Drinking on the job? Not on my watch. Sure, one thing lead to another but wage system or not, there's no way a productive workforce can get paid in booze, right? Masterplan Tycoon is here to answer that gut-wrenching question. This is the Steam debut for Bureau Bravin, while Ravenage & Doyoyo helped with the publishing. Do not discount the Spartan looks, as there are both a story here and surprisingly elaborate gameplay. The key phrase is "slow burn" however.

Playing for just a couple of hours won't scratch the surface. You'll remain puzzled, as the barebones tutorial lingers on during subsequent mission objectives as neat little hints. And that's where you'll be getting the exposition from as well. This particular story mirrors European efforts to colonize new continents and commence trading for new wares and raw materials previously unknown to the Old Continent. Exploration is a central theme. Painless for all parties involved.

Is it ever explicitly presented as such? Of course not. By design rather than omission, many story elements are left ambiguous. Perhaps it may encourage some players to imagine their own tale in the making. I prefer certain house rules to be set in stone though. Anyway, my intial presumption that there isn't any story of consequence in Masterplan Tycoon, was shattered upon investing quite a few hours within this game.

The aptly named "Master" map is mostly a blank canvas you shall paint to your heart's content. But that process will be as time consuming as setting up the most complex production chains is in equal measure. Visiting the "Islands" will allow seamless interaction with natives that are glad to engage in a veritable cultural exchange. And the colonists are surprisingly peaceful and tolerant. Not driven by greed, if you can believe it.

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Unlike historical counterparts, you won't be allowed to resort to "traditional practices" such as killing, enslaving and indoctrinating the native population, in a rat race to fill treasure fleets to the brim and then watch as that blood money gets wasted on even more warfare and gilded cages back home. Violence isn't portrayed at all in Masterplan Tycoon. Neither is religion or currency. Seeing a pattern here? This is not a perfect world, but one can keep dreaming of a better place.

An offshoot of Unity Engine, called Shader Graph is powering up Masterplan in all its 2D glory. Joke all you want about economic sims, pencil-pushers and their obsession with spreadsheets, but I for one found this game's graphics to be more than adequate when it comes to conveying core gameplay and narrative. I already love staring at maps in so many strategy titles, why not switch to blueprints from time to time? Masterplan Tycoon boils down to one colorful blueprint you'll be constantly tweaking until efficiency or satisfaction are achieved. Hopefully both at the same time.

The graphics won't blow any minds but they are serviceable and it helps this game running on older systems or budget laptops flawlessly. It's enjoyable on the Steam Deck too, but far from ideal until it gets User Interface adjustments which shall allow proper reading of instructions and labels. Also, given the simple control scheme, I didn't expect or feel the need for a HUDless option. Screenshots are fine already.

Soothing elevator music. That's the soundtrack and it's amusingly enough, not even annoying or repetitive. It's just not enough and you will mute it eventually. Some voice acting or additional sound effects would have made a huge difference in this game world that still writes down in real time, various noises made by industrial and agricultural activities. An "oink" sounds better than just reading it, after all.

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There really are no wages to reimburse your workers with. A barter system has replaced traditional currency instead. It made sense for the Ancient Egyptians which would pay laborers in beer (the "liquid bread") and it might seem functional enough in Masterplan Tycoon until you realize just how much you're forced to provide ample supplies of various wares, unless the whole production process slows down to a halt. It can lead to bizarre situations in which your entire progress depends on creating yet another brewery or distillery.

My workers refuse to resume activity unless they are offered more moonshine? I'd fire them on the spot for even raising such an absurd demand. They can drink it from jars on their way to unemployment centers. And how are they burning through those suits and overalls at such an alarming rate, as if they're eating their work clothes during lunch breaks! Payment in goods has its own drastic downsides, you see. My point being, keep a close eye on the storage buildings and their stocks. And assume alcohol consumption only occurs after their shifts are done.

You should always aim at having a comfortable surplus of all the products you're researching and unlocking. Speed up the gameplay and observe if the stocks are starting to decline and counter that trend by building yet another production chain for the merchandise in question. Preventing a deficit well in advance is far better than dealing with dysfunctional operations dependant on the slow delivery of various wares.

Progression is mostly linear, but how you develop each new patch of land is highly customizable. As long as you hit your quotas, the game doesn't complain. In fact, creativity is encouraged by the various landscape challenges that won't accommodate building placement on a predetermined pattern. Experiment and try to fit in those chains in a more efficient way than before. I found myself returning to the Master Map and scapping several sectors, only to reposition buildings to make full use of the real estate. It wasn't an objective, just streamlining on my own terms.

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In the end, that's the Masterplan Tycoon mission: to entertain while teaching you an assortment of lessons, all while never preaching a dotted line you must never cross. It accomplishes its tasks sucessfully and the promise of more content-rich updates plus its inherently small install size, ensure that this is one strategy game I will keep installed and play for a long time from now. I'll take wine over beer, please. Only when off duty, naturally.

+ Replay value through sandbox.
+ Relaxing and educational gameplay.
+ Steam Achievements & Trading Cards.

- Limited sound selection.

This article was submitted for Imperial Reviews. Following my Curator Page, will help me keep publishing new reviews as soon as I can. Thank you for your support!