I need suggestions for entrepreneurial Steam game that would appeal to wife

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

My wife is a HUGE fan of a game series called Chocolatier, which mixes puzzle game aspects with trading and managing a company, recipes, etc. Unfortunately, they haven't released a new game in that series for a number of years now.

For Valentine's Day, I found her a similarly reviewed game called "Winemaker Extraordinaire", but we couldn't get it to run properly on Windows 7, despite me spending over 15 hours tinkering with it, and following suggestions from the developer. It had the same issues on a Windows 10 machine as well. My wife is a bit sore over the fact that her game wouldn't run right, and I'm annoyed over having to spend so much time troubleshooting it, to no avail.

Anyway, I'm looking for a replacement for that game. My wife has specifically stated that she likes games where you start out with a small company and grow. No, I'm not talking about Diner Dash or the like - she doesn't like that one at all. She likes the simulation of running a company, especially with aspects of puzzle games added.

Can anyone suggest a game that might be a good choice for her? Thanks so much!

 

[darkewaffle]

Recettear!

You are a shopkeep with a huge loan out and the goal is paying back the loan, keeping the store afloat, growing your business, haggling/fulfilling special orders and requests, attracting customers, finding rare stock, etc.

It isn't super complex but it has some amusing jokes/writing/characters and a few modes of play (story, endless, 'challenge', something like that). I thought it was a great off the beaten path game. And it can be had super cheap.

It has some basic (S)NES Zelda type gameplay elements to it if you want to explore them (you hire an adventurer-mercenary and play as him/her to explore dungeons for loot) but at the same time you can play the game without ever stepping foot out of town I think.

 

[cbrunny]

http://www.coolmath-games.com/0-lemonade-stand ?

 

[Elcs]

Recettear!

You are a shopkeep with a huge loan out and the goal is paying back the loan, keeping the store afloat, growing your business, haggling/fulfilling special orders and requests, attracting customers, finding rare stock, etc.

It isn't super complex but it has some amusing jokes/writing/characters and a few modes of play (story, endless, 'challenge', something like that). I thought it was a great off the beaten path game. And it can be had super cheap.

It has some basic (S)NES Zelda type gameplay elements to it if you want to explore them (you hire an adventurer-mercenary and play as him/her to explore dungeons for loot) but at the same time you can play the game without ever stepping foot out of town I think.

This. Hands down.

 

[Annisman*]

Game developer tycoon is a blast

 

[bystander36]

Game developer tycoon is a blast

I never played it, but I loved that the Pirated version of the game causes you to always fail due to pirating killing your profits

 

[Annisman*]

I never played it, but I loved that the Pirated version of the game causes you to always fail due to pirating killing your profits

IKR, the best part was people getting all pissed off that they couldn't turn a profit because their games kept getting pirated and posting on forums about it.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I appreciate the suggestion, but I can tell that the rpg and action aspects in recetter are not really what she is looking for, unfortunately. She is wanting something more along the lines of a casual game simulation with puzzle and economic aspects.

 

[JTsyo]

Railroad Tycoon was pretty hardcore for simulation difficulty.
Can't think of any that had puzzles to go along with it. Maybe you can find something from this list.

 

[Subyman]

Game Dev Story on mobile is pretty fun. They have a lot of games in the series as well to keep her going and its dirt cheap since it is a mobile game.

 

[Blue_Max]

Recettear!

Dang... that sounds cool! Sounds like a good way to teach my kids about the dangers of debt as well! :thumbsup:

 

[Wardawg1001]

Restaurant Empire II - http://store.steampowered.com/app/32900

It includes the full campaign from the original Restaurant Empire game, with their improved graphics engine. Personally I preferred the original engine, but I'm not sure you can get the original game anymore outside of pirating it. There is a new campaign as well which includes several new restaurant types and a bunch of new ingredients, foods, etc. DO NOT START THIS CAMPAIGN FIRST. It will assume you know everything that you would have been taught during the original campaign, and like many simulation games there are many not-so-intuitive things that you need to learn in order to succeed.

 

[Elcs]

Game to add here: Software Inc. Just hit Early Access on Steam and is meant to be quite good, if buggy at this stage.

Game Dev Story on mobile is pretty fun. They have a lot of games in the series as well to keep her going and its dirt cheap since it is a mobile game.

Kairosoft are a fun little company... except they've locked Beastie Bay so I cannot play it as my phone is rooted.

 

[JSt0rm]

The ultimate game like this would be a eve account that you used strictly for buy low sell high affairs. Just go to jita and read tons about how to flip your meager money into billions and trillions. Its possible she would fail horribly though.

 

[Blue_Max]

Heh... I with they'd remake the classic Theme Hospital - though the graphics hold out reasonably well.

 

[paperfist]

Heh... I with they'd remake the classic Theme Hospital - though the graphics hold out reasonably well.

Not a direct remake, but there was Hospital Tycoon:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/11590/

hmm $4.99, I'll have to pick it up.

Open source Theme Hospital: http://forums.corsixth.com/

OP there's Capitalism http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1EB4SRMYMHQ364RV4BCR

Kind of a hardcore game though.

 

[Craig234]

Check "Cook, Serve, Delicious" restaurant sim.

Also "Capitalism II".