He studied IT, then worked as a video producer, but was still wondering what else to try next. After that comes marketing or music production. “And it was all etched in my head for so long that I ended up wondering if there wasn’t something I could use all at once. That’s where the idea of ​​making games was born.” said Milan Timčenko, the sole developer of the upcoming shopping mall simulator, smiling in an interview for CzechCrunch.

Crazy Mall was born for the personal use of the creator, but now it is on its way to a public release and you can even try it in a demo version. The game is a representative of the genre called tycoon, which was very popular in the past. After all, who among the players does not know such a legendary series Railroad Tycoon or Roller Coaster Tycoonwhich translates to direct business tycoon in his name.

Tycoons put the player in the chair of the head of a company – perhaps a railroad company or an amusement park, as in the examples just given – and let him decide on its construction, operations, and growth. IN THE Crazy Mall such a business is a shopping center. This may seem like a slightly unconventional choice to some, but according to solo game developer Milan Timčenko, the reasons are pretty boring.

“I wanted to play a mall simulation myself. But other than a twenty-one year old Mall Tycoon, nothing else could satisfy me.” the author explains his motivation. Several recent attempts to process themes in a game fall short of his ideas about gameplay and graphics. “Mall Craze was created primarily as a title meant especially for me. I even came up with the idea for the game itself at the mall,” stock.

Timchenko’s original estimate was that he would play with the project for several months. He’ll try to build something, maybe share it in a limited way with the gaming community. And then move. “Well, today it’s been more than three years, and the game has grown several times over my initial estimate,” describes the current state. Crazy Mall after all, he successfully completed his kickstarter campaign, he got his hands on the demo, and now he’s preparing for an early access launch in September. In it, he will present the unfinished, but mostly complete games to the most passionate interested parties.

Until then, however, digital real estate developers will have to content themselves with a shorter playable sample of Czech ventures on Steam. This demo practically shows the final graphical form of the game as well as the basic gameplay, i.e. building a shop or modifying your “océček”. “My ultimate goal is for players to be able to build a mall similar to the one they go to for shopping in their city every week. And then upgrade further. Manage stores, employees, products, and advertising.” enlarge developer.

The game should focus more on building and beautifying the mall than on finance and management. Players should only devote a third of their time and attention to them. Neither should Crazy Mall hardcore math adventure for Excel lovers. According to the author, his work will be in the middle of the scale between complex simulators and simple games. “Maybe a little towards a less demanding game,” she says. However, development is difficult Crazy Mall. How could it not be, when most of the plays are simply Timchenko’s works.

The developer from Opava for the most part did not go down the path of acquiring finished game content (such as 3D models or sound), during development he applied his diverse professional experience from video creation to music production. Additionally, all titles have recently switched to the more modern core technology of Unreal Engine 5. “But my friend and illustrator Kristýna Krausová helped me with the game’s opening illustrations. And suggestions from the developer community, for example from Martin Souček, were invaluable,” said Timchenko, referring to the upcoming one-man playwright iCorp.

By the way, in his solo approach, Timchenko gives a Crazy Mall not to mention the other titles that received demos in recent days. Playable demo Song from Kalich by Jan Vodička shorter than the lifespan of the Iron Lords at the Battle of Sudoměř, but still this variations of the Hussite strategy Warcraft 3 an impressive reminder of what a single but skilled developer can do. And already at the end of last year, another solo project was released 1428: Shadow over Silesia by Petr Kubíček a science fiction Afterglitch Vladimir Kudělka.