Business in space
Dynatech takes the idea of business sims such as Port Royale or The Patrician and throws it into the far future to largely decent effect. The game plays out against a fascinating and well developed backdrop where Earth has run out of resources and where the eponymous corporation has taken on the role of humanity's savior by exploring the universe and securing anything of value. The player takes on the role of an ambitious businessman who wants a piece of the action and must achieve his ambitions of riches by buying equipment and ships from Dynatech. You then compete in the galactic markets with others of a similar bent, attempting to find the right materials to meet customer demand by developing food, machinery and other such items. The game focuses very much on trade and you have to pay a lot of attention to markets, shares and production so if you're not interested in such things, you won't have much fun here. There's no piracy or combat here to liven things, so be wary if you need stuff like this to keep you hooked. However, if you do enjoy stats-based gameplay which really tests your ability to predict demand and which forces you to manage multiple lines of credit simultaneously, you should have a good time here. The game isn't visually that interesting, largely consisting of fairly dry menus, although some attempt has been made to dress things up with a few nicely detailed icons and environments. However, it's the gameplay which is the star here and as far as these things go, this is fine stuff, being detailed and involving and which should keep you going for some time.
