Turmoil, developed by Gamious, is a simulation game about oil drilling. Turmoil takes place in America during the oil drilling craze. The player is introduced as a new oil baron in a town that is in construction. Along with the player, 3 other rival oil barons are introduced and compete with the player in profit.
Turmoil begins with a tutorial that covers the basics on how to play in a very concise manner. It introduces all the tools you need to drill oil and make a profit. The main gameplay revolves around locating hidden oil pockets underground, drilling to the pockets, and transporting the oil to a company to sell it or to a silo to store it and wait for the oil prices to rise.
One strength I noticed and enjoyed in Turmoil was its simplistic and repetitive quality. Turmoil is extremely easy to learn and doesn’t change much as the game progresses. Although you can upgrade just about every tool in the game and unlock a few new ones, the core gameplay stays the same. This allows you to test different strategies and iterate on them to maximize your profit.
Turmoil also has a very simple art style and theme which makes it very visually appealing to look at. Although it is a PC game, it could also function extremely well as a mobile game because of its very simplistic nature, art style, and user interface.
It was also addicting to progress through the game and upgrade or unlock equipment. At first your toolset is a bit limited, with only being able to buy a dowser, oil rig, wagon, and silo. As time goes on, you can purchase other tools or just upgrade your equipment which can put you ahead of your rivals in the oil industry if you use them correctly.
One minor feature I disliked in Turmoil was the pause menu. In many simulation games you can pause the game to examine the situation and figure out your next set of actions. In Turmoil, pressing the pause button pauses the game, but also brings up a small menu which covers a small portion of the screen, not allowing you to fully analyze the game scene.
An issue some people may have with Turmoil is its repetitiveness. As I mentioned before, this was something I enjoyed with the game, as gameplay stayed mostly unchanged, only changing with upgrades and different maps. Some people may dislike how it feels like the same gameplay over and over, just with a different scenery and minor upgrades.
In summary, Turmoil is an oil drilling simulation game where you compete with 3 rivals to see whose company can gain the most profit in the oil drilling industry. Although Turmoil has very limited actions and repetitive gameplay, it shows it can still be an entertaining and addicting game to play through and enjoy.
Rating: 8.5/10
Take a Look at the Turmoil – The Heat is On DLC Trailer:
Turmoil is now available for PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam for $9.99.
PC Review
-
Overall Score - 8.5/108.5/10
I am currently a sophomore at Michigan State University, majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Game Design and Development. I love to play a wide variety of games and hope to one day be able to create amazing games like these.
More Stories
GIRLS’ FRONTLINE 2: EXILIUM Gameplay Summary Guide
Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland War DLC and Expansion for ARK: Extinction Ascended Now Available
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes Review for PlayStation 5