Movie Mogul: Hollywood Animal

Manage a movie studio and become a mogul , whatever it takes.

‣ Hollywood Animal
From: Weappy Wholesome, Weappy Studio
Platforms: PC
Release: 10 Apr, 2025
Genre: Management, Movie Sim
Steam Page • Demo Video • Developer Site

When making movies, it's not personal; it’s just business.

1930s Hollywood was a time of glamour and grit. The trade was harsh, dealings were unscrupulous, and the movie moguls who ascended to the top showed little regard for morality. Do whatever it takes to produce hits that will fill seats in movie houses.

To do this job and rule Tinseltown, you need to be an animal. A Hollywood Animal, so to speak—a fitting name for a new game about running film studios in a time defined by Prohibition, organised crime, and plenty of scandals.

You start by buying a small bankrupt film lot, slowly building the basics. Hollywood Animal is an incredibly detailed management sim where you must juggle multiple choices and heaps of information representing every stage of making and marketing your films.

As the boss, you create departments, hire staff, develop projects, and interfere with every nuance. Hire scriptwriters and pick from their stories.

Decide on the protagonists and antagonists, the supporting cast, the themes, and the grand finale, choosing from cards your writers have researched. Unlock new combinations and possibilities as their explorations discover more.

From hiring talent scouts to crafting special effects, the possibilities are vast. But the smart design keeps it from becoming overwhelming and, like the best of such games, you just want to play one more turn.

Create script departments, distribution studios, maintenance buildings, sound stages, and post-production studios.

Refine your marketing strategy by upgrading focus groups to pinpoint your target demographic. Build your printing studio on the lot, cutting out costly third-party distributors. You can invest in cutting-edge cameras or commission lavish wardrobes and props.

Yet to become a movie mogul, you need to make tough, even unscrupulous, choices as well. Movie stars and directors will make demands—how you respond affects their morale and ultimately, your product. Characters come with vices and dark histories that could harm your business but also give you leverage over them.

There are times when things require getting dirty, which is why you keep a stash of cash on hand for those off-the-books arrangements. Just remember: It's not personal; it’s just business.

📽 Demo Snapshot: Let’s get this film into cinemas

Loyalty has its rewards, too. Employees level up as they progress, adding to your success (but also higher costs and a chance of rivals poaching them). Ultimately, it's about what's good for your movies and how well they appeal to audiences. In a game where you even select the movie poster, tagline, and when to show it, you control every aspect.

Hollywood Animal is not a basic tycoon game or light management title. It's a constant barrage of choice, from placing new buildings on your lot and hiring people to selecting focus areas, setting budgets, dealing with talent, and gaining favour with powerful people.

The art style is striking. Instead of a monochromatic palette, muted earth colours dress the characters and scenes with minimalistic design and intrigue that complement the game's tone. The 2D isometric buildings, rendered with 3D detail, create beautiful depth and perspective.

Characters and events are rendered in tasteful illustrations, while the management menus are crisp and readable while retaining touches of early 20th-century art deco swagger. A seeping jazzy soundtrack completes the journey back to cinema's emerging golden age.

Hollywood Animal is demanding, yet you’ll want to keep going. Keep those hits rolling, and you'll be in the money. Just make sure you keep some aside for some dirty deeds, which are never done cheap.

Hollywood Animal will release on Steam on 10 Apr, 2025.

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Explore The Game with Youtube Chapters:

• 📽 01:48 Welcome to AIIG Studios

• 📽 03:14 Limpin Luke

• 📽 09:35 The Lot

• 📽 10:04 Need a composer and editor

• 📽 12:58 Build a Script Department

• 📽 16:48 Pick a poster and opening weekend!

• 📽 20:11 A deal’s a deal, wet armpits

• 📽 22:24 Meet the writers

• 📽 25:24 The Tech Tree

• 📽 27:48 Place some buildings

• 📽 30:53 The reviews for Limpin Luke are in!

• 📽 35:11 Lydia wants more vacation time

• 📽 39:38 Nice profit for Limpin Luke

• 📽 44:04 Let’s research new technologies

• 📽 48:18 A new script: ‘Rolling Thunder’

• 📽 59:17 Journalist cost me reputation!

• 📽 1:07:59 Let’s shoot a Knights Tale

• 📽 1:24:46 Mayor needs a favour

• 📽 1:28:25 Rival studio

• 📽 1:34:13 Share prices are down

• 📽 1:38:23 Ricky got into an accident

• 📽 1:52:55 Financial year results

• 📽 2:08:05 That damn dog!

• 📽 2:27:26 The police chief wants a movie

• 📽 2:48:17 What was I thinking, spending that much on advertising?

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