Devices Tycoon Review Summary

Deep device creation and sandbox freedom make this addictive and improved over mobile, but numerous bugs and glitches hold back an otherwise fun, well-received game.

Overall Positive Reception: Many reviewers describe the game as good, great, or having potential, indicating a broadly positive reception. The game is considered fun and worth buying by multiple players.

High Customization and Sandbox: Players praise the extensive customization options, including phones, OS, branding, packaging, and hardware selection. The sandbox mode is fun and offers a high degree of freedom.

Improved Over Mobile Version: Reviewers note the game is much more complete than the mobile version, with more variety, additional functions, vehicles, and easier skill point acquisition. The PC port and new features are appreciated.

Addictive and Fun Gameplay: The game is described as incredibly fun, addictive, and pleasant, with players spending hours creating new phones. It is ideal for relaxation or feeling like a cool businessman.

Variety of Content and Features: The game offers a large volume of content, many new features, upgrades, and device categories. There is a huge number of variations for player identity.

Numerous bugs and glitches: Reviews frequently mention the presence of many bugs, including issues with OS selection, disappearing images, wrong translations, UI glitches, and game-breaking errors. The game is described as raw and unpolished due to these technical problems.

UI navigation and design issues: The user interface is criticized for being borderline unplayable, with issues like overlapping icons, menu navigation problems, and overall poor design. Some players also report cursor problems on Steam Deck and fullscreen black screen bugs.

Game feels raw and unpolished: Players describe the game as still raw, lacking polish, and feeling like a prototype or unfinished product. Many features seem half-finished and the overall experience is rough.

Sandbox mode unlock frustrating: Players report that sandbox mode is locked behind a high money threshold achievement or story progression, which many find annoying and poorly implemented. Some also experienced bugs where reaching the required threshold did not unlock the mode.

Game is overpriced: Many players feel the price is too high for the amount and quality of content offered, even when purchased on discount. Some explicitly state it is not worth the full price.

Deep device creation system: Players can create phones, consoles, keyboards, and other devices with extensive customization. The system includes hardware choices, an OS editor, and detailed product design.

Business and management simulation: Players manage a company with employee hiring, shop upgrades, and marketing. The game tracks campaign progress, income ranking, and sales milestones.

Money and research resources: The game uses money and research points as core currencies. Research points are earned and used for technology upgrades, while money is used for various expenses.

Sandbox mode resource system: Sandbox mode uses money and research points, with some players noting that research can be unlimited but money is not. Research points are available from the start in this mode.

Sandbox unlocked after 100M: Sandbox mode must be unlocked by earning 100 million in story mode. An achievement is tied to this unlock, and it is a clear progression goal for players.

Black screen fullscreen workarounds: Players encounter black screens and inability to click in fullscreen mode. Switching to windowed mode, adjusting G-Sync settings, updating graphics drivers, and disabling overlays may resolve the issue.

Performance stable but sluggish: The game runs with stable and high FPS (e.g., 144 FPS) and no lag, but some users report it feels sluggish despite the good performance metrics.

Linux Steam Deck cursor bug: Some users report no cursor on Steam Deck or Linux, making the game unplayable. A workaround via protontricks and winecfg to enable mouse capture in fullscreen windows has been noted.

Minor bugs with names images: There are reported bugs involving names and disappearing images, as well as issues with camera position and texts.

Occasional game freezes: The game sometimes gets stuck for unknown reasons, requiring a restart or other troubleshooting.

Simple buy recommendations: Several reviewers give unconditional buy recommendations or strong endorsements. These reflect overall positive sentiment without detailed caveats.

Positive recommendation with caveats: Some reviewers recommend the game but with conditions, such as waiting for fixes, being a genre fan, or buying at a good price. These recommendations acknowledge issues while still endorsing the core experience.

Recommended for tycoon fans: Many reviewers recommend the game specifically to players who enjoy tycoon or business management titles. Those who dislike the genre are advised to avoid it.

Management difficulty and decision impact: Reviewers criticize the management difficulty and the impact of decisions, calling for fixes before purchase. One reviewer explicitly warns not to touch the game until these are resolved.

Recommended for hardware enthusiasts: Reviewers highlight the game's appeal for players interested in tech, design, and tinkering with hardware components. Building a personal brand and managing a business are cited as engaging draws.

Community fair range: $14.99 - $19.99.

Session length: 3.0h.

Creative Device Engineer: Sandbox experimentation, building varied devices and tinkering with the OS editor. Motivation: Creative freedom to design devices and systems with the in-game editor. Stance: buy.

Tycoon and Management Sim Fan: Progressing through the tycoon/management loop and optimizing production outcomes. Motivation: Enjoyment of tycoon and management simulation progression loops. Stance: buy.

Depth and Systems-Friction Critic: Systems-focused critical play, stress-testing difficulty balance and progression gating. Motivation: Meaningful challenge, consequence-driven decisions, and a polished gameplay loop. Stance: no buy.

Across the returned Windows cohorts, the sub-8GB VRAM group shows mostly positive, recommended reports despite some fullscreen issues, while the 12-15GB VRAM group has only a negative non-recommended report.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. Mostly recommended reports: some users hit fullscreen black-screen issues, but another reports smooth performance with no lag.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: negative. The only included report is not recommended and cites CPU limitations; no positive performance feedback is provided.

Frequent mobile version comparisons: Many comments compare this game to its mobile counterpart, noting similarities and differences. Topics include content parity, time management systems, and sandbox features.

Technical issues and WebView2 dependency: The game requires Microsoft Edge WebView2 and has a fullscreen bug that can be temporarily fixed via NVIDIA settings. Linux users can run it with protontricks.

Solo indie developer: The game was created by a single indie developer. Some players note this background when discussing the game's scope and quality.

Developer's history of bugs: Comparisons to the company's previous games reveal similar bug issues. There is also concern about the developer's history of abandoning games.

PC port and initial release: The game has been ported to PC and this is noted as its first version. It is also available on Steam.