Rise of Industry

In trying to strike a balance between complexity and accessibility, Rise of Industry has hidden a lot of the nitty gritty details that you really need to understand how well your business is doing. It arguably makes the game harder, even if it’s initially less daunting. And while I’m getting into a rhythm now, and maybe even starting to click with it, the huge amount of time I wasted searching for proverbial fires instead of putting them out is still fresh in my mind. It’s full of neat ideas, however, and the next couple of updates might tempt me back to Dick.

Rise of Industry was one of the most unusual games I played back at E3 2018. In between previews of games like Cyberpunk or Bloodstained, there was this little tycoon simulator that was all about analyzing supply and demand and building industries to make the most money possible in a cute low-poly setting. The E3 demo left a good impression and I was looking forward to the final release of the game, after more than a year spent in Early Access. It ended up living up to expectations, thankfull...

A beautiful but aimless sandbox.

Although its light tutorial and lack of feedback throw it off balance, Rise of Industry’s in-depth production tools and supply chain mechanics - not to mention waffle options - will meet the demands of any production sim fan.

Rise of Industry offers a very detailed industrial corporation sim that will certainly appeal to serious simulation game fans who will undoubtedly get a huge number of hours of play out of its different game modes and then some with its mod support which is present from the beginning. That being said, it is not an easy game and, for those with a more casual interest in sims, it may be hard to get into. If you get past the difficulty and are able to learn all the subtle nuances of managing an...

Industry tends to be the most neglected aspect of many city-builders, with games like SimCity and Cities: Skylines treating it as a necessary evil at best. Sure, your citizens need somewhere to work, but once you set up a few factories on the outskirts of town, you can pretty much forget about blue collar matters. At first glance, Rise of Industry appears to be your typical civic-minded sim, but it sets itself apart by focusing squarely on the hardy world of farming, manufacturing, and resource management.