*** Spoilers ahead ***
"Hi, I’m Knack and it is 1983 (approximately). I just founded ‘Knack for Games, LLC’ because I want to make computer games! My wife thinks I’m crazy, but she is good natured and supportive, so as long as I keep it confined to the garage and we don’t go broke, she is behind me all the way.
I’m a man of action, so I decided to jump into making my first game on Day 1! I’m also a man of leisure, so I only work 4 days a week! 
(All dates from here on out will be written Y#:M#:W#:d#) I did a little research into the market, and there are 27% more users of the G64, but games cost 48% more money to make! That seems like a terrible return, and my wife was already getting on my case for the 30k I budgeted, so I’m sticking with my trusty IBM-PC. I like Tennis, so I’m going to make a game about tennis. I can’t really imagine a tennis game in text, so I spend some extra money getting the graphics right. With the hard decisions out of the way, I’m going to get to work on ‘Quick-Shot Tennis’."
*** Strategy Thoughts ***
I logged almost every step of this game for myself to analyze, and thought others would enjoy it or benefit from it, so here it is. Lots of advice on this forum seems to be ‘go slow’, ‘don’t make too many engines’, ‘don’t move to the new office too quickly’. I’ve only played through 3 times, but on my last playthrough I attempted to rush everything, and it worked out great, so I generally think that advice is all wrong. (I have one of the top scores posted in the score thread).
So, for this specific play-through, I am ‘rushing’ again, basically push for new graphics tech as soon as possible, new office as soon as possible, etc. The Genres break down pretty easily into 2 categories: Action/Simulation/Strategy and Adventure/RPG, and Casual kind of falls between them, but maps to Action/Simulation/Strategy a little better due to Dev Stage 3. Basically I have chosen those 2 categories based on which are the dump sliders, as this kind of specialization helps a lot in the late game when you are trying to pump out AAA games.
So, I’m only making Action/Simulation/Strategy games (and maybe Casual) for this playthrough, as I think those are a little easier to manage at the AAA level based on staffing constraints (9 sliders, 7 staff). And, as a further experiment, I’m just min/maxing sliders, so the sliders will be the same for all 3 game types. Engine/Gameplay/Level Design/A.I./Graphic/Sound all the way up, the rest all the way down.
Finally, for this run through I am clicking Finish on a game as soon as the bubble that will fix the last bug pops out of the character. There is an argument for leaving some bugs in the game to save time, and because you get more fans if you issue patches, but I’m not ready to tackle that experiment yet, so I’m still just fixing all the bugs.
*** Log ***
(All following games made with 2D Graphics V1 & Basic sounds)
Y1:M1:W1:d1 - Start ‘Quick-Shot Tennis’ (Sports/Action/PC)
Y1:M3:W3:d4 - Finish ‘Quick-Shot Tennis’ (10D/12T, 22R)
Y1:M3:W3:d4 - Start ‘Tanks!’ (Military/Simulation/PC)
Y1:M3:W4:d2 - Reviews for ‘Quick-Shot Tennis’ come in. 7/7/5/5 (Average: 6)
(6 seems about average based on previous personal experience)
Y1:M4:W2:d1 - First week of sales for ‘Quick-Shot Tennis’. 4,396 units, #73 on the charts.
Y1:M6:W1:d1 - Finish ‘Tanks!’ (12D/13T, 44R)
(I’m torn about what the correct call at this stage is. Ideally I would have 6 more Research, and could research Custom Game Engines, but 44 after 2 games is clockwork, so I’m still figuring out the optimal next move. Contracts are available in 2 weeks, but time is the most valuable resource if you are going for a high score… I generally make another game here.)
Y1:M6:W1:d1 - Start ‘Knight Battles’ (Medieval/Strategy/PC)
Y1:M6:W2:d2 - Reviews for ‘Tanks!’ come in. 8/8/7/6 (Average: 7.25)
Y1:M6:W3:d1 - ‘Quick-Shot Tennis’ goes off the market after 10 weeks.
(11,966 units, $83,780 in sales, 61 Fans)
Y1:M6:W3:d3 - Contracts become available
Y1:M7:W4:d3 - Finish ‘Knight Battles’ (12D/11T, 66R)
Y1:M7:W4:d3 - Start Research on Custom Game Engine (-50R)
Y1:M8:W1:d2 - Reviews for ‘Knight Battles’ come in. 6/6/5/6 (Average: 5.75)
Y1:M9:W1:d1 - ‘Tanks!’ goes off the market after 10 weeks.
(20,115 units, $140,833 in sales, 155 Fans)
Y1:M9:W2:d1 - Finish Research on Custom Game Engine
Y1:M9:W2:d1 - Start developing ‘Ængine α’ (2D Graphics V2/Mono sound/Savegame)
(I don’t include Linear story, since I’m purposely avoiding any games that include significant Story/Quest elements.)
Y1:M10:W4:d1 - Finish developing ‘Ængine α’ (24R)
Y1:M10:W4:d1 - ‘Knight Battles’ is now off the market after 10 weeks.
(14,318 unites, $100,261 in sales, 70 Fans)
(All following games made with 2D Graphics V2, Mono sound, & Savegame)
(The marketshare numbers between the PC & G64 are shifting at this point in the game, and because of my new engine & features, the cost of making games is going up. There is now 37.5% more users of the G64, and that number is going up. With my features, the games only cost 25% more to make on the G64, so I switch.)
Y1:M10:W4:d1 - Start ‘Ceres’ (Space/Action/G64/Ængine α)
Y2:M1:W3:d1 - Finish ‘Ceres’ (16D/15T, 46R)
(New research available ‘Joystick’. Not sure if that is unlocked by time, or something I did?)
Y2:M1:W3:d1 - Start ‘Phantasy Phutbahl’ (Sports/Simulation/G64/Ængine α)
Y2:M1:W4:d2 - Reviews for ‘Ceres’ come in 8/8/9/9 (Average: 8.5)
Y2:M3:W4:d1 - ‘Ninvento TES’ is launched, ‘Gamepad’ research available.
(Not to criticize here, but the news item says something like the industry doesn’t think people will buy home consoles, or something like that. In reality, the Atari 2600 has already been available for ~ 8 years, and it continues to sell like crazy.)
Y2:M4:W1:d2 - Finish ‘Phantasy Phutbahl’ (16D/16T, 69R)
(Time to evaluate the TES platform. I don’t generally include the license cost in my valuations for the platforms that I know I’m going to make a bunch of games on, like the TES, cause I just know I’m going to pay them at some point, so it doesn’t matter much when. As it stands now, the TES has 5% more users, but games are costing 13% more to make, and the math continues to crush the PC, so I stick with the G64 for the time being.)
(I was also slow on a mouse click and a day here.)
Y2:M4:W1:d3 - Start ‘Fleet Defender’ (Military/Strategy/G64/Ængine α)
Y2:M4:W2:d2 - Reviews for ‘Phantasy Phutbahl’ come in. 8/7/8/8 (Average: 7.75)
Y2:M4:W4:d1 - 'Ceres" goes off the market after 11 weeks.
(27,771 units, $194432 in sales, 148 Fans)
Y2:M6:W2:d1 - Finish ‘Fleet Defender’ (14D/18T, 91R)
Y2:M6:W2:d1 - Start ‘Castle Tower’ (Medieval/Action/G64/Ængine α)
Y2:M6:W3:d2 - Reviews for ‘Fleet Defender’ come in. 9/7/8/7 (Average: 7.75)
Y2:M7:W1:d1 - ‘Phantasy Phutbahl’ goes off the market after 10 weeks.
(28,129 units, $196,931 in sales, 156 Fans)
Y2:M8:W1:d4 - Finish ‘Castle Tower’ (18D/16T, 113R)
(2D Graphics V2 levels to L3, which unlocks the new graphics tech. Time for a flurry of upgrades. Moving all-in on 3D, though I haven’t done any experiments on if it makes a difference on different Genres, etc.)
Y2:M8:W1:d4 - Start Research on ‘3D Graphics V1’ (-15R)
Y2:M8:W2:d2 - Reviews for ‘Castle Tower’ come in 8/7/7/8 (Average: 7.5)
Y2:M9:W2:d2 - Finish Research on '3D Graphics V1’
Y2:M9:W2:d2 - Start Research on ‘Better A.I.’ (-15R)
Y2:M9:W3:d1 - ‘Fleet Defender’ goes off the market after 11 weeks.
(38,031 units, $266,244 in sales, 384 Fans.)
Y2:M10:W2:d3 - Finish Research on 'Better A.I.'
Y2:M10:W2:d3 - Start Research on ‘Level editor’ (-10R)
Y2:M11:W1:d1 - ‘Castle Tower’ goes off the market after 10 weeks.
(26,644 units, $186543 in sales, 272 Fans.)
Y2:M11:W1:d3 - Finish Research on 'Level editor’
Y2:M11:W1:d3 - Start Research on ‘Gamepad’ (-10R)
Y2:M11:W4:d3 - Finish Research on ‘Gamepad’
(I’m tempted here to research Joystick. I haven’t done any experiments, but in the real world, gamepad is just better, and they wouldn’t really stack, so I don’t.)
(I also flub another click and lose a day.)
Y2:M11:W4:d4 - Start developing ‘Ængine ß’ (3D Graphics V1/Mono sound/Savegame/Gamepad/Level editor/Better A.I.)
Y3:M1:W3:d1 - ‘Target Audience’ research available
Y3:M1:W3:d3 - Finish developing ‘Ængine ß’ (73R)
(Targeting Young can make a big difference on TES game sales, and I know I’m going to be making the switch with all the new fixed costs associated with features, plus the growth of the TES market share that has undoubtedly occurred).
Y3:M1:W3:d3 - Start Research on ‘Target Audience’ (-15R)
Y3:M2:W4:d4 - Finish Research on ‘Target Audience’ (-15R)
(I should have planned better, and I will fix this in my early game from now on. Action is the best Genre for the TES system, so I should favor other game combos so that I can get the new combo bonus and load up the TES era with action games. Additional, I’ve backed myself into a corner even on action games, because the ‘Young’ audience doesn’t prefer military games, which is the only one I haven’t used for Action yet.)
(All following games made with 3D Graphics V1, Mono sound, Savegame, Gamepad, Level editor, & Better A.I.)
Y3:M2:W4:d4 - Start ‘Travel to Mars’ (Young/Space/Simulation/TES/Ængine ß)
Y3:M5:W3:d1 - Finish ‘Travel to Mars’ (17D/16T, 80R)
Y3:M5:W3:d1 - Start ‘Hokey Hockey’ (Young/Sports/Action/TES/Ængine ß)
Y3:M5:W4:d2 - Reviews for ‘Travel To Mars’ come in. 6/7/8/6 (Average: 6.75)
Y3:M8:W1:d2 - Finish ‘Hokey Hockey’ (19D/21T, 91R)
(slow on the click, missed a day)
Y3:M8:W1:d3 - Start ‘Charge!’ (Young/Medieval/Strategy/TES/Ængine ß)
Y3:M8:W2:d2 - Reviews for ‘Hokey Hockey’ come in. 9/8/8/9 (Average: 8.5)
Y3:M8:W4:d1 - ‘Travel to Mars’ goes off the market after 11 weeks.
(29530 units, $206745 in sales, 307 Fans)
Y3:M11:W1:d1 - Finish ‘Charge!’ (21D/19T, 102R)
Y3:M11:W1:d1 - Start ‘Red Shift’ (Young/Space/Action/TES/Ængine ß)
Y3:M11:W2:d1 - ‘Hokey Hockey’ goes off the market after 12 weeks.
(45,830 units, $320,849 in sales, 297 Fans)
Y3:M11:W2:d2 - Reviews for ‘Charge!’ come in. 8/7/8/8 (Average: 7.75)
Y3:M12:W4:d4 - (New Year’s Eve!) Finish ‘Red Shift’ (21D/21T, 113R)
Y3:M12:W4:d4 - Start ‘Stadium Tycoon’ (Young/Sports/Simulation/TES/Ængine ß)
Y4:M1:W1:d2 - Reviews for ‘Red Shift’ come in. 10/10/10/9 (Average: 9.75)
(!!! here is my breakout game. moving to a bigger office soon)
Y4:M2:W1:d1 - ‘Charge!’ goes off the market after 10 weeks.
(45,806 units, $320,677 in sales, 514 Fans)
Y4:M3:W2:d3 - Finish ‘Stadium Tycoon’ (20D/20T, 124R)
Y4:M3:W2:d3 - Move to a bigger office!
(I’m upset because my last game finished just shy of enough to level 3D & be ready for a new engine. If I structured my game order a little differently, there are a couple more combos that I think I could have gotten and be ready for a new engine here without having to research new topics. Though maybe I should be researching more topics before I have to pay anyone? Though if I wait, I can research topics with multiple employees. I’ll have to think about the balance of time vs money there. I think time wins out).
Hope people enjoyed the write-up. Feel free to ask questions, critique my play, etc. I’ll post up the next stage after I’ve played it if people are interested.
tl;dr