Features
If you want more Game Dev Story, the honest answer is that Kairosoft already made nine versions of it — and the games that improve on the formula mostly do it by making the simulation deeper, not by keeping it cute.
“Games like Game Dev Story” is currently a Breakout rising search in the US, and it splits into two different requests. Some people want the same loop in a different setting. Others want the industry sim with real depth behind it. Those are opposite answers, so this list is organised by which one you are.
If you want the same loop in a new setting
Kairosoft has been making the identical game — small pixel sprites, a management loop, combination bonuses you discover by experimenting — since 1996. If what you liked was the rhythm, stay in the family.
Pocket Academy — $8.99
Build and run a school. Closest in feel to Game Dev Story of any Kairosoft title, because the core puzzle is the same: place things near other things, discover which adjacencies produce bonuses, optimise over years.
Grand Prix Story — $8.99
A racing team management sim. Swaps game genres and console platforms for cars and drivers, and keeps the hire-train-combine structure intact.
Dungeon Village — $8.99
Build a town that adventurers pass through. The least corporate of the three and the one with the most personality, if the office setting was never the appeal.
All three are Kairosoft, all $8.99, all on Steam. Fair warning: they are genuinely the same game with different nouns, which is either the best or the worst thing about them depending on why you are here.
If you want a deeper game industry sim
Game Dev Tycoon — $9.99
Greenheart Games, 2013. The direct Western answer to Game Dev Story, and the one almost everybody actually means when they ask this question. You start in a garage in the 1980s and replay the industry’s history — researching technologies, inventing genres, eventually building your own console.
Why it is better: the genre-and-topic combination system is legible. Game Dev Story asks you to guess; Game Dev Tycoon lets you learn and then apply what you learned, which is the difference between a slot machine and a strategy game. Windows, macOS and Linux.
Mad Games Tycoon 2 — $24.99
Eggcode, 2023. The maximalist version. You start in a garage in 1976 and build out offices, production facilities and server rooms, eventually manufacturing your own next-gen console.
Why it is better: depth, by a wide margin. It models things Game Dev Story abstracts entirely — room layout, hardware production, staff specialisation. Why it might be worse: it is a spreadsheet with a UI, and the charm is gone. This is the one to buy if you finished Game Dev Tycoon and wanted it to be harder.
Software Inc. — $22.99
Coredumping, 2015. Software rather than games, and the simulation runs much deeper — you design the building itself for optimal working conditions, educate employees, and manage satisfaction alongside output.
Why it is worth the detour: it is the only game here where the office is a real system rather than a backdrop. If the part of Game Dev Story you enjoyed was staffing, this is the upgrade.
Startup Company — $12.99
Hovgaard Games, 2020. You are the CEO of a tech company building a website and competing with established giants. More granular than Game Dev Story about the actual work — features are built from components, components from smaller components.
Worth noting that Hovgaard Games is a small independent studio, and this is their defining title.
If you want the loop without the industry
The under-discussed truth about Game Dev Story is that its appeal has little to do with making games. It is a small business with a growth curve, which is why so many of the games people end up loving instead are about shops.
Megaquarium — $7.49
Twice Circled, 2018. Run a public aquarium: design displays, look after fish, manage staff and guests. The closest thing on this list to a pure management puzzle, and the cheapest.
The shop sims the site covers
If the growth curve is the appeal rather than the subject, the modern shop simulator boom is where that loop went. Worth looking at:
- TCG Card Shop Simulator — the breakout of the genre
- Dealer’s Life — haggling as the core mechanic
- Big Ambitions — the full business-empire version
- Dungeon Inn — turn-based management with a secret to keep
- Supermarket Together — the co-op take
The one nobody will tell you
Game Dev Story is a 2010 mobile port of a 1997 PC game, and a lot of what people remember fondly about it is opacity — not knowing which genre-and-topic combination works, and the small thrill of stumbling onto one.
Every game on this list is more transparent than that, because transparency is what players asked for. If you go back to Game Dev Story expecting the feeling you remember and find it in Game Dev Tycoon instead, that is why: the newer games let you solve the puzzle, and solving it ends the mystery that made the original memorable.
Worth knowing before you spend $25 looking for a feeling that was partly about not having a wiki.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best game like Game Dev Story?
Game Dev Tycoon, for most people. It is the closest in subject matter, it is clearer about how its systems work, and at $9.99 it is priced similarly.
Is Game Dev Tycoon a copy of Game Dev Story?
It is heavily inspired by it and Greenheart Games have never disputed the influence. It is a deeper and more readable game built on the same premise rather than a clone.
Are there other Kairosoft games on Steam?
Yes, many. Pocket Academy, Grand Prix Story and Dungeon Village are all on Steam at $8.99 each and share Game Dev Story’s structure almost exactly.
What is the most realistic game development simulator?
Mad Games Tycoon 2 models the most detail — studio layout, hardware manufacturing and staff specialisation — though realism here means more systems rather than an accurate depiction of the industry.
How much does Game Dev Story cost on Steam?
$8.99. It released on Steam on 27 March 2022, long after its mobile version.
Is there a free game like Game Dev Story?
Not a close equivalent worth recommending. The genre sits in the $7–$25 range, and Megaquarium at $7.49 is the cheapest solid entry point.
Sources and citation
- Game Dev Story, Game Dev Tycoon, Mad Games Tycoon 2, Software Inc., Startup Company, Megaquarium — prices, developers and release dates taken from each Steam store page
- Google Trends — “games like game dev story” registering as a Breakout rising query, United States
Recommended reading
- Why shop simulators took over Steam
- The best business tycoon games on Steam
- The best simulation and management games on Steam
- The best shopkeeper games on Steam
- The best indie trading games on Steam
- The best simulation games on Steam in 2026
- The best incremental games on Steam
- The best city builders and colony sims
- Games that teach coding
- The best indie games under $10
