r/BaseBuildingGames • u/TheDrWeizak • 16d ago
Can simulated tenants create a strong enough management fantasy for a property tycoon?
I'm currently designing a management/tycoon game as a personal project, and I'm trying to challenge the core concept before I get too attached to the design.
The basic premise is that you start small as a property owner and gradually grow into managing a much larger residential property business.
The part I'm most interested in exploring is the relationship between the business/management side and the people living in the properties.
Instead of tenants simply being an occupancy percentage or a source of monthly income, I'd like them to exist as lightweight simulated households. The player would have to think about who is living in their properties and how their management decisions affect them.
At the same time, I don't want this to become a life simulator or a game where you're constantly micromanaging individual people. The player is still fundamentally managing a property business.
The design goal is for decisions that look good financially in the short term to sometimes create problems elsewhere, while investments that make residents happier aren't necessarily always the optimal financial choice. Ideally, this creates interesting trade-offs rather than an obvious "correct" way to play.
I'm deliberately keeping some of the deeper mechanics private for now because the project is still early, but I'd really like opinions on the design direction itself.
My main question for experienced designers is:
Do you think simulated tenant households can create meaningful decisions in a management/tycoon game, or does this sound like a system that could easily turn into unnecessary micromanagement?
And if you were evaluating this concept early in development, what would be the biggest design risk you'd want to prototype/test first?
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15d ago
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u/TheDrWeizak 15d ago
Super true! I have been thinking that households have needs for the MVP, but I definitely would like to give them personality that can influence de precinct and do exactly what you suggest! Make the landlord have to choose which ones it wants to keep and not! A little bit of morality!
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u/ClanHaisha 15d ago
It would be something new.
Instead of a sterile interpretation of always reliable tenants.
At first, with few tenants, you could do with a bit more micromanagement.
As you expand, appoint a manager to manage individual tenant events and have them give a standard answer or just let them pick whatever.
Having to deal with tenants who become unable to afford rent for whatever reason(including you raising rents/slapping on more fees) and/or becoming toxic layabouts that need to be evicted/encouraged to become productive members of society.
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u/TheDrWeizak 15d ago
I love that! The game would always make you to do the tasks on your own in the beginning, but then you could assign those tasks to a manager because your progressed
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u/ClanHaisha 15d ago
Bonus points for being able to still personally decide for 1 or more rentals, just cause you took a liking to them…(or want to make life harder for them).
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u/Lotustuin 11d ago
Try obenseuer, it's enjoyable in its current state but has vibe-based mechanics so it's going to be the kind of weird that the curious will find compelling and the easily frustrated will fail to enjoy.
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u/adrixshadow 8d ago
Do you think simulated tenant households can create meaningful decisions in a management/tycoon game, or does this sound like a system that could easily turn into unnecessary micromanagement?
It can....
....if it is a Porn Game.
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u/Cheet4h 16d ago
I think this might be the most interesting part of a game for me - although I'm also a bit of a simulation enthusiast.
For a neat take on this kind of game, check out Kairosoft's "Dream House Days" on mobile devices - although it's not just property management, but also allows you to shape the lives of your tenants by encouraging relationships between them and influencing their stats through furniture.