Rescue HQ: The Tycoon Review (Longhauler)
I can't recommend Rescue HQ unless bought on a decent sale. It's broken, dead, and unlikely to be fixed.
I originally purchased Rescue HQ in October of 2019, the release year. Though I had high hopes for the game, I feel as though this game struggled to meet some bare minimums. That isn't to say it's all bad, it's just far from all good.
There have been zero updates covering future DLCs, updates, or anything else since late 2021. Thus I feel it's fair to say this game has been entirely abandoned, leaving no hope for improvements or future content.
In terms of the content you get with just the base game, it's extremely small and repetitive. The simple art style gives this title a unique look, one that goes unfortunately underutilized across the handful of maps you're provided. Each map is intended to provide a long-term set of challenges but that comes with little guidance beyond a tutorial which cannot be skipped. This means that failure can lead to being forced to experience the same annoying tutorial repeatedly. This is extremely frustrating, especially when the limited knowledge provided through the tutorial leaves you with more questions than answers.
Overall, this game offers very little in terms of reward for how difficult it can be. Some folks may find this game to be extremely easy but if you're like me and find it difficult to keep up with, there are basically no resources from the extremely small community. There's a small Discord home for those who are interested in this game but it's mostly full of folks trying to work around a known issue involving antivirus/security issues.
As of May 2nd, 2023, a developer from stillalive Studios publicly stated that "at the moment it's not feasible, staff or money wise, to work on this game" ultimately confirming that the game is dead unless that somehow changes.
I wanted this game to succeed and I still hope that a similar title may find success in the future. That's why I bought it so early on and why I'm writing this now. With that being said, I can't recommend this game to any new players. I'd even say it's likely not worth it on sale. There are other games which may be able to scratch this niche itch a little better.