Turmoil
Nintendo Switch

Developed By : Gamious
Published By : Playdigious
Category : Strategy, Simulation, Management
Release Date : May 28, 2020

I used to have a very different mentality about simulation games. When I was younger I was absolutely in love with them, I could play Roller Coaster Tycoon for endless hours on my school’s computers. Then, I entered a large phase where I just didn’t have the patience to sit there and micro-manage every aspect of whatever company I was supposed to be heading. But, over the last few years I’ve grown to love them again, looking to spread out my horizons and find new experiences to fall in with. And then, Turmoil landed on my Nintendo Switch.

While most sim games let you experience something new and current, like running your own theme park or managing a sports team, Turmoil brings you back a little over a century to when the great oil rush was struck in North America. You and a handful of other members in town are all vying for the office of mayor. You’ll need to strike it big in the oil game to out profit your competitors and get yourself that job.

You begin by selecting one of the game’s four characters, each of which are only different in appearance. From there, you’ll enter into the cycle that you’ll repeat throughout your entire playthrough. First up, you’ll need to bid on a parcel of land alongside your competitors. This is a pretty easy step at first, since there’s so many parcels nobody will need to fight over much, but eventually as the land gets taken up these fights will become tougher and more expensive.

Once you have your land, it’s time to go find some oil. Initially, your only way to look for oil is by using a dowser. They will walk back and forth across the surface and, once they find a viable oil supply, they’ll stand in place so you know where to place your rig. After your rig is built, you’ll need to lay pipes down into the ground and hopefully lead them right to a pocket of oil. Then, drilling can begin and your oil will start pumping its way up to the surface.

The only thing to do after finding and obtaining the oil is to sell it. You’ll always have a choice of two companies to sell to, either Left or Right (no those are actually the names I swear). These companies will have constantly fluctuating prices, so be ready to change it up to maximize profits. You’ll be able to purchase horse drawn wagons that will fill up and sell your oil. There’s a set amount of time you have for drilling and selling, and once that time is up you’ll compare your profits to everyone else’s.

Between digging adventures, you’ll spend your time in the town hub. Here is where you can purchase a number of upgrades to help you on your hunt for oil. These are upgrades such as increasing the productivity of the dowswer, purchasing a scanner to find precisely where the oil is located, strengthening your horses so they can pull more in their carts, increasing the quality of your pipes so you can pump the oil faster, and more. All in the name of edging out your competition.

Turmoil definitely isn’t as involved or heavy as other sim’s can be, but to met that’s what makes it great. It’s a small, broken down dissection of the genre and it gives you all the best parts. It is this condensed approached that not only welcomes in brand new players with a quick and easy pickup style of play, it promotes longevity of the game. This title isn’t nearly as micro-managey as other sim’s can be, which makes it easy to restart your quest for office whether it succeeds or fails. Grab your dowser, cuz once you get this game on your Switch you’ll not only strike gold, you’ll strike oil.