The Best Combos in Game Dev Tycoon

Learn what the best genre and audience combos are in Game Dev Tycoon.

Jeremy Kanjanapangka

Published: Dec 19, 2022 07:57 pm

Game Dev Tycoon sees players as the president of an upcoming indie game development studio. To get your studio’s name on the map, you’ll need to hire the right people, examine the market, and design your game so that it caters to as many people as possible. Today, we’ll show you the best combos in Game Dev Tycoon!

Best Topic, Audience & Genre Combos in Game Dev Tycoon

One of the most important aspects of your game is deciding the topic, what genre it belongs to, and what the target audience is going to be.

Choosing the right combinations of topic, genre, and audience will make or break your game. Some of these combos can be discovered through common sense—for example, history and dystopian games don’t do well with the young audience.

Here’s a full chart of the best combinations in the game, thanks to the raw data discovered by the folks at the Game Dev Tycoon Wiki.

To read this chart, we’ll list everything by topic, then list the best and worst genres, then the best target audience. The first genre and target audience listed is always the best one to pick. Conversely, in the worst genre list, the first genre is always the worst one to pick, so avoid it if you can.

For example, for the first entry, we have the Abstract topic. The best genre out of the three is Adventure, and the best target audience is M for mature. If you do not see a target audience listed, do not use them for that topic.

Topic	Best Genres	Worst Genres	Best Audience
Abstract	Adventure, Action, Strategy	RPG, Simulation, Casual	M, E, Y
Airplane	Action, Simulation, Strategy, Casual, RPG	Adventure	Y, E, M
Aliens	Action, RPG, Strategy, Adventure	Simulation, Casual	M, E, Y
Alternate History	Action, RPG, Strategy, Simulation, Adventure	Casual	E, M
Assassin	Action, RPG, Simulation	Strategy, Casual, Adventure	M, E
Business	Simulation, Strategy, Adventure, RPG	Action, Casual	E, Y
City	Simulation, Strategy	Action, Adventure, RPG, Casual	E, Y, M
Colonization	Simulation, Strategy	Adventure, RPG, Action, Casual	E, M
Comedy	Adventure, Casual, RPG	Action, Simulation, Strategy	M, E, Y
Construction	Simulation, Strategy, Casual	Adventure, RPG, Action	E, M, Y

Cooking	Simulation, Casual, Action, RPG	Adventure, Strategy	E, Y
Crime	Action, Simulation, RPG	Casual, Adventure, Strategy	M, E
Cyberpunk	Action, RPG, Adventure, Simulation	Casual, Strategy	M, E
Dance	Simulation, Casual	Adventure, RPG, Strategy, Action	Y, E, M
Detective	Adventure, RPG, Casual, Simulation	Action, Strategy	E, Y, M
Disasters	Simulation, Strategy, Action, Adventure	RPG, Casual	M, E
Dungeon	Action, RPG, Simulation, Strategy, Adventure	Casual	E, M, Y
Dystopian	Simulation, Strategy, Adventure, Action, RPG	Casual	M, E
Evolution	Simulation, Strategy	Adventure, RPG, Casual, Action	E, Y
Expedition	Strategy, Simulation, Adventure	RPG, Casual, Action	E, Y, M

Extreme Sports	Action, Simulation, Casual	Adventure, RPG, Strategy	Y, M
Farming	Simulation, Casual	Action, RPG, Strategy, Adventure	E, Y, M
Fantasy	Action, Adventure, RPG, Strategy, Simulation	Casual	Y, E, M
Fashion	RPG, Simulation, Casual, Adventure	Action, Strategy	Y, E
Game Dev	Simulation, Casual	Action, RPG, Strategy, Adventure	E, Y
Government	Simulation, Strategy	Action, Adventure, RPG, Casual	E, M
Hacking	Simulation, Strategy, Adventure	Casual, Action, RPG	M, E
History	Simulation, Strategy, Casual, Action, Adventure, RPG		E, M, Y
Horror	Action, Adventure, RPG, Casual	Simulation, Strategy	M, E
Hospital	Simulation, RPG, Strategy	Action, Adventure, Casual	E, M

Hunting	Action, Simulation, Adventure, RPG, Casual	Strategy	E, M, Y
Law	Adventure, RPG, Simulation, Strategy	Action, Casual	E, Y
Life	Adventure, Simulation, RPG, Casual	Action, Strategy	Y, E, M
Mad Science	Adventure, Action, Simulation	Strategy, Casual, RPG	M, E, Y
Martial Arts	Action, RPG, Simulation, Casual, Adventure	Strategy	M, E
Medieval	Action, Adventure, RPG, Strategy, Simulation	Casual	Y, E, M
Military	Action, Simulation, Strategy, RPG	Adventure, Casual	M, E
Movies	Simulation, Casual, Action, Adventure	RPG, Strategy	E, Y, M
Music	Action, Simulation, Casual, Adventure	RPG, Strategy	Y, E, M
Mystery	Adventure, RPG, Simulation, Casual	Action, Strategy	M, E, Y

Mythology	Action, RPG, Simulation, Adventure, Strategy	Casual	E, M
Ninja	Action, Casual, Adventure, RPG, Strategy	Simulation	Y, E, M
Pirate	Adventure, RPG, Simulation, Action, Casual	Strategy	Y, E, M
Post Apocalyptic	Action, RPG, Strategy, Adventure	Simulation, Casual	M, E
Prison	Action, Adventure, Simulation, RPG, Strategy	Casual	M, E
Racing	Simulation, Casual, Action, RPG	Adventure, Strategy	Y, E, M
Rhythm	Action, Simulation, Casual	Strategy, Adventure, RPG	Y, E, M
Romance	Adventure, Simulation, Casual, RPG	Action, Strategy	E, M, Y
School	Adventure, RPG, Simulation, Strategy, Action, Casual		Y, E
Sci-Fi	Action, Adventure, RPG, Simulation, Strategy, Casual		E, M, Y

Space	Action, Simulation, Strategy, Adventure	RPG, Casual	M, E, Y
Sports	Action, Simulation, Casual	Adventure, RPG, Strategy	Y, E, M
Spy	Action, Adventure, RPG, Simulation, Casual	Strategy	M, E, Y
Superheroes	Action, RPG	Adventure, Simulation, Strategy, Casual	Y, E, M
Technology	Simulation, Strategy	Action, Adventure, RPG, Casual	M, E
Thief	RPG, Action, Simulation, Casual, Adventure	Strategy	M, E
Time Travel	Adventure, RPG, Action	Strategy, Simulation, Casual	E, Y, M
Transport	Simulation, Strategy	Action, Adventure, RPG, Casual	E, Y
UFO	Action, Strategy, Adventure, Simulation, Casual	RPG	E, M, Y
Vampire	Action, RPG, Adventure	Simulation, Strategy, Casual	E, M
Virtual Pet	Simulation, Casual, RPG, Strategy, Adventure	Action	Y, E
Vocabulary	Simulation, Strategy, Casual	Action, Adventure, RPG	E, Y
Werewolf	Action, RPG, Adventure	Simulation, Strategy, Casual	M, E
Wild West	RPG, Action	Simulation, Strategy, Adventure, Casual	M, Y, E
Zombies	Action, Casual, Strategy	Simulation, RPG, Adventure	M, Y, E

In addition to topics, you’ll also have to choose a system to develop your game for. Just like in real life, certain platforms are more popular with specific audiences and genres. Here’s a list of the best combos for platforms and genres.

System	Best Genres	Worst Genres	Best Audience
PC	Adventure, Simulation, Strategy, Action, RPG	Casual	M, E, Y
G64	Adventure, Strategy, Action, RPG, Simulation	Casual	M, E, Y
TES	Casual, Action, RPG, Simulation	Adventure, Strategy	Y, E
Master V	Casual, Action, RPG, Simulation	Adventure, Strategy	E, Y
Gameling	Casual, RPG, Simulation, Action	Strategy, Adventure	Y, E
Vena Gear	Casual, Simulation, Action, Adventure, RPG	Strategy	E, Y, M
Vena Oasis	Action, Simulation, Adventure, RPG	Strategy, Casual	E, M, Y
Super TES	Simulation, Action, Adventure, RPG, Casual	Strategy	Y, E
Playsystem	Action, RPG, Simulation, Adventure	Casual, Strategy	E, M, Y
TES 64	Action, Casual, Adventure, Simulation	RPG, Strategy	Y, E, M

DreamVast	Action, Simulation, RPG	Adventure, Strategy, Casual	E, M
Playsystem 2	Action, RPG, Simulation, Casual, Adventure	Strategy	E, Y, M
mBox	Action, RPG, Simulation, Adventure	Strategy, Casual	E, M, Y
Game Sphere	Casual, Action, Adventure, Simulation	RPG, Strategy	Y, E, M
GS	RPG, Casual, Action, Adventure, Simulation, Strategy		Y, E, M
PPS	Action, RPG, Simulation, Strategy, Casual	Adventure	M, E, Y
mBox 360	Action, RPG, Adventure, Simulation, Casual	Strategy	M, E, Y
Nuu	Simulation, Casual, Action	Adventure, RPG, Strategy	Y, E
Playsystem 3	Action, Simulation, Adventure, RPG, Casual	Strategy	E, M, Y
grPhone	Casual, Simulation, Adventure, Action	RPG, Strategy	E, Y
grPad	Casual, Simulation, Strategy, Adventure, Action	RPG	E, Y
mPad	Adventure, Simulation, Casual, RPG	Action, Strategy	E, M
Wuu	Simulation, Casual, Action, RPG	Adventure, Strategy	E, Y
OYA	Casual, Action, Simulation, RPG, Strategy	Adventure	E, M, Y
mBox One	Action, RPG, Simulation, Casual, Adventure	Strategy	E, M
Playsystem 4	Action, RPG, Simulation, Casual, Adventure	Strategy	E, M, Y
mBox Next	Casual, Action, Adventure, RPG, Simulation	Strategy	E, Y, M
Playsystem 5	Action, Simulation, RPG, Casual	Strategy	E, M, Y

That concludes our list of the best combos in Game Dev Tycoon. If you have any other questions or tips for the game, let us know in the comments below!

Author

Jeremy Kanjanapangka

Jeremy is a Content Writer for Touch, Tap, Play, and has been writing in the games journalism industry for almost a decade now. With a degree in English and a passion for games, he loves to talk and write about all kinds of games. While you can find him covering the latest and greatest games, there is a special place in his heart for RPGs, action-adventure games, fighting games, and anything Nintendo related.