100% Orange Juice
100% Orange Juice
Game
Game2025
Hollywood Animal
Developer Weappy Wholesome
Make movies, even if someone has to die. Take the helm of a major Hollywood studio at the dawn of sound cinema, and guide it through decades of creative achievements and glamor, debauchery and dark deeds, tough choices and unpleasant compromises. From the Steam store page
311 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy) · newest Nov 2, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
67
Fresh
172 positive · 84 negative
95% range 61–73%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 172 | 84 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 31 | 1 | 20 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
1,388 of 1,761 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
68% recommend · 169 yes, 78 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 247 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (3,088 of 4,235 positive).
Players praise the game's potential and addictive management gameplay, but note it is still in early access. [1][2][3] Many reviewers find the game extremely difficult and unforgiving, especially in the early stages. [4][5][6] Some players criticize the lack of replayability and the restrictive tech tree. [1][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
I've never taken to writing a review about a game before. But this one left me compelled to. There is so much to want to like about this game. It's level of sophistication cannot be denied and it's potential is clear for anyone that has played it to see. However, there are caveats to this. After having played 192 hours (can't believe it), I have to admit defeat and say that the game is too difficult to enjoy. It's a …
- [8]
At its best, Hollywood Animal is stylish, entertaining, and immersive. At its worst, it’s frustratingly unclear about key mechanics, with an awkward difficulty curve and limited replay value. I can't say it wasn't mostly enjoyable, but I’d wait for it to leave early access before considering purchasing. To start, the game's mechanics are unnecessarily confusing and obscure. The game fails to inform the player the …
- [1]
After a couple of updates, the game is in a good state. But before buying it, you should know these; - This is not a sandbox game. No matter what anyone says, there is a clear path to choose on research(otherwise you will be really late to save your studio) and to events. - Replayability is low. This is mainly due to same events triggering in same order. Same characters with their flaws and same missions. It is …
- [4]
I’m writing this mainly in defense of Hollywood Animal, because I think a lot of the negative reviews are valid — but they also miss how good the core of this game really is. If Steam had an option like “Put on Wishlist, but Wait to Purchase,” that’s exactly what I’d choose. Unless you really love brutal games that punish every mistake, I’d hold off for a bit until the balancing improves. Right now, the main problem …
- [2]
I'll start with the caveat that this is a game that's still in early access. There are going to be moments of rebalancing and filling things out that will come over time. Currently the tech tree is a bit too restrictive, and it swings from "oh dang I am running out of money" to being able to snowball fairly easily once you figure out the mechanisms. There's also a bit of an AI snag at present (late 2025) where the …
Summarised from 34 of the 303 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Hollywood Animal talk about addictive and deep management gameplay; those who didn't talk about extremely difficult and unforgiving. Which matters more to you?
Reactions
60 of 311 · most liked firstlol more video games where I can directly tell Nazis and the Klan to lick my ass, plz. #HollywoodAnimal
positive · AI labelView post →I've never taken to writing a review about a game before. But this one left me compelled to. There is so much to want to like about this game. It's level of sophistication cannot be denied and it's potential is clear for anyone that has played it to see. However, there are caveats to this. After having played 192 hours (can't believe it), I have to admit defeat and say that the game is too difficult to enjoy. It's a brutal war of attrition to make any progress and I have gone…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Okay so I took one look at the reviews of this game and decided to make one to settle any quarrels someone might have on buying this game. If you look at the reviews you'll notice people with larger hours put into this game tend to be positive and around the ten hour mark tend to be negative. I have more hours in this game than most so I'll say my peace. This game is extremely unforgiving to anyone who just want to go in and have fun making their movie studio. The early game need to more…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wish there was a neutral option for this Firstly the positives It's addictive managing relationships with major people is actually kind of cool it's close enough to being accurate to the early 20th century film industry that it's pretty neat for people who might not know the history of the golden era of hollywood the money managing part is actually handled well (difficult but never unfair) The negatives The Balancing is HORRIBLE - the most obvious case here is the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Last week on Twitch, I played Hollywood Animal and Vintage Story. This week, I'm gonna play more, and livedraw on Wednesday and Friday! And if I make it to 50 subs, I'll stream Cuphead, a game I have never played. :V These streams are now the highlight of my week! www.twitch.tv/theironspike
positive · AI labelView post →''Build exactly the studio you want!'' If you don't regularly kidnap, sell heroin, kill people or any other criminal stuff youll go bankrupt or get spammed with non stop police raids or have the mafia on you. If you dont spam out garbage movies to just barely stay afloat youll go bankrupt because quality over quantity does NOT work in this game, ever. You will HAVE to make ♥♥♥♥ movies, and alot of them cause theres no other option. Even if your movie has 8/8 on both criteria and a good…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At its best, Hollywood Animal is stylish, entertaining, and immersive. At its worst, it’s frustratingly unclear about key mechanics, with an awkward difficulty curve and limited replay value. I can't say it wasn't mostly enjoyable, but I’d wait for it to leave early access before considering purchasing. To start, the game's mechanics are unnecessarily confusing and obscure. The game fails to inform the player the absolute basics for how many mechanics work. Two of the most impactful mechanics…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly I'd love to recommend it because it's just gorgeous and incredibly well polished. Great soundtrack too, great dialogue, it just looks and feels great to play. But as a video game? The gameplay mainly just feels like a bunch of disparate "management" mechanics that really exist to stifle your creativity and make it not only difficult to be successful but a total SLOG to play. A million pop ups, a billion different decisions to make per movie, and while there's feedback on what works,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →firstly its a puzzle game not a movie sim game, your forced to play by the devs in a set way or you have no chance of progressing if you dont believe me try playing squeeky clean and avoiding the bad choices and see how far you get. My second gripe with the game is it just doesnt feel like your running a film studio if your lucky you manage to get 5 -10 films into production in a game year for context warner brothers in 1930 released 30 + and that didnt include the ones they distributed from…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After a couple of updates, the game is in a good state. But before buying it, you should know these; - This is not a sandbox game. No matter what anyone says, there is a clear path to choose on research(otherwise you will be really late to save your studio) and to events. - Replayability is low. This is mainly due to same events triggering in same order. Same characters with their flaws and same missions. It is basically a storyline to a point. So why do I love this game you may ask. Answer…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Quite a perplexing game. It seems that the devs have put in a lot a time developing a ton of different features, some of which are expandable, while omitting to include basic elements that you would expect to be in a movie-making tycoon. It took me almost fifteen hours of play to realise that you couldn't raise the commercial or artistic status of your actors and directors. You can raise their "professionalism" all the way up to 10 stars, and have them star in or make hit movies but they'll…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The current experience is not very good. 1. The development time of the technology tree is beyond imagination, and the cost of trial and error is extremely high, which has caused strict restrictions on the player's choice path. I understand that the project team wants to control the speed at which players can play the game, but this is not a very good way. Once a longer R&D project is started, changing it midway would incur huge sunk costs and the experience is extremely bad—for example, with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Over the the last year and a half I have genuinely done everything I could to make this game work, but the systems just don't feel good to play. It feels like you have to unlock the ability to do anything in the game. Once you start a playthrough, you get all sorts of things to manage and hardly any tools to use. You have to unlock every little ability in the game and it can take years and there isn't a way to speed it up besides throwing money and influence at the problems. So you're spending…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →pop-up simulator. Literally every 2-3 seconds, a pop-up disrupts your thought process. All the bad stuff happens in quick succession, but all your upgrades take years. Love the idea of the game, but it still feels a bit clunky.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hi bsky! Check out Hollywood Animal, an atmospheric game set in the 1920s that combines strategy and city-building mechanics and puts you in the shoes of a major Hollywood studio head. Wishlist on Steam: s.team/a/2680550 #indiedev #gamedev #madewithunity #tycoon #screenshotsaturday
neutral · AI labelView post →The other day I was gifted and got addicted to HOLLYWOOD ANIMAL on steam. It's a like The Movies and Game Dev Tycoon had an M rated baby: You buy a failed studio in the early days of Hollywood and have to turn it around into a successful studio, and there many paths you can take to get there.
positive · AI labelView post →The fact most of the negative reviews talk about overly complicated management and a great deal of windows should really tell you everything you need to know, right off the bat. The fact that their idea of a compliment sandwich is to praise aesthetics and music is a bonus clue. This is a management game. It involves planning, improvising to deal with new events, and knowing how to predict when those events can screw you over. It is budgeting, it is outlining, and yes, it is a little bit of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I cannot recommend the game right now because of several reasons but the most jarring one is how brutal the first part of the game is. It feels like you have to read a full on guide to get your feet off the starting years of the game or you will absolutely go bankrupt if you picked the wrong things in order. Even with the balancing update, it is still very brutal. There's also softlocks in the game as well so the game is a bit buggy Everything else is pretty nice but I can't really experience…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Massively disappointing! Here's why - 1. The game plays exactly the same in every iteration, in terms of scenarios and mostly even the outcomes. 2. The characters asking you favors, or assigning tasks have such overwhelming negatives that in a way the game isn't giving you any realistic option to choose for yourself. 3. Tutorial is pathetic. 4. There is so much text with so little value, that half the time its a waste of time reading the lengthy texts. 5. Even if you pick the best…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll start with the caveat that this is a game that's still in early access. There are going to be moments of rebalancing and filling things out that will come over time. Currently the tech tree is a bit too restrictive, and it swings from "oh dang I am running out of money" to being able to snowball fairly easily once you figure out the mechanisms. There's also a bit of an AI snag at present (late 2025) where the competitor studios run out of money and get stuck in debt traps, so it can…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So here we are over a year after release, and the game is broken. Three different save files and each one left me where no matter what, I got $0 profit off my movies after the tutorial. Interesting concept, and I love the studio, but at the moment, the game is just broken. Hopefully I can come back to this one later on after they fix whatever this nonsense is. 6/10
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game basically has two modes: “super hard” and “super easy.” There doesn’t seem to be much in between, and neither is particularly satisfying. It’s buggy, clunky, and sometimes things just don’t make any damn sense. The building placement feels pointless. I’m moving buildings around without feeling like it adds anything meaningful to running a movie studio. Meanwhile, the competing studios always seem to do better than you, regardless of what you do. I don’t mind getting beaten, but…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After the most recent update I'm fed up. It feels like the same game from a year and half ago. So many hang-ups. Research is absurd and what the developers have done hasn't helped. Why does it take so long to research these things? Like, you know, your Hollywood movie studio having a lawyer. To defend itself. In a scripted lawsuit. The scripted matters overall are jarring, and they have been since the beta. The mayor, the police chief, the Irish mob boss, the Italian mob boss...are so…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →at this moment game is too random, sometimes you just get opposite results on same actions. no matter how good is your crew or script - you won't make any money on that movie, or on opposite, you can create a ♥♥♥♥ movie, released without ads - and make profit on it
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are multiple film studio management games (with different approaches to gameplay mechanics) that are probably a much better choice: - [The Executive - Movie Industry Tycoon](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2315430/The_Executive__Movie_Industry_Tycoon/) - [Hollywood Animal](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2680550/Hollywood_Animal/) - Played the demo, it's a different concept that one would expect from a "movie tycoon". - [Movies…
neutral · AI labelView post →This is a fun experience. With that being said, an upgrade would be if you get a random roll of stats for staff and actors. It shouldn't be the same starting staff and actors each time. It would add a great flavor to the start position if the randomness of the characters/staff were different every start of a new game. I hope that made sense.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really want to love this game, but it’s a bit of a "trial by fire." If you’re expecting something like This is the Police, think again! The gameplay is solid, but the lack of info is frustrating. You basically need a fan-made calculator just to understand how to make a profit for the first half of the game. I’ve had to restart multiple times because I went broke just trying to learn the mechanics. I’m all for a challenge, but re-watching the same un-skippable cutscenes (looking at you,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's like a hobby now for me to check on the game page once in 2-3 weeks to see if at least act 2 was released (not even talking about the full release now). Alas, I doubt that I change the review in the next 2-3 years, though I loved the first act
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't normally write reviews. If a game is fun, I'm too busy playing it. However, I wanted to make an exception for this game, especially given that it's still in early access from a small, independent studio, and given that some of the reviews don't quite seem to understand that. I admit I'm a little biased, as I love the Golden Age of Hollywood, but I also love this game. It seems that some reviews want the game to tell them to do A so that B happens, and then do C so that D happens. To…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →From the "Not recommended" reviews, I've witness/understand their frustration. Most of the game mechanic issues have been resolved (softlocks, bugs) so far, since the Fall updates, to me. Currently in my hours (20 hrs; ~9 hrs was me accidentally leaving the game running sometimes). I put spoilers on elements of this game, that onlookers shouldn't know yet. I agree, there should be a decent (don't make it too easy) way to repair your reputation, without restricting ALL ability to make studio…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The wait is almost over! Hollywood Animal will be released on April 10. Here’s when the game goes live in your region:
neutral · AI labelView post →There is an utterly ABSURD amount of potential in this game and Hollywood Animal has already cemented itself as one of the most addictive strategy/management games I've ever played. That said, it is still pretty evidently in early access and there is a lot that needs to be worked on (mainly in terms of balancing). The first few years are rough. And while the tutorial does a decent job of introducing you to the core systems of the game, it seems that there's still a lot that goes unexplained.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’m writing this mainly in defense of Hollywood Animal, because I think a lot of the negative reviews are valid — but they also miss how good the core of this game really is. If Steam had an option like “Put on Wishlist, but Wait to Purchase,” that’s exactly what I’d choose. Unless you really love brutal games that punish every mistake, I’d hold off for a bit until the balancing improves. Right now, the main problem is balancing. The game is really hard and very unforgiving. Sometimes it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't write reviews, but this game deserves one. If you played lionhead's "The Movies" not for the machina but for the management gameplay and the historical cinema? Then this is the game for you. Choices matter and the hand holding is minimal. Yeah, it can be brutal, especially if you make dumb decisions but that is a business management game. Choices have to have consequence and the game is excellent at making you feel it. Is this a casual game? No definitely not, the start may lure…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was very excited to play this game even when I avoid early access games as a rule and now. well, now I've remembered why I avoid early access games. The progression is off and the tech tree is too slow. Happiness is very boring to handle. It has a nice presentation, a somewhat cluttered UI, but honestly that's just normal management sim issues. But where it really failed for me was the "gritty storytelling" . It's not gritty, it's a theme park built for maximum shock value. And honestly,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I suppose after 500 (680-ish to be specific) hours a person should give a game a positive review... clearly I've gotten your money's worth and enjoyed the game a lot. Game is currently early access with only Act 1 available and many, many things still to come before the game is complete. Even with that information, the current experience from start to finish is easily a good 20-30 hours. The main loop for the game is developing a movie from the initial script to release with the challenges…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a lot of other negative reviews have said, the game is incredibly imbalanced when it comes to actually releasing movies. I could not for the life of me release a movie that was not a flop other than the tutorial movie and the movie immediately proceeding it. It seems like it's just not worth it to make a quality movie at all (which I will also add, the movie rating system also seems incredibly off, a movie that is rated 4.5-5 should not be a C-). This game needs better balancing- and by…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hollywood Animal releases into early access today. It's demo gave the player the ability to "gift" children as bribes. I enjoy morally grey games but this was just gross to me. I expressed concerns to the developer directly 3x. No response. This is why I won't be playing this game at this time.
negative · AI labelView post →Rule the talking movie industry in tycoon game Hollywood Animal www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/ru...
neutral · AI labelView post →I love this game. If you're into movies and management-type games even a little bit, I highly recommend it. It hits that "logic puzzle" spot perfectly, while maintaining a wonderful "old Hollywood" atmosphere. "I'll just make one more movie," I say, and then it's 4 hours later and I've made 10 more movies. It's still in development, so things may change a bit, but hopefully for the better. It's not easy, but there are guides out there to help, and honestly it's pretty fun to fail because…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Although the game is still in Early Access, Hollywood Animal has a lot to offer. The main game follows real-life situations, more or less, and gets you to make tough decisions that could make or break your movie-making career. The art style is very similar to a few of the games made by the studio; not a good or bad thing. I personally think it works well with this game genre. The game is, as you're probably aware by reading other reviews, very tough. As long as you can make it to a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have played 43 hours and i am ready to give a review. This game has everything that can make a game great. But they choose easy and wrong path, depth and details to the game are so shallow, for example the technical artist don't even care if we're created a blockbuster movie. They mostly give 2 outcomes. if their loyalty and happiness are maximum, they give friendly dialogue and little discount otherwise not. Almost every mechanics in the game moves in a linear fashion even though you are…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →New video 'Hollywood Animal — Why we made 4500 posters for our game' is out! youtu.be/9QNQIrRK-nU RT and wishlist Hollywood Animal on Steam🎥 ⬇️
neutral · AI labelView post →Hello! We're happy to announce that the new Hollywood Animal demo will be released on Christmas Day, December 25. At the same time, we must sadly inform you that we decided to take a few extra weeks before we release the game in Early Access. Read in thread⬇️
neutral · AI labelView post →Hey #PitchYaGame ! We're making Hollywood Animal, an economic strategy game where your choices matter 🎥 Landing on Steam Early Access on January 16, 2025. The demo version will be available this December. Add it to your Steam wishlist! store.steampowered.com/app/2680550/...
neutral · AI labelView post →This game is a great example of why steam needs a neutral rating. Cause their is a lot to like, but an equal amount to not like. First off as a story telling and artistic piece this is a truly great piece of media. But as a game and a way to enjoy your afternoon it struggles, alot. Where this game does well is the art, the stories, the characters, the roleplay. All of those things never miss a beat and you do start to feel like a real life movie boss from the 1930s. The gameplay however, really…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great potential and game already, however it is extremly difficult but is constantly worked at by the developers. There are also plans to make it a bit easier to understand and therefore will become more manageable.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some of the most fun I've had playing video games in years. My boys at Weappy never let me down (check out their other games). The way every single animation, design feature and sound effect is lovingly handcrafted is insane. I've missed appointments, canceled meetings and faked an illness to continue playing this game. Even though this is "Early Access", there is literally >100 hours of playtime and content, and this is just for Act 1! Thank you for your support for macOS as well. CANNOT WAIT…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is clearly a good game in here and it all feels very polished, but for me it quickly became more of a chore than something I was enjoying. It just lacks that feeling of wanting to carry on playing. I got fed up with constantly having to renew contracts and, unless I am missing something, there does not seem to be much actual negotiation. You basically have to pay people what they want or they will not agree. People are also constantly taking time off and upgrades take far too long to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Slow unskippable "cut scenes". Badly introduced and explained systems. Unexplained consequences for failing missions. Have had to restart three times with in 7ish hours gameplay, because i fail missions and hadn't build the correct building yet. There is a lot of great ideas, there is just a long way for a great game. Wait until full release to buy.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Welcome to the grind and repeat festival. Hollywood Animal is an ambitious studio management sim that tries to capture the chaos and creativity of filmmaking, but in its current state, it leans more toward repetition than depth. At its core, the game revolves around a loop: developing scripts, hiring talent, producing films, and chasing profits. That foundation is solid in theory, and fans of tycoon style games will recognize the appeal immediately. There’s a certain satisfaction in…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game deserves attention, but it is still very raw and contains many bugs. Below are the required improvements and fixes: 1) Reputation Tied to Negative Cash Balance When your money goes into the negative, reputation continuously decreases. The main issues are: - reputation becomes almost impossible to recover, - even with all reputation-generating buildings enabled, it is still not enough, - the game effectively forces the player to restart. This mechanic should either be…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is difficult, and that can be frustrating. But once you start to succeed and make more and more profitable films, it becomes very satisfying. The setting reflects the previous games in this world/tone really well, reminding me of This Is the Police while maintaining a fresher perspective. Dealing with the historical realities of the film industry in the 1930s adds a dash of realism that helps the game feel grounded. I've spent 40 hours with it and I've enjoyed it a lot so far (started…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game play is enjoyable, but tedious. Its a puzzle pretending to be a tycoon game. There are right and wrong answers and the game will never tell you that. The developers seem to have built the game to resist snowballing at every turn. Make too many good movies in same style/formula/genre = diminishing returns. Resist big clearly telegraphed evil studios attacks on your staff by hiring more security = get voted out the guild for breaking rules they only passed to slow you down. Stay within…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i love this game, seeing my employees grow to become hollywood legends is awesome, however there is a lot to improve, here are some suggestions: commercial and artistic status should dynamically change based on film performance, i had an actress with 5 polluxes and 3 of them were in just one trilogy, her artistic status stayed at "Commanding Presence". actors/actresses should also be able to gain these statuses, increasing potential for developing young actors into hollywood icons.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So Hollywood animal is a very interesting and unique management simulator game that many may say suffers from horrible difficulty and while that might be true, I think the real issue might be more-so with the tutorial. I think that's the main reason why so many people have difficulty with the early game because they don't realize they're sinking too much money towards things like theater rentals and actors/directors/producers. While the tutorial does give some insight, it doesn't really give…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is definitely "early access" right now, but has a lot of promise. The bones are very good, with an excellent business simulation and interesting technology trees. The film development in it is broad enough to cover most scenarios, and the business simulation aspect reminds me in many ways of "Hollywood Mogul" if you've ever played that one. The interface and user experience in this game are leaps and bounds ahead of HM, though. The biggest issue right now is that the difficulty is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am enjoying this game a lot. But so much of it revolves around random chance and the outcomes are never accurate. I regularly fail three rolls with a +70% chance to succeed in a row, and fail twice in a row with only 15% chance to do so. This aspect really, really needs an update.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I remember playing the demo many months ago and being completely fascinated with the game, it was so polished already. The current version doesn't disappoint and it's obviously a very good game, but there are a few things that could make this a master piece if implemented correctly. First, I appreciate that there is a narrative and story happening behind the "management tycoon" and some events happen. However, they kill the replayability of the game. If i play it once, next time I won't…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →fantastic film studio management game, my very favorite, hope to see more with act 2.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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