Project Highrise Review Summary

Spiritual successor to SimTower: The game is widely regarded as a spiritual successor to SimTower, evoking nostalgia and providing a modernized experience reminiscent of the classic game.

Enjoyable art style: Players appreciate the game's art style, finding it visually appealing and well-suited to the game's theme.

Support for mods: The game supports mods, allowing for community-created content and enhancing replayability.

Fun and challenging scenarios: The game offers a variety of scenarios that are both fun and challenging, adding interest and replayability.

Variety in buildings and services: The game features a wide range of residences, businesses, offices, stores, and food options, encouraging diverse building strategies.

Problematic tenants: Tenants are a common source of frustration, as they constantly complain, become unhappy easily, and are difficult to manage. This can lead to frequent failures.

Lack of elevator management: The game lacks a proper elevator waiting system, upgrades, and management. Players also note the absence of elevator congestion and other related features.

Gameplay becomes repetitive: The game is criticized for becoming monotonous and tedious, especially in the later stages. Players find the gameplay dull and repetitive over time.

High costs and pricing: Players find the game's pricing to be too high, including the original price and maintenance costs. Elevators and certain facilities are particularly expensive.

Tedious utility management: Players find the management of utilities for each floor to be tedious and repetitive. Tasks like laying utility lines and manual management are particularly criticized.

Tenant satisfaction management: The game involves a complex system for managing tenant happiness, which includes balancing various factors such as noise levels, smells, visibility, and providing extra services. Players need to manage tenant demands and expectations to maintain satisfaction and profitability.

Resource and utility management: Players are responsible for managing various resources and utilities, including power, water, gas, air, phone, and air conditioning. This involves setting up and maintaining supply networks and handling trash and maintenance services.

Management simulation gameplay: The core gameplay revolves around management and simulation aspects, where players build and manage various types of buildings and services. It is a strategy game that combines building and management elements.

Skyscraper construction and management: The game allows players to design, build, and run their own skyscrapers. It is similar to classic games like SimTower and involves comprehensive building and management mechanics.

Strategic management decisions: The game focuses on strategic planning and management decisions, including financial management and infrastructure planning. Players need to make optimized decisions to ensure the success of their buildings.

Good software quality: The game is well-optimized and runs smoothly, indicating good software quality and efficient use of system resources.

Low system requirements: The game has modest system resource requirements, making it accessible to a wide range of players with different hardware capabilities.

Performance issues at scale: The game experiences slowdowns after reaching a certain population or floor count, which can affect the overall gaming experience.

Loading issues: Players have reported problems with loading, which can disrupt gameplay and cause frustration.

Steam Deck compatibility: The game is compatible with Steam Deck, allowing players to enjoy it on the go.

Wait for a sale: Many reviews suggest waiting for a sale or discount before purchasing the game. This indicates that while the game is recommended, it may not be worth the full price for some players.

Recommended for tycoon and simulation fans: This game is highly recommended for fans of tycoon, management, and simulation games. It is particularly suggested for those who enjoy strategy and construction elements.

Essential for SimTower fans: The game is considered a must-buy for fans of SimTower and management simulations. It is often compared to SimTower and recommended for those who enjoyed the classic game.

Optional DLC for additional content: The game offers optional DLC for additional content, which some reviews suggest checking out for more gameplay variety.

Mixed opinions on full price: There are mixed opinions on whether the game is worth its full price. Some reviews suggest it is not worth the full price, while others believe it is.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $15.00.

Game completion: 18.0h.

Session length: 2.0h.

The game has a slow and tedious start with a steep learning curve, but it becomes more enjoyable and addictive once players overcome the initial challenges.

Reported time to anchor: 2h.

Friction: Tedious early tasks; Steep learning curve; Repetitive actions; Slow progression.

Unlock drivers: Completing tutorials; Experimentation and adaptation; Understanding interdependent systems.

Strategic Planner: Detailed planning, micro-management, and aesthetic design. Motivation: Enjoys the challenge of planning and managing complex systems. Stance: buy.

Casual Gamer: Casual, laid-back, and non-competitive. Motivation: Seeks a relaxing and enjoyable gaming experience. Stance: sale.

Nostalgic SimTower Fan: Nostalgic, comparative, and reminiscent of past gaming experiences. Motivation: Driven by nostalgia and the desire to relive the SimTower experience. Stance: buy.

Steam Deck: The game has significant issues on the Steam Deck, particularly with UI scaling and overall recommendation. While the control scheme works well with the trackpad mouse, the UI problems and the explicit recommendation against using it on the Steam Deck highlight major barriers to a seamless experience.

Monetization: The reviews indicate a mix of concerns and satisfactions regarding the pricing of the base game and its DLCs. While some users find the pricing to be a bit high, others appreciate the value and content added by the DLCs, especially when purchased on sale.

Workshop support for buildings: Players are requesting the ability to create and share their own buildings through the Workshop.