Reviewed Modified Version: 0.51.3.1
Lab Rats is one of the games I have been following from the start, and it has been a complex ride. However, it is one of the few games I keep coming back to play every 6-8 months.
But to enjoy this game, there are a lot of caveats that you have to accept:
-Sandbox game: There is no clear goal; it is a playground for you to explore, use, and abuse as you desire.
-Randomly generated characters and models: The modeling system is genius, but it limits the graphics and will never match custom-made renders.
-Steep learning curve: There are a few essential actions you must take at the beginning of the game; otherwise, you will lose. This is somewhat mitigated with the easy difficulty setting.
-Setting up your company for the first time can be frustrating and confusing. I will try to provide a quick guide at the end of this review.
Once you get past the initial setup at the start of the game for the first time, it becomes easier to repeat and redo for your second or subsequent playthroughs.
And with the setup done, you can enjoy the game's strong points: a world of randomly generated girls for you to charm, corrupt, and defile. Additionally, there's a mod team that keeps adding small stories and other nifty shady mechanics for you to explore.
I hope you make it through the initial learning curve so that you can take a vacation in Lab Rats 2 when you feel like taking a few days off for some personal time.
For my final trick, here's a quick start guide to achieving a stable income by getting your company started:
First, you need a product to sell. In R&D, you can invent them, but you need to add some traits to make them valuable.
-Research and develop a few traits.
-Design a new serum with a target profit of 50 or more.
Next, you need to start production:
In the main offices, you can hire more staff. Don't worry; you can fire them and hire others once you have settled in. What you need is cheap labor to manufacture your product, so look for wages at 30 or below.
-For production workers, aim for wage < or = production.
-For supply workers, aim for wage * 2 < or = supply.
-Aim for supply = production.
Eventually, you'll want a marketing and HR team as well, but you can handle that part of the company until you have upgraded your maximum employee count.
This should be enough to get you started. I wish you good luck and happy corruption.