PC Critic Reviews

Idol Manager really needs a console release - the scope and design of the game makes it perfect for the Nintendo Switch in particular - but in the meantime, I can see myself spending a lot of time playing this on the PC. I'm not the world's biggest fan of idols (at least, idols that aren't digital and with aquamarine twintail hair), but I do find the culture behind them fascinating to study. Idol Manager is a far more thoughtful take on all of this than I was expecting, and consequently, I've found the whole thing to be fascinating.

Idol Manager is the perfect experience for those who seek a real challenge: go and do your best in trying to run a company in its every core aspects, from marketing to promotion and performance on stage.

Through a wide selection of options for producing musical groups and different random events with different course of actions, Idol Manager presents itself as an interesting option within the management simulation genre.

Despite some rough edges and some undercooked mechanics, Idol Manager remains a unique game and a fascinatingly novel take on the idol industry. If you’re a fan of business sims with a taste for interpersonal affairs? Get ready to become producers.

Idol Manager is a simulation management game in which you try to exploit idols for profit while protecting them from the darker side of the industry. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to be a producer in Japan’s idol industry, this is an experience for you.

There’s an analogy to be drawn here from comments made by the in-game characters about the appeal of idols. It’s not just about becoming a fan of someone who’s already talented and successful; it’s about following an idol as she develops her career. As someone who first played Idol Manager as a finished product, I don’t have that kind of emotional investment in the development process. But as in the game, hardcore and casual fans are attracted by different things, and that’s okay.