We’ve not had a truly great cinema management game yet, and Movierooms Cinema Management is aiming to change that. It takes a novel approach to cinema management, taking the player back through time to build cinemas through different decades, starting in the 1900s. Alongside this time-travelling adventure, you’ll save cinema itself and learn about the technology and artefacts you’re playing with through an archive that works a bit like a wiki for cinemas.
The early access launch is very early. Early alpha, in fact. The reason why I’ve labelled this as an impressions video rather than an early access review is that it feels unfair to judge something so early in its formative design. Players currently have access to the 1900s and 1930s in story mode, and a sandbox mode. In each level, players are given a small building or outhouse to turn into a cinema. You’ll need a projection room, a staff room, and a toilet, and if you get far enough, there’s an arcade room, too. These are scaled and decorated with blueprints, and if you cram the projection room with seats, you’ll be able to get more cinephiles in to pay for movie tickets. To make things work, you’ll need a projection manager, jaintor, and sales staff. Also available are pianists because movies were silent in this era. It’s a lovely nod back to olde times. One of the most expensive pieces of kit is a project/piano hybrid that requires two staff to operate.
The most unique element of Movierooms is its film renting and scheduling section. Films become available, but the reels are only rentable for a few days. Once you pay the fee, you can assign them to your viewing schedule. Movie length and genre play a role, but so does its critical rating, which seems to be the biggest pull for moviegoers. If you want to increase your audience size, marketing campaigns are available at a price.
Whilst these systems, alongside customer satisfaction and staff energy and morale, are in place, they are far from optimised. Refining AI decision making and adding in intricacies and player involvement beyond object and film placement will be a sizeable task for the early access period. As expected, Movierooms was also very buggy, too. Every save file loads with pieces of my cinema missing, and menus vanish or glitch into a stuck state regularly. There are seeds of potential here, but the developers have stated it will take 18 months before Movierooms starts to sing and shine. I enjoyed the hints of systems to be expanded upon, and Movierooms does have an approachable style and vintage charm to its initial eras. I hope it succeeds. I’ll be returning for a proper review at a later date.
Higher Plain Games is part of the Higher Plain Network. If you like what I do, please consider supporting me via Patreon for as little as $1/£1 a month. There are additional perks for supporting me, such as behind-the-scenes content and downloads. You can also share the website or use the affiliate buy now links on reviews. Buying credit from CD Keys using my affiliate link means I get a couple of pence per sale. All your support will enable me to produce better content, more often. Thank you.
