Game Tycoon

In Game Tycoon the player founds and manages a business which produces games. The process of game development is basically always the same: At first the player chooses between 13 genres - of course it is important to observe the zeitgeist, in some time periods platformer are more popular as adventures or vice versa. The second and last pre-production decision concerns the graphics engine. The player can either license one or program his own. The latter is time-consuming and expensive but the engine can be used for multiple games.

After choosing the employees - programmers, artists and composers - the only thing left to do is setting the test times, searching for a distributor and watching the progress bar. Right before the release there is also the marketing to take care of, which means ads and box equipment (manual, maps etc.). When the game is fully developed the player can read reviews from magazines and selling statistics.

The game features two playing modes: ten missions and free playing. However, the game always starts in 1982 and progresses until the modern times of Xbox and DVD. The handling is very similar to Mad TV: the whole game is played in real-time and the player character has to walk through the cities to reach the menus. But since we are talking about development times of several years, the typical hectic atmosphere of Mad TV is missing.