Game Dev Tycoon cheat sheet

Staff Management

• Hiring Strategy: Hire slowly to keep overhead low, and look for employees with high potential stats. Early on, focus on versatile employees who can handle multiple roles until your income supports specialists.
• Training: Regular training is crucial. Use the "Training" menu options wisely, focusing on increasing Design or Technology points based on the role. Prioritize "Game Dev Gems" and "Code Jam" for boosting specific skills.
• Team Composition: Initially aim for a small, balanced team. As your funds increase, diversify your team with specialists to improve game quality and manage larger projects.

Financial Management

• Budgeting: Allocate budget based on game scale—don't overspend on small games. Save major investments like top-tier marketing or new engines for high-potential games.
• Risk Management: Keep a reserve fund for at least two game projects to buffer against any flops. Gradually increase game complexity and budget as your studio grows.
• Revenue Strategies: Consider medium games with good combos and marketing to steadily build funds before attempting blockbuster AAA games.

Sequel Strategy

• Timing and Selection: Wait for game technology to improve or for significant fan demand before releasing a sequel. Use player feedback and game performance data to inform changes and improvements in sequels.
• Innovation vs. Consistency: Balance introducing new features with maintaining core mechanics that fans loved in the original to keep sequels fresh yet familiar.

Marketing Strategies

• Early Stage: Use magazines and demos for early-stage marketing when budget is tight. They provide a good ROI for smaller games.
• Growth Stage: As your studio grows, invest in larger marketing campaigns like global marketing and prime time TV spots for major releases to maximize visibility.
• Tailored Marketing: Match marketing scale and type with the anticipated game size and audience reach. Don't waste money on massive campaigns for niche games.

Crisis Management

• Post-Flop Analysis: Review game reports and user feedback to understand what went wrong. Was it a poor topic-genre combo, bad timing, or underdeveloped features?
• Recovery Plan: Cut costs temporarily, focus on smaller, less risky projects to recover financially, and rebuild fan trust with high-quality releases.
• Iterative Improvement: Learn from each failure by iteratively tweaking game formulas and production processes.

Platform-Specific Strategies

• Platform Selection: Choose platforms based on the target audience and genre strength. E.g., action games perform well on consoles, while simulations and strategy games excel on PC.
• Timing: Pay attention to the life cycle of platforms. Developing for a new platform early can capture new audiences but comes with risks of lower initial user bases.

Expansion Pack and DLC Management

• Timing of Release: Release DLC or expansions when interest starts to wane but while the base game still has a strong player base.
• Content Value: Ensure DLC adds meaningful content—new storylines, features, or gameplay mechanics to justify the cost and keep players engaged.

Community Engagement

• Active Interaction: Regular updates, behind-the-scenes posts, and active responses to community feedback help build a loyal fanbase.
• Fan Involvement: Involve the community in some game development decisions, like voting on new features, game titles, or content additions.

Tips

Things you should NOT do

1. Creating two or more games in a row which have the same genre/topic.
2. Developing a sequel/expansion within a year.
3. Developing large games with 2D Graphics V3 or lower or 3D Graphics V2.
4. Developing a AAA game without having 3D V6.
5. Developing a AAA game without having all of your employees specialized.

Tips

1. When you can accept an interview, always do.
2. Have balanced Tech and Design employees, 2 Full Design, 2 Full Tech and 2 Balanced and balance your own character.
3. Always decline the 'investment' because it's scam.
4. Patch your games.
5. Always give your fans the source code for your old game engine.
6. Train all of your employees but don't forget yourself.
7. Always develop a console (If 200M +).
8. If you have about 300M just keep creating the same game engines to boost Research Points.
9. Specialize all of your employees.
10. Create a company named Activision, get the achievement, make a new game and Create Greenheart and then make your own.

Unlocks

• You will start out in your Garage.
• To unlock the next office you need 1M.
• In that office you get an upgrade and for that you need to be in Year 11 Month 6 Week 2 with 2 employees and 5M.
• To get the next office you have to be in Y13 M9 W2, have 4 employees and have 16M.
• To unlock the R&D Lab you need to have a Design Specialist.
• To unlock the Hardware Lab you have to (after you unlock the R&D lab) get a Technology Specialist.

Research Unlocks

• Target Audience - Y3 M1 W1
• Casual Games - Y3 M11 - W1
• Marketing - Y4 M5 W2
• Sequels - Y8 M6
• Multi Genre - Y12 M8
• Expansion Pack - Research MMO and have an MMO in sale

R&D Lab Unlocks;

• Hardware - After opening
• Internet Opportunities - After opening
• MMO - After Internet Opportunities
• Codename : Grid - After Internet Opportunities
• Own Convention - 1M fans or Y23
• 3D Graphics v6 - 3D Graphics V5 lvl. 4
• 3D Graphics v7 - 3D Graphics v6 lvl. 4
• License Game Engines - After making 10 custom engines
• AAA Games - Get a large game with a score of 10
• Custom Hardware - Have a Tech Specialist
• Marketing Campaign - Develop a AAA game

Achievements

• Diversity - Have male and female staff
• Famous - Hire someone 'famous' (happens by chance)
• Perfect Game - Get a clean score of 10 (try this with Medium/Large games because the bigger the games get the harder it is)
• Versatile - Release a successful game in all main genres
• Writer's Block - Create a game and wait 1 minute before typing in a name
• Eat Cake - When you'll be asked to add barrels to a game add them in an action game
• Turn it up to 11 - Get a reviewer to give a 11/10 (Don't try it with AAA)
• Treasure Hunter - Create a game named "Pong" in Garage
• Bluehair reporting for space duty - Create a game named "Wing Commander" in 2nd building before upgrading it
• Welcome to Mars - Create a game named "Doom" in 2nd building before upgrading it
• Welcome to your Hospital - Create a game named "Theme Hospital" in 2nd building after upgrading it
• Best ride to work ever - Create a game named "Half-Life" in 2nd building after upgrading it
• The sky is not the limit - Create a game named "Star Citizen" after unlocking R&D lab
• Welcome Chief - Create a game named "Halo" after unlocking R&D lab
• Painting with nature - Create a game named "Okami" after unlocking R&D lab (Has to be on a Playsystem)
• Inception - Create a Game Dev/Simulation game named "Game Dev Tycoon"
• Admirer - Call your company "Greenheart Games"
• Fan - Call your company "Activision" (or another known gaming company)
• Unobtainium - Get 100M sales on a single game (Possibly the hardest, you can't use expansion packs)

Tips for Unobtainium

SAVE BEFORE YOU DO THIS.

1. Get a lot of money (1000M or something) and develop a good AAA game, give it the best marketing and develop it around the G3 (M6)
2. Bring out a really good game (Average 9-10) and keep it on the market even if it's not making profit.
3. Keep going to G3's and making your own game conventions to bring attention to it and do contract work to make extra money and just keep that up till you have it.

Topics/Genres Charts

System/Genre Chart

Multi-Genre/Stages Charts

Single Genre/Stages Charts

Chart info and Tips

1. A good game has to have a good combination of Genre, Topic, Audience and Gaming System.
2. Try to find combinations which have a ++ average.
3. The ~ means that it doesn't really matter.

Discalimer: This cheat sheat is based on Ultimate Guide for Game Dev Tycoon by Kankerscep.