How To Play

Overview
Game Dev Life is a tycoon simulator where users can create their own games sell them for a profit to expand their business. The game is relatively easy to understand, but to master how precise a game needs to be is going to be a challenge.

This page will be divided into a full basic section, and then divided into different detailed segments.

The Basics
First, let's get familiar with your environment. Knowing where you are and where you plan to go is vital, and can save you a lot of time. On this page, however, we'll only be showing you the most important places to know.

Now that you know the three most important places, you should head to your office to develop your very first game! After you have found your office, you'll already have someone standing behind the front desk, and your very own workstation. To develop your own games, you must sit down on your computer. A panel will appear on your screen after you sit down. Click "DEVELOP" to move onto the game development panel. You'll then have to go through several panels to define your game's key elements.
 * Red Box
 * The Offices where users can develop games, customize their interiors, and expand their business.
 * Yellow Box
 * The factory where users can collect their games and deliver them to stores. The factory can output three different sized boxes.
 * Green Box
 * This is the mall where you can sell your games. There are numerous different stores inside the mall.
 * On the second floor, the store "Games" is the default place to sell your games.

The next steps are going to be very crucial as they'll affect the outcome of the game in terms of both fans and profit.
 * On the first panel, you'll have to pick the genre of your game.

''Note: Choose your topic and genre wisely, as you will get a low score if they don't combine well. Receiving a low score reduces your total profit and the number of fans you will gain.''
 * On the second panel, you'll choose a topic for your game.
 * On the third panel, you will be able to give a name to your game.
 * On the fourth panel, you can choose a game cover to fully customize your game.


 * On the fifth panel, you will be able to choose which platforms your game will be released on.

Once you have chosen and confirmed the key elements, you'll then go through three phases of development, in which you choose what properties of the game are more important than the others. In each phase, you'll move a slider to define these properties according to your choice. Making the right decision for these phases is critical, as they affect the profit and number of fans greatly. The staff that you have hired and their skill levels will determine how well the game will perform. After that, you'll be given both your scores and rating of the game. The higher your average score, the better the profit. After your score, you will see your ratings. 4 game reviewers will rate your game out of 10. The highest total score achievable by reviews is 40/40, so do your best to achieve those numbers!
 * On the sixth panel, you will be able to choose the price and size of your game, along with a selection of extra properties. (Multiplayer, Online, Early Access)
 * On the seventh panel, you can go back to the earlier panels if you've changed your mind, or click "FINISHED" to confirm your decision.

You need to stock your games now. You can either walk to the factory, which will take a while, or you can use your own vehicle. You can spawn a vehicle in the garage to the right of your office from your spawn point.

Travel to the back of the factory and there, you'll find conveyor belts with different sized crates. Next, go find the "SMALL" conveyor and click "F" to spawn a crate in. Hold "E" to grab the crate until you pick it up. Do the same to drop it later on.

Depending on your vehicle, you can either hold your crate or you can drop the crate in the trunk. The crate will lock onto the vehicle if it's dropped on a capable vehicle.

Now, travel to the mall to sell your games. You must bring the crate inside and go into the "Games" store up on the second floor. Drop the crate into the storage, which is located behind the store clerk, then go up to the clerk and press "E" to stock up the games, then click "Release Game" on the bottom of your screen to start earning money! Also, the more fans you have, the more profit you earn That's simply it! Repeat this process and start to progress towards success! Learn the patterns of the game and you'll become a millionaire in no time! Perhaps even a billionaire!

Developing A Game
When developing a game, users must be able to identify the leading factors into a successful game. Both topic/genre combos and the three phases of development will greatly affect the end result. There's a direct relationship with the scores and ratings. The higher the score, the higher the rating.

Genres
There are many genres to choose from and each has its own set of topics that they can fit well into and earn a good score. Users will start with some genres unlocked when they begin, but they must unlock the rest as they level up.

Here's a table of genres and when they can be unlocked. ""

Topics
There are several topics to choose from to be able to match with a genre. Just like the genres, they'll have a certain genre to fit into as it'll affect the end scores.

Here's a list of topics to choose from.

Note: You may have to research topics with the Research Table.

Controls

 * 1) Use WASD and space to move your character/vehicle.
 * 2) Press E to interact with some NPCs.
 * 3) Hold E to grab a crate nearby.
 * 4) C to cancel customizing your office.
 * 5) R to rotate an object in hand.
 * 6) F to spawn a crate at the factory.
 * 7) Arrow Keys, O, G for the mini-games.