Hollywood Mogul 4

Aside from the inclusion of TV shows, this just kinda feels like a step down from the last game

Severe disappointment. There's nothing new in version 4. It's almost identical to the previous ones. Not worth the price at all. Just play the previous versions themselves.

As someone who has never played any other games in the series, I won't lie, it took me a while to understand what was going on. I understand the UI complaints, however, it is very easy to navigate once you know the system, and anytime I thought "Crap, why isn't it letting me do this?" I've been quickly able to find the answer of forgetting to lock in a show runner or forgetting to hire the director. I also really like the fact that you're able to produce TV shows as well, and hope it gets expanded a bit with the rest of the game. I would love to see network deals and multi-season orders or making pilots before being able to make the show itself. The fun of the game is all imagination, and I love that. I like too how its not just "Big Stats = automatic success" so I end up making things I actually think about rather than just spitting out randomized products with big stats like other tycoon games. I've had low-budget movies with more success than blockbusters at times which I think is great to make the game a bit more challenging. Where other management games usually turn into money printers quickly, this takes a lot more time with loans and successes/failures to get to that point - at least for me. I logged into my discord for the first time in years to look at the discord link in the game and find some real celebrity databases. For me, this really heightened the experience to mix real movie stars in with the "standard" characters and i recommend it. (Lorenzo Buzzard will always be my award show darling though, no matter how many celebrities are added) On the other hand, there are definitely some weird quirks and bugs. One personal gripe I have is salary for 1 movie is the same as the salary per episode of a TV show, making some TV budgets insane. I get it- you're not gonna see Timothy Chalamet on ABC at 8pm Thursdays, so it should be prohibitive for SOME, but I still think it needs some balance. The vast majority of actors are barely hitting more than 300k per episode, and even movie stars barely get more than 1.5 mill per episode. I'd like to see a movie contract vs TV contract distinction when hiring or something like that (I will add the caveat of saying this may be the addition of the celebrity database more than the game itself). There are times when overall talent ratings don't show for writers or directors, and sometimes the critic screen shows up and its just blank or missing info. Scrolling through the lists can be tedious and finding specific people/projects should be easier than it is. You can also save your original ideas in a database but there's no easy way to delete and manage them in game that I'm aware of, leading it to be a cluttered mess when you want to use a past New Idea filled with projects I mistakenly clicked yes on to add to the database. Small annoyances like this are sprinkled throughout but are usually just that - small annoyances. As far as depth goes, I think there could definitely be more involved to the game like actor management, better contract negotiations, more specifics with tech used, expanded marketing and press junket management all would be cool additions that expand game play. All that said, I have great fun with the game. I tried to stop playing until the next major update but find myself coming back. Its really the only Movie/TV show tycoon game that properly scratches the itch for me. I'd say if you're on the fence, wait until you see what the next update brings as it looks like it should be a major one. Otherwise, I really love the game as one of my first "text/spreadsheet" games and personally recommend it as a management/tycoon addict

I really, really wanted to like this game. Text-based movie studio sims are a niche genre within a niche genre, so naturally I tend to try them out when something new comes out. And that one is more miss than hit. During my first try I've managed to hit it big almost instantly with a low budget horror movie, then it was pretty comfortable from here. But my main problem lies not in with lack of challenge and not with the clunky UI either - I've played lots of TEW, I can live with the clunk. What I can't live with is that... the game isn't very fun. Nothing really happens in the game world. You just produce one movie or limited series and then move on to the next one. I believe I could run more immersive game just by brainstorming my movie ideas with Claude or Gemini. I know that with those games you're supposed to use your imagination, to fill in the gaps, but it gets tricky, when it's mostly gaps with little substance between them. Still, I do not regret buying, at least for the sake of supporting the developer. Hoping that updates will flesh out the world a bit more.

The game is an enhanced version of its predecessor, offering the possibility of creating franchises and TV series. The developer is always open to suggestions and is very fast in solving bugs

Finally, Hollywood Mogul makes its long awaited return! An excellent sim with great depth.

This is a fun game. this fills a place that not other game has reached (maybe because this is the 3rd game i have played in this series) It isnt supposed to be a 3d graphical mastery game, that will make your eyes bleed. You can make movie universes, franchises and limited TV runs. People are making there own talent files, to bring something else into the game. This is the type of game, you can play in small sessions, or in huge day long sessions. I am so glad this game is a thing. The owner is very active on the forums, and discord. and active in solving any issues that come up with in the game