Best Combos in Game Dev Tycoon

Since the beginning of my gaming days, I noticed there are some games for people who don’t like action or adventure. Games like Transport Tycoon let you manage the resources and grow your company into an all-powerful empire. I can’t help but wonder how many successful businessmen today played Tycoon games as kids.

Game Dev Tycoon is a managerial simulation that puts you in the place of a video game developer. Your goal is to create all sorts of games and grow your business until you become a new Gabe Newell. In this game, the game development is fairly simplified compared to the real thing. Basically, it boils down to choosing different topics and genres and then using sliders to decide the amount of time spent in different areas.

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Top Combos for Game Dev Tycoon

Making of each game consists of three phases. Each phase focuses on a different aspect of a video game, and they also vary depending on the genre. Therefore, it is very important to know where to put your resources. There are six game genres: Adventure, Action, RPG, Strategy, Simulation, and Casual. Here are some estimations about how to put the resources in each genre:

Adventure

• Phase 1: Engine: 0%, Gameplay: 0%, and Story: 100%
• Phase 2: Dialogues: 100%, Level Design: 0%, and AI: 0%
• Phase 3: World Design: 0%, Graphic: 100% and Sound: 80%

Action

• Phase 1: Engine 100%, Gameplay: 80%, and Story: 0%
• Phase 2: Dialogues: 0%, Level Design: 80%, and AI: 100%
• Phase 3: World Design: 0, Graphic: 100%, and Sound: 80%

RPG

• Phase 1: Engine: 0%, Gameplay: 80%, and Story: 100%
• Phase 2: Dialogues: 100%, Level Design: 80% and AI: 0%
• Phase 3: World Design: 100%, Graphic: 80% and Sound: 0%

Strategy

• Phase 1: Engine: 80%, Gameplay: 100%, and Story: 0%
• Phase 2: Dialogues: 0%, Level Design: 100% and AI: 80%
• Phase 3: World Design: 100%, Graphic: 0%, and Sound: 80%

Simulation

• Phase 1: Engine: 80%, Gameplay: 100% and Story: 0%
• Phase 2: Dialogues: 0%, Level Design: 80% and AI: 0%
• Phase 3: World Design: 100%, Graphic: 80% and Sound: 0%

Casual

• Phase 1: Engine 0%, Gameplay: 100% and Story: 0%
• Phase 2: Dialogues: 0%, Level Design 100% and AI: 0%
• Phase 3: World Design: 0%, Graphics: 100% and Sound 80%

Genres and Topics

Another very important aspect of video game development in this game is choosing the right topics for your upcoming game. Some genres work better with certain topics. Topics usually define the game’s settings and theme. There’s a great number of topics, and some of them work for multiple genres, so don’t be surprised if you see the same topic in different genres.

• Adventure games – they work well with the following topics: Medieval, Mystery, Pirate, Prison, Romance, Spy, School, Time Travel, Zombies, Detective, Fantasy, Law, and Life.
• Action games – they are good for many topics: Airplane, Aliens, Alt, Cyberpunk, Dungeon, Fantasy, Horror, Hunting, Medieval, Military, Music, Martial Arts, History, Post Apocalyptic, Prison, Sci-Fi, Space, Sports, Spy, Superheroes, Time Travel, Rhythm, Werewolf and Zombie.
• RPG games – they combine well with next topics: Aliens, Alt, Cyberpunk, Detective, Dungeon, Fantasy, Fashion, History, Martial Arts, Medieval, Mystery, Post Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi, School, Spy, Vampire, Werewolf, and Wild West.
• Strategy games – they are good with the following topics: Airplane, Aliens, City, Dungeon Evolution, Business, Government, Hacking, History, Medieval, Military, Space, School, Sci-Fi, Transport, UFO and Vocabulary.
• Simulation games – they combine well with most topics and they are following: Airplane, City, Dance, Dungeon, Business, Evolution, Fantasy, Game Dev, Government, Hacking, History, Hospital, Hunting, Life, Martial Arts, Military, Movies, Music, Prison, Racing, Rhythm, Sci-Fi, School, Space, Sports, Startups, Surgery, Transport, Virtual Pet and Vocabulary.
• Casual games – they make the best combination with the next topics: Comedy, Dance, Fashion, Airplane, Martial Arts, Movies, Music, Rhythm, Racing, Sports, Virtual Pet, and Vocabulary.

Tips and Tricks

You should use 2D Graphics V4+ and 3D Graphics V3+ if you’re creating large-scale games. To achieve optimal results when producing a AAA game, we advise you to employ 3D Graphics V5+ and assign three specialists to crucial phases of the game’s genre. Avoid making two games in a row using the same topic and genre. Also, don’t create a game’s sequel using the same custom engine.

Hopefully, this guide will help you make video games more efficient. For other related content, please check out IXION Resources Management Guide – Tips and Tricks or How to Manage Inventory Effectively in Dead Space.