Early Access Examination: STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platform: PC

STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator is a text-based... well, stock simulator that's out now on Steam Early Access by way of Ternox Games. Ternox Games is apparently a one-man team and the game's Early Access Roadmap promises lots of additions up until its expected full release next year. How does this game hold up as it stands now? Does the concept show promise? What are some places where it can be improved? Well, we're going to dive into this game as it stands now, in its first week of Early Access, and try to answer all those questions and more!

STONKS-9800 sees you take on the role of a businessman playing the Japanese stock market in the 80s and 90s, complete with all sorts of retro-inspired visuals. It plays as if it runs on an old computer from the 80s (Probably the NEC PC-9800 series the title references.) and does not have a full story mode at the moment. There isn't a character to take on, you're just you, or more accurately you're your Steam name. My first little aside is that I hope there are options to change your name in-game later on as I don't think I'd choose "alavic_222" for my in-game name otherwise. STONKS isn't a solo journey though as you're joined by your financial advisor Amy. Amy is your friend and guide through the world of STONKS and delivers all the news regarding the world of business and gives you advice and banter as needed. Seeing as there is currently no story to speak of as of yet, your only goal is to make money and to amass as much property, cars, stocks, and more before the game the end of 80s and 90s. Along the way you can get to know Amy better, and maybe even take your relationship to the next level. Making money can be very stressful though, so you're going to want to make sure you have fun along the way, while watching out for hazards like falling for law-breaking deals or interacting with the Yakuza. Honestly, there's probably enough "story" even in the Free Mode for most people, and you can even fill in some of the holes in the narrative along the way if you so desire.

What a bunch of losers!

Look at that ASCII stock drop!

Gameplay mainly consists of buying and selling stocks, with your goal of course being to buy low and sell high. This is done by buying shares, watching graphs for the company's recent performance, and following along with any news that Amy has for you regarding the world of business in general. If the company is doing well you can earn dividends that are relative to your stake in the company. If your stake in the company is high enough you can join the Board of Directors or even become the CEO. These come with their own salaries also, but the latter is something of a permanent decision, so it shouldn't be taken lightly. It took me a while to realize that slowly building up one's fortunes buy investing a little in several stocks is not the way to go. Actually, on that topic real fast, the game probably could do better easing new players into the game with a tutorial or two. I eventually figured out that I could manipulate the stock market by buying lots of shares of one company, thereby driving up its price, and then sell all of them off once I've made a good chunk of money. This causes the stock you just rose into the stratosphere to come crashing down, but by then you've already moved onto the next one. This is probably illegal to do in the real world, but it really got me through some rough spots at the beginning. I can't help but wonder how realistic this is if you're actually making a living on the stock market as it seems like a natural thing to do, morals aside. Also, somewhat shadily if I do say so myself, as you gain more financial success your relationship level with Amy goes up. Guess I gotta earn the millions to get Amy to like me after all!

I had to take a lot of odd jobs early on.

Yeah, pachinko actually bankrupted me at one point.

In-between stock trades you can also participate in many side activities. The game runs on a real clock (which you can pause at any time by the way) and on weekends you might get a call from a friend to go to a bar, go to the horse races, or even to the pachinko parlor. The latter two are obviously gambling and can help give you boost of money too if you're lucky, otherwise all of them lower your stress and raise your happiness accordingly. Also, going back to the in-game clock, another small complaint would be its speed. It moves really fast and there isn't any way to slow it down, only to pause it. Hopefully this can be adjusted in a future update as it's hard to respond to fluctuations in the market with the current speed set to each day only lasting a few seconds. During the week you can be contacted for special deals on stocks, offers to invest on a new product launch, or even some bad interactions like bills, illnesses, and requests for protection money. The game moves pretty fast and there seems to be a lot of events that happen every week, sometimes too many as there have been times I've seen my fortune take a sudden fall and have to deal with a random event before I can address what's happened. There's a lot of work/life balance to be had in STONKS, but it should be mentioned that all these events are truly random, even the positive ones. It's promised that some of the ones that are necessary to help you out (as in the ones that lower your stress) will become more pro-active later on down the road, but as of now you just have to wait for someone to invite you somewhere fun if you're having a bad week.

Learning the tricks of the trade!

Of course I gotta buy the Citypop!

Elsewhere in the game you can make donations, long-term bank deposits, buy real estate and cars, and more. Most of these things are just things to improve your comfort level, but they also affect your stats. Stats don't seem to have a lot of effect on the gameplay at the moment, but it's cool to see your financial success start to go off the charts and to see your current relationship level with Amy go up. They also work in with you getting Steam achievements if that's your things. You're also able to talk to Amy at any time in game, and these interactions can be random conversations, advice on what to do next, the recent performances of certain companies, and so on. There is actually a lot to balance in this game, but once you get over the initial hump of learning how to play, things really get interesting. They say money can't buy happiness, but it does exactly that in STONKS. Not only was my in-game character living his best life, and getting to know Amy better, but I also got to stop stressing that I'd go bankrupt yet again. If anything is like real life, it's this right here.

Since Free Mode is the only available mode to play, it's all I've talked about so far, but it does have several difficulties which can also be further adjusted. I tried out both the easiest and harder settings briefly out of curiosity, but I think that the Normal setting really offers the best experience. You can adjust how much money you start with, how many companies are in-game, how dividends pay out, and even how stress affects you. Besides Steam achievements, there are in-game achievements that pretty much are the exact same thing. I could go on a bit more about the gameplay, but I think I'll save some of the nitty-gritty for a future look at the game, and maybe for a full review.

Oh, maybe that ASCII drop was because of me...

The best investment is alcoholism.

Visuals in STONKS-9800 are probably something of an acquired taste. The game is mostly text and plays out as if you're working on an actual computer screen from the 80s. The font and colors are perfect in hitting this look though, and I don't think I've ever seen a retro-inspired game that attempts (and succeeds) to capture this aesthetic. The game also has a cool CRT filter that isn't annoying to use and even has several levels of intensity you can choose. CRT filters are usually something I never use, or immediately turn off, but the one here adds to the feel and is so well implemented that I sometimes forgot I was playing on a flat, modern monitor. Besides text and screen stuff, the only other real graphics come in the form of character interactions, backgrounds, and the minigames. These are all serviceable and look like they were ripped from PC games of the time. The exception to this rule is Amy. Amy's sprite is large, well-detailed, and greets you on most screens. Interacting with Amy really pulls you into the game and this is in no small part due to her awesome design. There's also some date scenes with her that take the game to the city and has some of the best scenes you'll see in STONKS overall. It feels weird to talk so highly about the visuals in such a simple-looking game, and thankfully I'm not rating anything here yet, but everything here is just so perfect. I can't wait to see what visual additions come later down the Early Access road, especially regarding the Story Mode.

Clear Sky won just about every race in my first game.

Numbers Go Up = Good

Music is similar to the visuals in that enjoyment of them is probably dependent on how you feel about the game overall. The music sounds like it came from an old-school 8-Bit or 16-Bit game. This is a bit of a miss when you really think about it though as most games of this era would almost definitely have limited music and would likely only feature computer beeps. I guess accuracy can be overlooked in this case as the music is another standout aspect of the game. The title theme reminds me of something from the early Sierra days, maybe the Leisure Suit Larry theme, and pretty much has been living rent-free in my head since I first heard it. There aren't exactly a lot of tracks here (so far at least) but each and every one is great and they shift into one another in ways that keep any one of them from wearing out its welcome. I particularly like the theme that plays during the summer months, but I'm currently fighting just saying that every single song is a current favorite of mine. Even the sound effects, clearly meant to replicate old PC sounds, hit the right level of nostalgia that keeps them from sounding grating even though they're fairly shrill for the most part. There's not a whole lot else to say regarding music, there's no voice acting of course, but I'm hoping to hear more in the eventual Story Mode.

I love talking to Amy.

Look at that outfit though.

I've played a lot of Early Access games and this is the first one that made me feel that I wouldn't be particularly upset if this was as far as the game got. I didn't expect to sink so many hours into it when first booting it up, but it drew me in and I was throwing hours at this before I realized it. The gameplay loop is addicting, Amy is just great, and the randomness of the gameplay lends well to replayability. Also the game only costs $9.99, and is even on sale at the time of writing. I feel that there's the perfect amount of game here for that price point and the thought of getting more for that almost feels greedy. Now, I don't want to imply that it's a perfect game, and I really do look forward to the future additions, but this is the most "complete" Early Access game I've ever had the pleasure of playing. There's even been lots of small updates in the short time that I've had with the game. Nearly every issue I had was fixed before I had time to write about them. The game's sole developer (at least I believe it's developed by just one person) seems hard at work to get this one through its Early Access journey in a complete form. I hope that this level of activity is kept up as I can only imagine how much more will be in the game down the line. Even if not, there's still lots of fun to be had here and I'm sure they'll be something for gamers of all types to enjoy.

No Music No Life

I want to spend Christmas with Amy.

I'm not a fan of giving Early Access games the full review treatment, but I have to say that even in this unpolished state I'd give STONKS-9800 very high marks across the board. I definitely recommend picking up this game now; it's just that good. It can only get better from here and I can't wait to cover future big updates as they come, and even give it a full review down the road. There are some promised console releases once the game is complete though, so depending on your situation you might want to sit this one out for now. Everyone else really should just take the plunge now and see what I'm raving about. With all that said, jump intp your Homda Citypop and take Amy on a date already!

Check Out STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator On Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1539140/STONKS9800_Stock_Market_Simulator/

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Pros:
+ A text-based simulation that really captures the 80s computer aesthetic.
+ Graphics are limited, but perfect for the gameplay; especially Ami's sprite.
+ Music is all well-done and has a neat 80s JPop feel.
+ The Early Access Road Map promises several additions that are sure to add to an already great game.
+ Ami is best girl.

Cons:
- Stocks are very easily manipulated once you understand how the game works. (Though is this make it more accurate?)
- The randomness of the gameplay can sometimes lead to extreme shifts in your fortunes. (Don't get sick!)
- There's a limited amount of things to actually do outside of trading stocks.
- While promised to be coming before the full release, there is no Story Mode as of now.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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#STONKS9800