Another simulator has come up, this time it's a disco simulator that pleasantly surprised us with the way it set things up in the game.
The game provides us with the experience of running and managing a disco from a financial perspective, as well as a whole range of operational tasks that we may not even be aware are part of the daily rhythm of a disco. You start your experience in this industry from scratch, from an empty space that needs to be organized and launched with limited resources into a disco that will be popular, well-equipped, and top-notch organized with all the necessary staff who must follow the development of the disco itself. It is important not to forget about fixed costs such as staff costs or the cost of purchasing alcoholic beverages.
At the very beginning, we choose a disco manager. Not all managers are available right away; we unlock them during the game. When starting the disco, only Martha is available, who for example brings 10% cheaper equipment due to her great relationships with the companies that supply it. Later, we can hire Sylvia after completing 'Los Palmos' (allows waiters to work 50% faster and alcohol to be sold at a 20% higher price), Greg after completing 'The Fire' (allows event organization to be 20% cheaper), Simon after completing 'Comeo' (allows employees to work 25% faster and 50% cheaper), Rosa after completing 'Drama' (allows incidents to be resolved 3 times faster), Ray after completing 'Twilight' (allows investments to be 20% cheaper), and Alstair after completing 'The Focus' (allows bouncers to work 50% faster and for free).
After selecting a manager, you need to choose a club. At the very beginning, we have access to Los Palmos, The Fire, and Cameo. Each of the clubs has its own goals:
- Los Palmos: event organization
- The Fire: finish the night at one/at the first disco level
- Cameo: finish the night with $100,000.00
- Drama: finish the night at the second disco level
- Twilight: finish the night with $150,000.00
- The Focus: finish the night with $200,000.00
- Club Electric: finish the night at the third disco level
- Cyber: finish the night with $250,000.00
- Phantom: finish the evening at the fifth disco level
Given the above, you can immediately conclude that the game will provide you with dozens of hours of gameplay.
The image shows the disco at the very beginning. In the upper menu, there is a display of the new day starting in the disco, the total number of days and the date, the amount of money, the expected number of visitors, reputation, level of decoration/arrangement, bar equipment, and energy. In the lower menu, we have the build menu, equipment menu, staff menu, upgrade menu, event calendar menu, and disco level overview.
All these aspects show us how this simulator has made an effort to present all aspects of running and managing a disco.
The image above shows an advanced stage of disco operations.
As for the gameplay itself, the game is simple and doesn't require much time to get into the thick of things. You only need to fulfill a few technical prerequisites such as buying furniture, installing a toilet, setting up a dance floor, and hiring bouncers and waiters. After securing these basic prerequisites, you can launch the disco, that is, open your doors to visitors. After that, you go from night to night, gradually elevating your disco to a higher level.
The difficulty of the game is moderate, but there are no new challenges when moving to larger venues with much higher cash flow. There are no problems (pardon, "challenges" as we call them today) with staff, incidents that need to be resolved in the club; instead, it is reduced to decisions like calling the police/emergency services, after which the game rewards you for acting correctly.
As for the story, there is certainly none in the game itself. It's not the point, but it wouldn't hurt to have at least some story, like you as a player progressing from running a small venue to a large disco.
The game provides sufficient insight into the operations of a disco, its financial and operational challenges, and can provide a good foundation for understanding what is needed to successfully run a disco. Success does not depend solely on financial aspects or good music but also on a range of operational factors such as waiting lines to enter the club, waiting at the bar, or waiting for the restroom. All of this affects user satisfaction both in this simulator and in real life.
The visual impression is okay, but it would be good (or at least in the future) to switch to first-person view during the evening as a player, while in the building/planning phase, you remain in the current gameplay mode.
A major drawback in the game itself is the music. There is some, but it's quite insufficient and not diverse. We know what problems are present and why it's not possible to include a lot of music in the game, but we still believe that music is an extremely important element of the game for which we don't see that the developers put a special emphasis, and they should have!
You will definitely have to play the game multiple times (here we mean managing all the discs), but we must emphasize that playing is quite repetitive, we would say on the same "template." Here, for example, music could have played a significant role, at least in impression/perception.
The price of this game currently amounts to 12 EUR for XBOX, and we believe that the price is good for what the game offers us.
A copy of the game for review purposes was provided by the publisher Ultimate Games SA
