Recent reviews by Hemmingjay

Yes, it’s in the early stages of development and it’s a bit barebones…BUT there is a lot to be excited about!

The developer is responsive and collaborative. I asked for Steam Deck compatibility and he actually made it happen on the beta branch of the game within a week or so. Thats not typical and he’s willing to take chances and do something new. That gives me hope for the game.

The pinnacle of music business games is still Rockstar! by Wizard Games in 1989. Since then we have had a handful of unique contributions but nothing really found the magic again. This particular game is focused on urban music genres(at least now) from a producer’s viewpoint. That is the unique angle and it’s definitely a potentially great foundation for the game.

I’m very excited for the game but I’m not expecting rapid updates or even a masterpiece here. What we do have is a great idea, a competent developer with a great attitude, and not a lot of other competing games.

I’ve been making games professionally since 2011 and have been consulting on many titles in that time as well. There are a LOT of developers who make a game without a well defined design who then flounder upon early access release. We COULD be in that same situation here but I suspect that this developer is eager to learn and grow his design skills to match his coding chops.

So I call on any of you to provide suggestions on the forum and offer some ideas or requests. I’m not saying the dev will take those ideas and maybe he has a more elaborate design in the works, but your interaction on the forum will help motivate progress on the game. It really makes a difference, so if you want this type of game you need to step up.

The game is nearly complete at long last. It is much improved since the last versions and it finally represents most of the hopes and dreams of the players and developer. To be honest, the game was kind of a mess for a long time. The developer is a better coder than studio head which is evidenced by agreeing to every request made by the fans. That made the game sloppy and slowed development for a long time. But slowly and surely the developer has reclaimed control of the game and delivered a truly good experience.

It’s important to remember that this game was intended to replicate Dungeon Master style gameplay from the late 90s and as such, it may not be a fit for those with little appetite for such games or patience in general. Still, it’s a game that is far better than its reviews would indicate. The majority of bad reviews are from disgruntled(fair) fans who waited a decade for the game to finish. It deserves a fresh look now for sure!

This builds on the original game in fun ways and with improved graphics and animations. Currently the content is a bit light in terms of class development and weapons in the game. However, the maps and tactics available to use are in place and excellent. The game is currently more like Door Kickers 1.75 but I can see a path(and likely given the devs history of excellence), and that path could leave us with Door Kickers 2.5 and greatness that we have only dreamed of while waiting for this game.

Do I recommend you buy this? YES! It is limited in terms of content at the moment but their history is as close to a guarantee of excellent outcome as any studio can offer.

*NOTE: The mission and map editor are not fully functional at the moment so you can't rely on community mods for a couple of months. However, the game has an EXCELLENT 50+ maps at the moment as part of the missions and they are replayable almost infinitely with different tactics, equipment and random behaviors/placements.

Charming and simple little heist game that is worth the $4-8 being asked. There isn't much meat here but it is a satisfying snack. The base gameplay is point & click while waiting for the guards to run their routes. You get money and can spend it on a house, a car, at a bar, etc but it's rather hollow. Think of it as a simple puzzle game with a moderate reward mechanic. Definitely worth supporting this developer with good ideas and terrific ability to restrain design elements to within their capability. This is a developer that will bring us more great things if we provide them the support to get there.

I have loved every minute of this game so far although it is essentially a job I show up for each time. It is work, and a grind, but it is also meditative and logical. If you like physics, mechanical puzzles, space, and sim games then this is for you.

The game is beautiful and while it tends to run hot on my PC they are still working on making it more efficient. For comparison I have a i7- 4790k at 4.2GHZ, a 1080 TI, and 32GB of RAM. I am also liquid cooled, so imagine my surprise at running so hot!

Yes I love the game and recommend it to those who like the types of games I mentioned above, but I do have concerns about the long term direction of the game. Heck, I don't really even know what they intend for us to do after we reach level 10. What is the point then? There is nothing to spend money on once you repay your debt, so why work and pile up more money after that? Still, I imagine it will take you 40-80hrs to finish repaying your BILLION credit debt, so maybe by then I won't even want to see another scrap ship?

Ok, so the most important thing I will say is that the developer should be commended for introducing another game without a violent primary mechanic. There are few interesting titles that fit that scope and you can be sure AAA studios won't devote assets to such an enterprise for a while.

The notebook in the game is exceptional and shows real love for the topic. It is highly entertaining to read and it immerses you in the world. In fact, it incited an immediate passion for my own dig and I set out to start my new career. Unfortunately the game is currently marred by technical issues and design decisions that may turn off the mainstream crowd. It seems a bit early to show the game as the 2018 crowd is much less forgiving than that of previous years(not that forgiving then either). The physics engine and camera engine are both very problematic. The animations are more are clearly an earnest attempt by someone with no prior experience but they need a lot of love if the game is to find a substantial audience. It is incredibly hard to do and I tip my hat to anyone brave enough to try.

It has plenty of flaws but I still recommend that you buy it and try it if the topic interests you. Set an alarm and if at the end of 1hr and 55 mins you see true potential, you should keep it and support an artist with bold vision. If not, be kind and leave helpful(POLITE) suggestions for the developer in the forum. If you appreciate the responsiveness of the developer, again...keep the game and support the developer. It is absurdly hard to survive making indie games. 99% of games will not make enough money to support development. If someone is brave and clever and driven, support them. Otherwise we will end up with nothing but annual releases of mainstream series and no indie innovation.

So buy it and try it. I can't say if you will like it but I can say it is worth looking into further.

NOTE: When you start the game, click on the ? in the menu and then "Tutorial area". The game doesn't provide any guidance unless you do that first.

Reviewing a game under development is very hard. However, I am doing so because there seems to be some skepticism by those sitting on the fence.

The bottom line is that the game is worth your money and love if you like hacking games or are enthralled by the NSA and similar agencies. The game isn't realistic but it is fun and based on real tools and actions. The target networks are accurately modelled for the most part. The reactions to your activities are satisfying but limited. The real ramifications of hacking a network are not fun and you shouldn't want to experience that.

This game won't make you a hacker but it will make you familiar with the tools and techniques used by hackers and Cyberwarfare professionals. The UI is a stylized artist impression of Kali Linux, some real GUI for hacking tools and artisitic license aimed at profiling a realistic tool in the near future. It is more accurate than armchair hackers would have you believe but not accurate enough to get you into trouble.

If you want to pursue a career in the field, play the game and follow the links for more information offered at every training exercise. Then read some Networking for Dummies style books before signing up at Cybrary.it
Finally, install Kali Linux and join a training lab.

This game actually educates to a modest degree while being very entertaining. The voice acting is top notch and the visuals are a solid A-. More content and features seem to be added every 7-10 days right now. There are enough sales to support development until December when it is expected to leave Early Access. I understand that there will be additional content after that too. The expectation is that some will be free and maybe, if we are lucky, some paid expansions.

I have about 10 hours in the game and almost all is in training. It is that engaging! Buy it and try it. If you don't like it at 100 minutes, refund it. But give it at least an hour before you decide. It is a great combination of clicking and typing easy commands. The puzzles are satisfying and not impossible. I love it and hope you do too

5 hrs in, reviewed.

I didn't want to wait for 40hrs of play to do a real review because I will probably forget to.

I'll make this short and honest. The game recreates the excitement of finding gold but increases the odds by many factors. What hurts it are some glitchy physics but that's pretty unavoidable for a licensed indie game. The graphics are in a realistic style which can cause some problems picking out objects from a distance.

Buy it if:
You like playing in the dirt

You like the Gold Rush series on Discovery

You like job simulators


Don't buy it if:

You think this is anything other than a job simulator. There are incremental upgrades, it just makes the same job with higher output.

You need high polish in a game

You lack patience. It's a slow "game". It's an acquired taste.



End of initial review

It wouldn't be responsible to criticize or laud the game for anything else until I have more play time.

Sim games are hard to make. Simulating real world physics and biological systems require expertise AND experience. For each subject.

Add to the complication that this game is entering a sub-genre with 2 already established titles battling for suppremacy. That gives us a little perspective on what we can expect from a new entry.

Real Farm IS NOT yet a good game. It DOES have what it takes to be a good game, provided that we can do the work to help them get there. The price is too high right now and the game is closer to early access than Gold release. That's not a complaint against the developer, but rather the publisher who has to keep budgets and release dates balanced.

The good news is that the developers are using the sales to fund a rapid support schedule. The beta branch of the game is really cranking out the fixes and improvements. I'm quite optimistic that they will have a real new series contender here. If we are bold and brave as consumers. Nobody will ever make better games in this genre unless we buy the games. The genre needs to be making enough money for developers/publishers to want a piece of it. So buy the games, push developers to improve them and reap the rewards. If you want the farm game of the future, do the work now.

What the game does right: It's a lot like Farm Sim 16 if we are being honest. It has good music, decent art assets, the menus work well enough, etc.

What it does wrong currently: physics(wacky flipping/flying tractors over the mountains are possible), sound(hooking up tools is silent, no working sounds for many jobs, etc), no licensing(future games likely to have, provided people buy this), weather effects.

There is a good game here. If you want to push this game or other farm games to improve faster, there needs to be competition. That means you have to buy them all. Your move farm/sim gamers.

A REALLY fun game with a lot of potential for MANY hours of satisfying play. While the most common, and lazy, comparison will be FTL the game actually has it's own thing going on. I can also see the inspiration from M1 Tank Platoon and B-17 from the past. It's not the first game to try this formula but it may be the first to achieve the balance of fun and depth.

At the moment, it's a lot to balance at first. You need to keep cool in combat. Don't panic. Learn to make fast and efficient decisions. Learn to perform series of tasks such as: Send bomber to station. Open Bay doors. Navigate to target. Select payload. Drop bombs. Then tell pilot to climb to higher altitude to escape Flak. Once out of danger, drop to low so navigator can see. Pick next target or go home.

It's all about learning these moves so they are reflex, not thoughts. Good luck and have fun.

Definitely worth buying if you like management sims and war sims.