The beauty of portable Android devices is that they are always available and can be accessed at any time. This is what gives cell phones an edge over PCs as you can check important numbers and facts from anywhere in the world like the data used on your Android phone. Managing real businesses from your phone isn’t the only thing made possible by the best Android handsets. Management and tycoon games simulate growing and maintaining a business, accompanied by various gimmicks, engaging grind and funny personalities. So if you fancy growing a quirky business in your pocket with some of the best Android games, AP has a few ideas with a rundown of the most compelling management and tycoon games out there.
Sim companies
Sim Companies is a management simulation where you manage your own company and orchestrate the use of your assets and business transactions. You start with a small number of assets and build from there in your preferred industry. There are multiple directions to progress; manufacturing, retail and research, each with unique advantages and disadvantages. The game uses the oddly useful skill of sensing good business opportunities and what pursuits to take or leave. This also has to do with the game’s virtual economy, where players implement their growth strategies and require wise decision-making and foresight to stay ahead of the competition. It’s a great time if you want to get the CEO experience without the unpleasant complexities like the law or employee rights.
Farmer’s anger
And now, something completely different, Farm Frenzy, a farming sim that lets you set up your own farm via mini-games. Across an impressive variety of levels, the game requires resource generation through playing a collection of farming-themed mini-games, from collecting eggs to milking cows. Think farming in Minecraft, but a little more hectic. The money generated by these mini-games can be used to build establishments such as bakeries and dairies, which earn even more money. It has the clicker game effect that will get you caught up in farming (no pun intended) and resources, which is simple but effective. While there are some stability issues and a few balancing issues, none break the deal and you can still manage your farm as you see fit. Farm Frenzy is a cute game with a solid gameplay loop and a progression ladder that’s easy enough to keep you busy for ages.
Air raid shelter
Fallout Shelter is a literal basic management sim based on the famous Bethesda property. You are put in charge of a vault beneath the Earth’s surface after a post-nuclear war and are tasked with making it the best possible living space for those who inhabit it. Residents are fully customizable and assigned different roles to perform tasks that enhance the vault’s facilities. There’s even a mechanism that allows you to ‘repopulate’ residents, creating even more residents for additional jobs (no idea where they came from). Residents can also be sent out into the wasteland to search for weapons, armor, and supplies useful for self-defense. The aesthetic of the game is pretty cool; it has that happy commercial look for the sprites and a variety of interior decoration styles. A superior choice if you like a more themed experience with solid gameplay.
High-rise project
A much simpler example of the management genre is Project Highrise, a game where you build a series of 2D skyscrapers for 2D characters to live in. The gameplay revolves around the construction of skyscrapers, the facilities built in them and the tenants who move into them. Your goal is to keep the tenants happy with a good quality of life and decent living conditions, both for those who live in apartments and for those who run their own businesses. Retail settings such as restaurants and shops can be included to increase your cash flow, which in turn creates opportunities for further upgrades. As management sims go, this one is more on the realistic side, as tenants need to be kept happy and will leave if underserved. Despite its simple presentation, Project Highrise is quite engaging.
Game Dev Story
Well, this is about as meta as it gets; Game Dev Story puts you in charge of your own video game development company. Duties include what you would expect, hiring and firing employees of varying skills, managing assets, and maximizing your brand’s audience appeal. Game development is all about improving the skills and productivity of your developer staff, which in turn improves the game’s stats. Realistically, game development will grow in size as your workforce grows in skill and number, and your office space will expand in both size and number of computers to accommodate the new employees. All in all, the game is relatively charming with its cute pixel art and expressive sprite animation and totally worth playing.
egg, inc.
Egg Inc. is a business simulator that creates an entertaining experience with simple means; it puts you in control of an egg farm and puts zero rates on the growth scale. You start with a simple chicken coop, tasked with harvesting eggs and growing your livestock, expanding your farm and researching ways to sell your product, all to excel to the furthest stars on a solid foundation of egg-borne money. The smooth animations make it very satisfying to watch your egg operation develop and expand, and to watch a flock of chickens swarm around in a strangely enchanting amorphous swarm. Egg Inc. looks like a clicker game, but decent presentation and a quirky sense of humor make it worth it. Sometimes all you need is the dedication to an idea to make it special, even if that means blowing it up into a universe-spanning intergalactic chicken processing empire.
Hundred days
Have you ever dreamed of owning a vineyard? Well, here’s Hundred Days, a vineyard development and wine production simulator to satisfy your very specific fantasy. You will be put in charge of a rural grape farm; tasked with growing this business through production by selling different types of wine. This game goes a bit harder than the others on this list, with multiple spreadsheets for managing business opportunities, profit forecasting, and other admin stuff that tycoon games don’t usually deal with, so it has niche appeal. This complex business-sim gameplay is somewhat at odds with the laid-back tone of the game’s rural setting and soothing music, but those who enjoy more complicated administrative tasks in a tycoon game will appreciate the laid-back vibe. Hundred Days looks pretty and has a strange, elusive calming effect, so it’s a good choice for stressful times.
Earth Inc.
Time to let go of the pretensions and conquer the world. Earth Inc. is an idle tycoon game where you transform a small mining operation into a global corporation even while you eat, sleep or do something else. The gameplay includes several mini-games designed to generate profit, from hiring miners to improving the efficiency of clicker mechanics to checking deliveries. Your business expands as your workforce and capital grow, that is, until you eventually run out of Earth to conquer and move to other worlds. Bizarrely, this is the second game with a humble company that takes you to space, even weirder when you consider starting out as a miner. The game leans towards the theme of capitalism with its aspirations of endless growth and apathy for environmental conservation, which can be a little repulsive despite the obvious irony. But the unbridled enthusiasm the game has for the idea of a hyper-capitalist company makes it hard not to invest, aided by the beautiful pixel art and motivational music. Earth Inc. is worth seeing for the sheer spectacle.
Let that business flourish!
Putting your energy into climbing a ladder is the core of what makes the best RPGs so appealing, and these management games follow the same pattern. You invest in your company and want to see how it grows and develops. This satisfaction can now be found anytime, whether you’re bored while traveling or looking for some cozy Android games to curl up with this winter. You also have the chance to learn some real skills within these games, or at least develop an interest in real business management and administrative skills. So it’s time to try one and feel that simple joy of watching your business grow. Enjoying!