Info about StockUp:

Official game description:
Checkout And Wishlist Little Kingdoms
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About the Game
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Story:  
In StockUp, you play as a first time stock holder.. Starting from the bottom.  
Features:  
• Buy/Sell Stocks: Spend money to purchase stocks. Sell them at any time or never.  
• Levels: Your stocks and money carry over as you level up. But the ai becomes more aggressive.  
• Goal: Each level has a goal amount. Hit the goal and your move up. Let the ai reach the goal and gameover.  
• Save/Load: You can save and load the game at any point.  
• News/Tips: Below the stock market you will see info regarding the movement of stocks and boost. You can also see helpful tips there.  
• Boost: In the stock market a stock has a 1-9 percent increase or decrease rate depending on that stocks worth. But ai and player stocks have a  
chance to receive a 15% increase in worth.

Release date: Sep 18, 2017

Categories: Stock Market, Economic Simulation, Random Price Fluctuations, Progression System, Keyboard-based Gameplay, Single-player


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 2.1h
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: 1.0h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The reviewer explicitly reports a session length of about one hour before the game froze. The strategy to beat the game requires repeating a cycle 10 times, with each cycle involving a 10-15 minute wait, implying a total completion time of roughly 100-150 minutes (about 1.7-2.5 hours). I estimate game completion at 2.08 hours based on the midpoint of that range. No evidence supports story completion or endgame playtime.
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Game is fun and amusing (weight 0.3): Players find the game enjoyable, with an amusing intro and crazy gameplay. This feedback is common and positive, indicating strong initial appeal.
- Interesting stock trading concept (weight 0.2): The idea of a stock trading game is considered interesting, and the overall concept is not bad. This suggests the premise attracts players even if execution varies.
- Pleasing soundtrack and art (weight 0.2): The soundtrack is pleasing and the art is pristine, contributing to a positive aesthetic experience. These elements enhance overall enjoyment.
- Funny to laugh at bots (weight 0.11): Players find humor in watching bots behave in amusing ways, adding a lighthearted element to the gameplay.
- Indie game provides fun experience (weight 0.1): A reviewer had fun with this indie game, suggesting it delivers an entertaining experience despite potential limitations.

Common complaints:
- Interface glitch breaks game (weight 0.22): An interface glitch can break the game, rendering it unplayable. This critical bug prevents players from progressing and severely impacts the gaming experience.
- Misleading name and description (weight 0.21): The game's name and description are considered misleading, as the actual gameplay does not match what is advertised. This leads to player disappointment and a sense of deception.
- Fullscreen mode strains and tires (weight 0.2): Playing the game in fullscreen is reported as tiring and unnecessarily strains the computer, making the experience less enjoyable. This issue affects multiple players and detracts from overall comfort.
- Not a true market simulation (weight 0.13): The game is not a true market simulation because all price fluctuations are completely random. This undermines the core premise and reduces strategic depth.
- Winning relies on blind luck (weight 0.13): The winning strategy relies on blind luck, not skill or pattern recognition. This makes the game feel like gambling rather than a strategic simulation.
- Worst UI compared to Excel (weight 0.12): The user interface is considered the worst, with one player comparing it unfavorably to Excel sheets. This indicates a poorly designed and unintuitive interface.
- Game is boring (weight 0.12): Players find the game boring, lacking excitement and entertainment value. This is a common complaint that contributes to negative reviews.
- Game starts paused without notice (weight 0.12): The game does not inform players that it starts paused, so stocks can rise for an hour without the player knowing why. This lack of clarity confuses and frustrates players.
- Cannot play windowed or click mouse (weight 0.12): Players cannot play in a window or click with the mouse, limiting control options. This restricts gameplay and makes interaction difficult.
- Alt+tab kills the game (weight 0.12): Using Alt+tab kills the game, causing it to crash or close unexpectedly. This is a serious technical issue that disrupts gameplay.
- No proper audio controls (weight 0.12): There are no proper audio controls, so players cannot turn off the background music without alt+tabbing. This lack of audio settings is inconvenient and frustrating.
- Made with GameGuru toolset (weight 0.11): The game is made with GameGuru, a poor quality toolset for FPS games, indicating a lack of appropriate development tools. This likely contributes to the game's technical issues.

Gameplay feedback:
- Stock trading simulation (weight 0.81): The game is a stock market simulation where players buy and sell stocks, with prices fluctuating randomly. It is described as a text-based spreadsheet simulator and a stock trading game.
- Random price fluctuations (weight 0.3): Stock prices change randomly, with a 50/50 chance of increase or decrease, and a 1-9% change rate with occasional 15% boosts. This randomness is a core gameplay element.
- Simple graphical interface (weight 0.2): The game features a simple graphical interface for trading stocks, with numbers going up and down. It is easy to use and understand.
- Progression carries over (weight 0.12): Stocks and money carry over as the player levels up, allowing for long-term progression and strategy.
- AFK strategy (weight 0.12): A common strategy is to buy all cheap stocks at the beginning and go AFK, as one of them will spike, making the game somewhat passive.
- Lacks useful information (weight 0.12): The game is similar to real markets but without useful information, making it feel random and less strategic.
- Bots in game (weight 0.11): The game includes bots, which may act as other traders or opponents. This adds a dynamic element to the market simulation.
- Pause and toggle (weight 0.11): The game starts paused and can be toggled with the 'p' key, allowing players to control the pace of the simulation.
- Bonus system (weight 0.11): There is a bonus system that can increase a stock's value to maximum, providing a strategic advantage to players.
- Game is easy (weight 0.11): The game is considered easy, likely due to its simple mechanics and random price changes that do not require deep strategy.
- Level goals (weight 0.11): Each level has a goal amount to reach, providing clear objectives for the player to achieve.
- News and tips displayed (weight 0.11): News and tips are displayed below the stock market, providing players with information that may influence their trading decisions.
- Slow gameplay (weight 0.11): The game is slow even in very fast mode, which may frustrate players looking for quicker sessions.
- Save and load (weight 0.1): The game has save and load functionality, allowing players to pause and resume their progress at any time.
- Rags to riches (weight 0.1): Players start as poor and can become kings of the world, offering a satisfying progression arc.
- Keyboard controls (weight 0.1): Players buy stocks using the keyboard, which is a simple and direct control scheme.

Performance notes:
- Loading times are terrible (weight 0.22): Players report horrendous loading times and bad loading screens, which disrupt the gaming experience. This issue appears in multiple clusters, indicating a common frustration.
- No graphics settings available (weight 0.12): The game lacks options to change resolution or customize graphics settings, limiting player control over visual performance. This is a specific and notable omission.

Recommendations:
- Game not recommended (weight 0.3): Reviewers strongly advise against purchasing this game, stating it is impossible to recommend and suggesting spending money on better alternatives. The feedback is consistent across multiple clusters, indicating a general consensus of disappointment.
- Better alternatives exist (weight 0.21): Players recommend buying other games like 'Rags To Riches' for a stock market experience or purchasing trading cards for favorite games on Steam instead. This suggests the game fails to deliver its intended experience compared to competitors.

Other player notes:
- Compared unfavorably to other games (weight 0.29): The game is compared to titles like To the Capital, GTA V's stock minigame, and Monopoly 4's stock market, all of which are seen as more advanced or engaging. Reviewers feel this game is a less capable version of existing stock simulations.
- Extremely low player base (weight 0.13): The all-time peak player count was only 3, showing almost no community engagement. This makes the game feel abandoned and unappealing to potential buyers.
- Developer disowns the game (weight 0.13): The developer has removed their affiliation with this title and many others, signaling a lack of commitment. This raises concerns about ongoing support and updates.
- Made for card farming (weight 0.13): The game appears designed to be finished quickly in a bundle and to drop trading cards, rather than provide real value. This suggests a cash-grab strategy by the developer.
- Store page links to other game (weight 0.12): The store page includes a link to another game called Little Kingdoms, which may confuse buyers. This suggests the developer is promoting other projects instead of focusing on this one.

Emotions:
- Disappointment (weight 0.35): Players feel the game fails as a market simulation, relying on blind luck rather than viable tactics or meaningful information. The lack of charts, contextual data, and clear text, combined with poor controls and freezes, makes the experience feel random and without gameplay value.
- Frustration (weight 0.3): Technical issues such as horrendous loading times, inability to window or use mouse, and lack of graphics/audio options make the game unplayable. The shallow random gameplay, broken interface, and lack of notifications or useful information further compound the frustration.
- Boredom (weight 0.13): The game is perceived as boring and slow, requiring little attention and offering no anticipation or challenge. Players find it monotonous to just watch stock numbers and decide when to buy or sell.
- Amusement (weight 0.05): Players found humor in the behavior of the bots and the art, particularly a character resembling the Monopoly guy without a hat, which provided a lighthearted moment.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.05): The game was easy and the reviewer did not lose any money, which contributed to a positive experience. The gameplay was described as crazy, adding to the enjoyment.
- Disgust (weight 0.03): The UI is considered the worst, even less visually appealing than Excel sheets, which strongly repelled the player.
- Confusion (weight 0.03): The game does not inform the player that it starts paused, leading to confusion when stocks rise for an hour without the player understanding why.
- Fatigue (weight 0.03): Playing the game in fullscreen mode is tiring, likely due to the visual layout or lack of windowed mode options.
- Suspicion (weight 0.03): The developer removed their affiliation to the title, raising suspicion about the game's legitimacy or the developer's confidence in the product.
- Uncertainty (weight 0.03): The player is unsure whether the game would be enjoyable even if it worked as planned, indicating doubt about the core design and potential fun factor.}