Hot Off The Presses
HIGH The setting, the style, the jazz!
LOW The repetitive grind to paint the map.
WTF Why are all my stories stuck!
I have a real soft spot for light management games. Maybe it’s all the hours I spent on Theme Hospital as a child, or maybe it’s some sort of deep seated megalomaniac tendency driving me to exert control over whatever virtual peons I can. Who knows? To my mind it’s likely something more basic, as watching numbers go up is satisfying. The money, the research tree, the skill levels — whatever it may be, there’s a little serotonin shot every time a new milestone is reached or new expansions purchased.
To satisfy this craving I jumped into developer Sparrow Night’s first title, News Tower, which promises a tycoon style sim where the player can build their fledgling publication into an influential media empire, requiring them to toe the fine line between reporting what’s real and what the cities’ more influential (or threatening) figures want to be seen — something that seems more than a little pertinent in the current day and age.
The initial impression is certainly a strong one. The tutorial campaign explains that I have inherited a rather run-down establishment in New York alongside a grim warning that the city will grind me down like it does everyone else. Given the 1930’s setting, News Tower‘s the attitude seemed fitting for a country going through a Great Depression, but it was too late because the tone had already been set by the upbeat, sax-heavy jazz title song that lingered in my brain for a good while every time I closed the game. The smoother jazz and piano backing of the day-to-day gameplay is great as well!
It was then time to come to grips with the mechanics. In each week, newspaper creation is broken down into three main parts. First there is a world map overview where news stories will appear and the player can assign reporters to go do what they do best. I was pleasantly surprised to see that a number of stories appear to be based on real headlines from the time, which adds a nice historical touch to enhance the setting. Stories often require multiple trips and sometimes offer the risk of fines or arrest. Also, as reporters have a real allergy to any story outside their personal preferences, multiple reporters will often be needed.
The report is then brought back to the tower for processing before every Sunday, when the paper goes to print and the chance to earn money emerges. There is a light puzzle element to printing as the player tries to work out which story combinations and placements will bring in the most readers, further complicated by local factions who often want their agenda to get top billing — it adds a nice juggling act to the whole process. It’s a strong system, although there can be some frustration when it feels like missions are unachievable without a blessing from the RNG gods.
The other key element is managing the News Tower itself by doing things like making sure the staff are being trained, that enough power is being supplied, and that reporter’s offices are adorned with enough plants to keep their spirits up in face of the news cycle. This aspect should be a slam dunk given my previously mentioned love of scaling enterprises, but some quality-of-life issues started to really get in the way.
For example, additional floors are the biggest purchases the player makes, and they are incentivized to make the most of the space available. However, obtaining later unlocks will often invoke a need to reshuffle areas of the tower, and it’s a drag to move a series of tightly-packed offices piece by piece to squeeze in an extra room or decoration.
Also, while the tutorial did explain that it’s beneficial to place certain types of room near each other, as my tower grew, it rapidly became difficult to identify where inefficiencies were in my weekly process and what was holding up all my news. This was not helped by the UI often being a bit cumbersome and the game’s insistence on presenting me with tutorials for features I hadn’t unlocked yet. It all feels very frontloaded, and that can lead to frustration.
The major other aspect to the gameplay loop is the New York map where the player can build up their subscriber base and vie for control over districts against other newspapers. I like this in concept, but it feels rather passive as the other newspapers don’t fight back and the method of exerting control is to report on a story quickly, which I was often trying to do regardless.
Expanding will also unlock new buildings where the player can spend influence points to acquire new features for their tower. These can range from the ability to travel to Europe for more continental news or gaining an additional printing machine to add a new page to the paper. While I wasy happy to see such variety in the unlocks, I was disappointed to see that few changed gameplay in any meaningful way, often being just reskins of previous mechanics. One in particular offers a discount on buses and taxis which as far as I can see, don’t even exist in the final release of the game!
Regarding factions, the player can only side with two of the four factions on any given run. Personally I didn’t feel this was enough replayability to justify a second campaign, even with additional tower types that can be unlocked by beating competitors. There is, however, a high score system for players who do want to test their entrepreneurial skills.
I left News Tower feeling rather torn. The setting, presentation and soundtrack are undoubtedly charm-filled and I do feel satisfied with the time I spent building up my bird-themed publication, The Morning Cheep. Yet the repetitive grind of gameplay and lack of story or any real player choice in direction kept News Tower in the realm of games I simply liked, rather than loved. However, I think most management fans are going to get their money’s worth out of this one and there’s clear room for interesting DLC and updates down the line.
Rating: 7 out of 10
— Adam Sharman
Buy News Tower — PC
Disclosures: This game is developed by Sparrow Night and published by Twin Sails Interactive. It is currently only available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via paid download and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 16 hours of play were devoted to the game. The map was not “completed” but all non cosmetic features outside of the alternate towers were seen. There is currently no multiplayer option.
Parents: The game is not currently rated by the ESRB, but the publisher has suggested it is likely to have PEGI 12 / ESRB 13 rating. Reporters can be injured and mobsters can destroy items in the tower with bats however no violence is shown. News stories may be about darker subjects such as murder or the events preluding WW2.
Colorblind Modes: There is no colorblind mode.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game has no dialogue or voices. (See text examples above.) There are audio cues for some actions being completed but these are also accompanied by visual cues. It’s fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls on Keyboard. There is no controller support.
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