Industry Manager: Future Technologies Review

If you loved games like Capitalism and Industry Giant, you are in for a treat! Industry Manager: Future Technologies offers you a somewhat realistic business simulator. Collect resources, change them into usable products, combine them with other resources, create an end product and sell it in your store. You create the supply line from farmers to cashiers.

Industry Manager: Future Technologies Review

introduction

Have you always dreamed of building your own empire and raking in the big money? The world is changing fast and a second industrial revolution is right around the corner. The economy is changing from an industrial one into a technological-driven one and you can't be left behind. Industry Manager: Future Technologies is a classic economy simulation in which you can build your own empire, research new sustainable products, and sweep aside the competition on your way to fame and success. Take a market-oriented approach to design, produce, position and sell modern products. With limited liquid capital and an eye for the right product range, you can become the most successful capitalist in the world!

Industry Manager: Future Technologies is created by Astragon Entertainment GmbH, a German game developer and publisher which you may know from games like Construction Simulator, Bus Simulator and the now released Transport Fever, a game that I will be reviewing on here pretty soon!

Industry Manager: Future Technologies is available for around $ 20, on Steam and Amazon.

gameplay

The concept is pretty easy, you create a product and sell it to the masses. The way to get there is a bit harder, though.

You build companies to run certain aspects of your empire, all jamming through a warehouse that gives and takes to each company you set up. Your electronics factory produces processors, wires and cables for your cell phones, but first, it needs raw silica, copper and rubber, which you mine with another company, or create with a chemical factory which takes in petrochemicals after being refined from crude oil.

In the tutorial, the game had me make a supply chain for basic medicine. I had to build an R&D department to research buildings and ingredients, then I had to build the factory, only to figure out I need a warehouse to collect my raw materials and final products. The next thing the game asked me to do is build a farm to produce the raw resources. After all is said and done, you need to ship it to your store in the center of the city, sell your goods to the public, and make money!

A number of process chains you have going at a certain point can be a bit overwhelming, though. For a basic medicine, you have two supply chains for the basic ingredients which are delivered to the warehouse. From the warehouse, they have to be transported to your factory, where they will be produced into medicine. The end product, the medicine, in this case, have to be shipped back to the warehouse, and from the warehouse have to be sent off to the shop in the center of town. That is six chains you have to go through for one of the basic products you can sell. Imagine producing mobile phones or personal computers!

But once you get the hang of the game, it is ridiculously easy to make a serious amount of money! People keep buying your products and you can just keep expanding your empire. The AI isn't the smartest in the world, once you are starting to outgrow them in a market segment, they will do anything to keep afloat. They will sell their products way cheaper, take out a ridiculous amount of loans, and when all else fails to sell parts of the company off until they go bankrupt.  

Some buildings needed in a basic supply chain - Industry Manager - Future Technologies

CONTROLS

The controls of the game aren't that hard once you get used to them. You can play the game by mostly only using your mouse, but there are some keyboard shortcuts you can use to get through the game a little bit easier. Buttons like game speed, pause and go to your home plot are bound to a key which makes things go a little bit faster than moving around with your mouse.

sound and graphics

The game looks really well polished, better than a lot of other games in this genre, especially by an independent developer. The graphics could be a bit more realistic for my taste, though, it's really bright and colorful which almost gives it a cartoony feel. The sounds are good, though not really balanced out. Some sounds are way too soft, while others will deafen headphone users when they are zoomed in too close on the map. The soundtrack is fair, like most other games by Astragon GmbH.

summary

Overall I like this game a lot. Starting off a new company can be challenging at some points, late game is way too easy. It could use some balancing. The AI is just plain old dumb, it will kill itself before creating a real threat to your company, and pricing needs to be balanced out more. When all these things are worked out; this could be a game adored by fans of this genre. The replay value of this game is big. You have a lot of different product chains to start off with and grow your empire.

If you like these kinds of games, I would suggest picking it up if you feel you can spare 20 bucks for it.
 
Transport goods to your warehouses in Industry Manager: Future Technologies

Pros Cons
 + Wonderfully polished  – A bit of a learning curve at first
 + Huge replay value with a lot of products to start with  – AI is just stupid
 + Constantly being updated with content expansions 
 + Gameplay is not repetitive  
 + Great for gamers who like management games

7.5
Good

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