7 Most Intense Indie Management Games

Summary

Some indie games simulate management roles, reflecting the challenges of leadership.
The pressure of making difficult decisions and managing resources can create intense gameplay situations.
Games like Frostpunk and Overcooked test players’ multitasking abilities in high-stress scenarios.

Indie games may be made by studios that lack the resources of AAA giants like Activision and Ubisoft, but that doesn’t stop them from finding creative ways to challenge players. And one interesting way indie studios can do that is by finding creative ways to simulate management. Putting the player in a position of authority and simulating the responsibilities that come with that position is actually a fairly common approach in the indie scene, and it can make for some excellent gameplay. While a game centered around being in charge of something is nothing new, the indie scene is full of titles that enjoy highlighting just how daunting leadership can be. After all, being a good leader means making difficult decisions, taking on lots of responsibility, and being ready to act when something goes wrong. It’s especially difficult when the stakes are high and people’s lives are in the player’s hands.

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Whatever the player may be running, there’s a lot of pressure to do it right. Sometimes, one bad decision is all it takes to lose everything, and even a great leader can slip up when their responsibilities pile up too much. This is a big part of what makes management games exciting for a lot of gamers. The challenge of keeping up with an increasing array of problems and keeping things running as smoothly as possible can be a great draw. Here are some really intense indie management games that make things extra difficult and showcase just how hard running something can be.

7

Dave the Diver

Sushi is Serious Business

This chaotic cult classic follows a diver named Dave as he opens a sushi restaurant with his friends. It’s already intense enough when Dave has to regularly dive into the Blue Hole to get ingredients, an act which often puts him into danger and leads to confrontations with sea monsters, but the other major part of the game is actually running the restaurant after every dive. Dave has to keep up with an increasing number of customers, getting their orders from the chef, and delivering them efficiently while also finding time to pour tea and grind wasabi.

As the business grows, Dave also has to start hiring staff to help him out and begins producing his own ingredients. That means also having to start planting vegetables and growing fish himself. Turns out that the world of sushi-making is a cutthroat one that really tests the limits of a person’s endurance. The game might not take itself seriously overall, but it will make the player treat sushi with the utmost seriousness.

6

Dredge

Fishing is Harder Than it Looks

Dredge puts players in charge of a small fishing boat in the treacherous waters of an open-world archipelago. At first, it looks like a straightforward game about going out, catching fish, and bringing them back to sell. It may only be a crew of one, but that just means all the responsibility falls on that one person. The more a player explores its map, the clearer it becomes that simply managing the boat is just as important as the actual fishing.

Every voyage comes with careful tactical decisions: whether to leave immediately or wait until morning, when to rest, where to go, whether to get back to port right away or risk traveling at night, and, of course, figuring out what cargo to prioritize. There’s also caring for the boat itself. Even before the sea monsters start appearing, Dredge makes clear just how easy it is to sink if the player doesn’t stay on top of repairs.

5

Frostpunk 1 and 2

Nobody Said Rebuilding Civilization Was Easy

11-Bit Studios’ post-apocalyptic RTS has become notorious for its overwhelmingly complex management. The game takes place in the aftermath of a global volcanic winter (basically when a volcano spews so much ash that it gets into the atmosphere and blocks out the sun, causing a massive cooling event), and the player has the job of picking up the pieces and trying to rebuild human civilization. Just getting started is difficult enough when it involves finding survivors and gathering resources in a frozen wasteland, but it only gets tougher as players progress. As the new city grows, the player will find themselves juggling an increasing array of responsibilities, more than any one person can reasonably balance.

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Aside from finding resources and allocating an increasingly large number of people, players also have decide what to prioritize. Do they focus on the well-being of their citizens or maximizing productivity? Implementing laws and social structures is a big part of keeping things running, and even those don’t always work perfectly. Then, of course, there’s always the danger of infighting; every decision is going to result in an enemy somewhere. It’s disturbingly easy to accidentally fall into outright fascism or theocracy while trying to keep the city running, and one misstep can bring everything crashing down.

4

Manor Lords

Running a Fief is Harder Than it Looks

The life of a Medieval Lord might seem quite nice at first, but it turns out there’s actually a lot that goes into the position. Slavic Magic’s city-building simulator Manor Lords showcases just how challenging it can be to keep a medieval fiefdom in working order. The game starts with buidling a small town with a handful of settlers and tasks players with growing it into a prosperous city, but that can be easier said than done.

As a lord, the player will have to juggle a lot of responsibilities in order to keep things going smoothly. There’s resource management, allocating people to essential tasks, and, of course, building up a working economy and a military for the inevitable clashes with rival nobles. And one can’t forget that one of the key mechanics is setting up taxes. Adding to the tension, the environment can react to the player’s actions, so they may have to suddenly make big changes when, for instance, farmland becomes untenable.

3

Overcooked 1 and 2

Kitchen Madness

Working in a kitchen is difficult enough regardless of your position. Whether you’re the head chef or the dishwasher, it’s a work environment that pushes those involved to constantly work as fast as possible while somehow managing to remain on top of tasks that come without warning and co-ordinate with other staff. Orders come in, and the pressure is on to get them out as fast as possible. It already takes a special kind of person to work under such conditions. So how can one take a high-stress workplace and make it even more difficult? Well, that’s the question asked by the Overcooked series. These games see up to four players working together to run a restaurant, and just like in real-life, they’re pressed to work as quickly as possible. That means having to do everything from chopping vegetables to washing dishes, and players have to co-ordinate tasks to maximize efficiency.

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The hard part is that Overcooked likes to up the ante by introducing wacky elements into its kitchen settings – for instance, requiring players to do all the kitchen work in a hot air balloon or while floating in a pool. Sometimes, the game implements extra random challenges, like self-rearranging kitchens, just to add a little extra pressure to the madness.

2

The Pale Beyond

Everyone’s Lives Are In Your Hands

At first glance, The Pale Beyond looks like a straightforward interactive novel, but one mustn’t be fooled. Its apparently simple format betrays a far more daunting experience. The Pale Beyond deals with an Antarctic expedition that doesn’t go as planned when the ship becomes is trapped in solid ice. To make matters worse, the captain picks this moment to ditch the crew, leaving player character Robin Shaw in command. As the new captain, Robin is suddenly faced with an overwhelming amount of responsibility. Anyone familiar with the Scott or Shackleton expeditions (both major inspirations for the game) will know how difficult that can be.

Supplies are rapidly dwindling, and the environment itself is posing a major threat, so Robin has to deal with allocating personnel and keeping the crew fed. There’s also the occasional problem of people getting sick or injured,

1

This War of Mine

The Other Side of War

Before making Frostpunk, 11-Bit Studios managed to make their mark with a very different, though no less challenging, management game. This War of Mine was notable for subverting the usual format of games about war. Instead of playing as a combatant, it focused on the impact war has on civilians. It doesn’t really matter what either side wants or who wins in the end; the main priority is just getting through it in one piece.

The player’s one objective is to keep their people alive by whatever means are available. However, that task is easier said than done. Supplies are scarce, and the most reliable way to get them is to go out at night and scavenge, which runs the risk of encountering other survivors who may or may not be hostile. And if someone gets sick, wounded, or depressed, that’s one less person who can be allocated to important tasks. To make matters worse, treating them is even harder when food and medical supplies are hard to find at best.