Disco Simulator Review

At 40 years of age, my partying days are well and truly behind me. However, in my late teens and early to mid 20’s, I did love getting stuck into the nightlife. Nights out with friends, getting absolutely hammered and dancing badly, but great memories were had. Disco Simulator is now available for Xbox consoles and is a management experience that blends strategy and chaos into quite an addictive mix.

Build Your Nightlife Empire

Disco Simulator has a simple premise, and that is to start from scratch and build your very own nightclub from the ground up. You start with literally nothing in an empty venue, and you have a bit of cash to start. You’ll slowly start to flesh out your new business by hiring staff, installing a DJ booth, setting up a bar and having the essentials like seating and toilets alongside that all-important dancefloor. The early hours of gameplay ease you into how the game functions. You’ll be plonking down furniture, tinkering with prices and checking in on how your workforce is getting along.

Unlock More Through Progression

One of the best features of Disco Simulator is the progression. As you gain revenue from running your business, you’ll have more opportunities. New decorations, lighting, sound systems and expansion of staff will be purchasable. Throughout, though, you do have to make sure you don’t go too crazy with your pot of money. You’ll have running costs, wages to pay and the bar to restock. They have done a great job of making the business logistics side of the game engaging enough.

Visuals & Audio

Visually Disco Simulator isn’t winning any awards, but performance is superb on Xbox Series X. I encountered no visual hiccups throughout my time with the game. There is some satisfaction from setting up a bland, dark and dingy shell of a building into a colourful, vibrant, busy business. Customisation is great, and there are elements of the game that feel similar to games like The Sims and Two Point Hospital when it comes to designing your club. Granted, it isn’t as deep as those mentioned games, but there are slight similarities.

There are a few niggles with the punters and staff. Character models are basic, stiff, and often make the same motions. I found myself getting frustrated with getting the queuing system right for drinks, especially when the dancefloor and the remainder of the club were packed. These are minor moans, and it could be due to some of the layout of menus, and button presses with the controller being a little clunky.

When it comes to the audio, the soundtrack is decent enough, but the selection of unlicensed tracks is limited. When you invest several hours into the game, you have then heard them several times, so the music can be repetitive. Sound effects do what you’d expect: the crowd noise filters through the music and the general hustle and bustle of a night out.

Final Thoughts

Disco Simulator is an enjoyable management sim with a surprisingly addictive gameplay loop. It isn’t the most polished simulator game out there, but it does what it needs to and does it well. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to run a nightclub, and this gives a small insight into overseeing the day-to-day operations. There is the potential for several long sessions here if you want it, but it may come across as repetitive for some. You can put your party shoes on and purchase a copy of the game on Xbox Series X|S HERE. For a very reasonable £12.49, it’s much cheaper than a real night out on the town.