more turn' effect. On top of that, the developer is responsive. I have not yet reached my 1 euro per hour worth, but I am quite certain I will get it. It certainly feels worth the full price.

Well there's no guide or manual so I assume you have to had played games similiar to this to understand what is going on besides the obvious "Buy low" "Sell high". What do the units do? Does it make a difference what how many you have? What do the stats mean? I see stuff going "-1" on screen. What's that mean? Did I loose something? Why? This game seems like it could be fun but after a couple hours of scratching my head, digging around the forums I was lost. So...maybe someday if there's a guide for the blind/uninitiated/noobs like me I might pick it up.

Amazing rogue lite trading (etc) sim very interesting despite relatively simple mechanics don't be intimidated by the lack of tutorial

I really love this game! It is sort of slow, not very exciting, and in many way not really exactly a game at all... But I am not being sarcastic, those things are what I love about it. Basically what you do here is run trade caravans, explore, find and recover resources, occasionally fight monsters or various bandits (not tactically, and usually quite dangerous) until you die (or retire!). Then you start a new character, and do it again. Gradually, the world very slightly improve from your efforts. Or at leas, so far - maybe farther in, it improves more, or gets worse, IDK yet. There is also lore to find and learn, though it comes in small snippets and you have to carefully find and read it. So, if that sounds cool to you, buy this game. If you want the sort of thing normal people play, buy whatever that is, instead.

First round played in one 5h session. Nice minimalist trading game.

Fun little trading game with a nice atmosphere.

Desolution Tycoon is a minimalist, but surprisingly addictive roguelite-adjacent trading/RPG game. A good comparison would be Merchant of the Skies, albeit Desolution Tycoon is less involved overall (this is not necessarily a bad thing). The game experience is reminiscent of traveling through the overland maps in Fallout 1/2 but with a focus on trading. The core gameplay loop is somewhat spartan, but highly addictive. You go between different cities to trade different resources while encountering randomized challenges on the way (the supply/demand logic is more complex than it may seem from initial impressions). You improve your skills as you play (no direct upgrades - you can also get negative traits), you can target location for extraction (e.g. old mines) and leverage different resources to engage in "schemes" with city based traders. Desolution Tycoon has a party mechanic, but it is relatively hands-off (although I have not unlocked most of party classes, so maybe I have not experienced its full depth). The party system is functional; labourers for extraction, different types of guards etc., but I wish there was a bit more to it. I want to build a connection with my crew. The visuals are done in a satisfying pixel art style that in my opinion fits the post-apocalyptic theme of the game. Desolution Tycoon would benefit from more art (e.g. custom backgrounds for each city, more varied point of interest backgrounds etc.). The game has relatively solid (albeit spartan) lore and world-building. The gameplay makes you wonder; what happened to this world? What is going on? Why are the ruins of this huge city largely empty? Desolution Tycoon would benefit from more lore-specific quests, unique encounters and more varied artwork. The roguelite-adjacent game structure is a defining feature of Desolution Tycoon. This has its own pros and cons. On one hand the minimalist gameplay and rougue-lite structure make it very easy to pick, reduces the annoyance of catastrophic failures and keeps you coming back for more as every playthrough contributes to global unlocks. The flip side of the roguelite-adjacent game structure is that the game world is not persistent and there is a lot of grind. One full playthrough takes about 3-4 hours and it barely contributes to global unlocks. Desolution Tycoon is perfect if you want a "pick up and play" trading sim with strong re-playability. The game gets bonus points if you like post-apocalyptic aesthetics. The main drawback is the spartan gameplay/art (you may want just a bit more). However, considering the price this is a great experience if you like trading sims and don't want an overwhelming experience.

based game, very chill, and dev that reads the forum so that's kinda cool

The game seems simple at first, but as you play it you become aware of more and more decisions, so it gets more interesting. It is very minimalist in its design, so that won't be for everyone, although the game does have an addictive loop, a "one more turn" effect much like Civilization (1 and 2 especially). On my first run, it felt pretty dumb and pointless, but the hypnotic atmosphere made me want to try and improve my run. It seemed like I simply could not heal enough to keep up with the encounters. I think my second run was similar. Eventually I figured out that I could re-roll when creating the character to try to have more healing ability. The next thing I learned was how to actually make a profit. For my first several runs I would start out by getting a crew and running up a large debt. I found that once I found some excavation site I could switch gears and get into the green. This was my approach for a couple of runs, until I realized how the maps work. You can see which direction has buyers for the goods before you purchase them, so that's a simple way to decide what to buy and what direction to go. After that, I was able to turn the 1000 naulds (the currency) you get at the start into a profitable run right away. You get the idea. The game was enjoyable in the beginning, and it manages to grow along with you. You don't have to master all the mechanics right away, or even be aware of them, but as you play, you eventually figure out different strategies using them. The game also eventually unlocks new cities and units, after enough runs. So I haven't really seen any of that yet. I really enjoy this game and I wish they kept developing it, but nothing bothers me as it is.