How’s it going, bros? My name is P-not PewDiePie – I’m not PewDiePie.

But, what if I was? What if you were?

Think about it: How cool would it be to be an actual YouTuber? How awesome would it be to make a stable living by creating and publishing videos of keyboard cats, self-proclaimed innocent pranks, and taking all sorts of products out of their boxes?! Wow, right? Whether you were impressed by this excellent segue or not, now YOU can be a Tuber. Does PewDiePie’s Tuber Simulator live up to the hype?

Fig. 1: Dank room included

PewDiePie’s Tuber Simulator is a video game developed by Outerminds for Android and iOS mobile devices. It was published by Revelmode, a company of PewDiePie (Felix Kjellberg), and was released on the 29th of September 2016.

PewDiePie: Tuber’s Simulator promises to help you create videos without breaking a sweat (in the game). Watch your virtual online view count rise in literally minutes, do some diligent eagle-watching, climb to the top of the Tuber food chain, and be the one to finally outdo PewDiePie and his over 50 million subscribers.

The game is vibrant and delightful, thanks to its use of the whole color spectrum and its adorable pixel art. Every word on screen is as clear as day. Every button pops out from the screen. The isometric view of the room was a smart choice – it allows every single piece of furniture to be displayed well. Exhaust all possible space in the room with potted cacti, and you’ll still be able to count all of them.

Fig. 2: If you can’t be a potato IRL…

Remember that dank room and those red locks your character started with? Well, I got rid of both of those with no hesitation, and you can, too. From a shiny bald head and the standard-anime-main-character-baseball-shirt to a head of bird’s nest-hair and the Guy Fieri flame shirt I always wanted but am too ashamed to wear in public, many unique designs await your character, your computer peripherals, and, well, the whole room. However, although there is a substantial amount of visual content to discover in this game, Tuber Simulator doesn’t offer 100% personalization of your character, nor does it offer any advanced customization such as palette switching.

By the way, hands down, this game is really witty.

PewDiePie lends his unique charm to Tuber Simulator, and the game really shines in this regard. The wit shows in your character customization (HATS!). It shows in the game’s word choice (collect brains to unlock skills!). It shows whenever PewDiePie makes his brief appearances in the game to comment on your recent Tuber performance. The video titles take the cake though. Although the game allows you to name every video you make, I can assure you that you’ll be sticking to the pre-made video titles.

Fig. 3: I don’t want to be near that vegetarian when he finds out

Tuber Simulator also allows you to customize the way you gain views through the game’s skill system — the knowledge tree. If you like making Nature or Comedy videos over Sports videos, you can assign more points into the video genres you make more of. If you’re the type to click once and visit again much later, you can upgrade the “streaming” skill, which allows you to generate views and subscribers even when totally idle. On the other hand, if you’re the kind of player to check in every now and then, you can allot brains into your videos’ view production rate. (Pro tip: get over that one-shipment limit ASAP.)

If you’re a harsh game critic, you’ll notice something about the gameplay as soon as you queue up your first video: boiled down to the lowest degree, Tuber Simulator is just a game of pressing the right buttons at the right time to reach high numbers faster. At first glance, doesn’t that game mechanic sound familiar? (Farm Town, *cough, cough*) A game like Tuber Simulator would be classified under “idle games” or “incremental games”, which are games where the player’s objective is to attain higher levels of currency or levels by repeatedly performing relatively simple actions. Normally, some of these actions also increase the rate in which currency is gained. Other than Farmville, games like Cookie Clicker and Candy Box also come to mind.

Due to this nature, the game does get stale after a while. I spent hours on the game when I freshly downloaded it, looking at all the possible masks for my character to match the checkerboard floor tiles and whatnot. Unlocking new items is exciting, and securing the achievements feel rewarding. However, as I progressed through the game, the rewards became fewer and farther between. It took more time to advance from level to level, and with that, less items were unlocked, too. The hours that I used to keep my phone idle on the game turned into less and less minutes.

PewDiePie: Tuber Simulator will definitely not be everyone’s favorite video game, or even mobile game. However, if what you need is a witty game that you can pick up whenever you have a teeny-tiny slot of free time, this game can probably fill that PewDiePie-sized hole in your life.

If you just like watching big numbers get bigger, kudos to you too.
PewDiePie: Tuber Simulator can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or you can get it for iOS mobile devices from iTunes.