In Hollywood Animal, you can decide to build a multi-billion-dollar monster that destroys everything in its path, with blockbusters made strictly according to formulas. But this is far from your only option. You might instead create a boutique studio, and conquer the festivals with avant-garde directors. You could build a trash factory, challenging "good taste" at every turn, filling the screens with blood and spit. This game doesn't tell you how to play or limit you in anything. Just have fun making movies while you try to keep the whole thing afloat.
We shouldn't forget the film industry is just one part of a much larger and dynamic world. Wars and social upheaval, censorship and corruption, strained relations with the authorities and criminal disputes. — Some will be buried in an avalanche of problems, while others seize new opportunities. Make your moves behind the scenes, form unexpected alliances, lie and betray. There are no magic formulas in Hollywood Animal. Only those who can adapt and negotiate survive.
You're the boss, not the groundskeeper
You're the head of a movie studio, and Hollywood Animal delivers challenges fitting your status. Your attention won't be dominated by wallpaper selection and planting bushes. Your time is worth much more than that. Instead you'll be focused on which characters and themes really capture your audience's imagination. That is, while you're not focused on investing in technology that will revolutionize the industry. All while you're persuading a bright young star to sign a long-term contract — despite the fact the arrogant punk has sworn he'll never work with you again.
Of course, Hollywood Animal has everything we love about the genre — building, resource management, upgrades and the rest. — But this is just an outer shell. What matters is the choices you make and the human stories that are written in the process. Whims, prejudices, addictions, secrets from the past... show business is always a tangle of conflicts, and you will be the one to unravel it all. Let someone who works for you take care of the bushes.
Any approach is good — we are, after all, only animals
Hollywood Animal includes you in every step of the filmmaking process, from making up plots to theater distribution, and each part of the game is crafted with artistry and dedication. But the opportunities you'll have are much wider than what you'd usually expect from a tycoon strategy game. Every business has a dark side. You can follow the law — or stay on the mayor's good side. You can raise the screenwriter's salary — or remind him about the prostitute he strangled, which you yourself had hushed up. You can delay a film's release to avoid competition — or ask your friends in the mafia to clear the whole calendar.
You'll want to take great care, when picking the actor for the lead role in your Civil War epic. But in Hollywood Animal, it's just as important how many ribs you'll have to break before he accepts the part.
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User Reviews
Mostly Positive
100 user reviews
70%
Positive
User #759013english
153 hrs at review
Not Recommended
Great core concept buried under a mess of development issues, bugs, and an unbalanced economy. Every hotfix seems to create more issues than it fixes. The big May update is finally crawling out in mid-August but as beta only and is clearly extremely unfinished. Based on how early access has gone so far, I really don't have much confidence in this game ever getting released in any form as originally intended. They seem to constantly over-scope and under-deliver. If it was just a buggy early access release I may be more forgiving, but the lack of balance and challenge, combined with a pretty atrocious development record makes me frankly feel bad at what is a wasted core gameplay loop that is so promising.
User #467087english
19 min at review
Not Recommended
I thought it would be like The Movies, but it's nothing like it... I was rather disappointed.
User #422741english
26 hrs at review
Not Recommended
4 AM GAME RAMBLE PRETENDING TO BE A REVIEW #9,942,060
I was looking forward to this game and I am a fan of previous titles weappy has made, but at this stage of development Hollywood Animal is not worth $20 or your time, I cannot get passed the year 1931 without the game crashing and becoming unplayable past February. I have made at least 5 separate saves trying to get past february 1931 and the game just freezes on the 4th every time. I have no idea how far into the present this game is meant to goSo is the game is buggy and has a long way to go.
The UI is also horrendous, there are like 6 different tech trees, finding and navigating to each of them is a pain in the ass! WHY IS THERE NO MAIN TECH/RESEARCH SCREEN?!!!?? HOLY SHIT GUYS WHY DO I HAVE TO NAVIGATE ALL THESE IDENTICAL MENUS AND GO TO ALL THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENT HEADS!!!! JUST COMBINE THEM!!!!!
Unlocking themes, plotpoints,settings and character ideas is such a BS crapshoot it is so obvious they are trying to pad play ...
User #565979english
3 hrs at review
Not Recommended
In Hollywood Animal, there is no freedom at all. Everything is scripted down to the last action — want to do things your own way? Sorry, you can’t. Any attempt to “improvise” hits the scripted boundaries, so there’s simply no real freedom of action.....
User #387614english
66 hrs at review
Not Recommended
As of august 2025, i would not recommend it.
beyond the many interface bugs expected in a beta, it's all very lacking.
which is kinda sad, because i believe there is potential.
right now tech tree seems useless, all relative times, and unlocks feel very weird.
technology advancements seem kinda useless.
the whole studio buiiding aspect of it seems pointless, there is no impact in placement of buildings despite being the main thing you observe.
menus feel clunky.
movie creation, while i expected it to be somewhat similar in mechanics to game dev studio, feels nothing like it, there's no transparency at all, it feels arbitrary and limited.
i hope that with time the devs polish and re-desing stuff, but right now it mostly disappoints.
User #384031english
1 hrs at review
Not Recommended
I don't think the game is bad, but it would really benefit from some clarity about what choices cause what effects. The idea of this game is super fun its just a really hard game to get into.
User #298623english
5 hrs at review
Recommended
I was waiting until later in the beta to post a review, however I need to say how hard it is to stick to a dev plan when you are a smaller team. Weappy Studios have consistently updated and fixed the game while clearly still working out how to implement their ideas. Simply I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and support them in this project.
As for the game itself. I personally love it. It's a narrative business sim in early access. Its janky in places yet still incredibly fun.
It's clearly still in development yet made as playable as possible in it's current state. The hook is already there and the side stuff is still enough. The most recent update has genuinely improved the game and made it more enjoyable.
I wish the team all the best.
User #666335english
5 hrs at review
Not Recommended
This game is good but wait until it is finished first. At this stage, the game is playable but not enjoyable.
User #858109english
14 hrs at review
Recommended
Though I've rated HOLLYWOOD ANIMAL positively, I'd like to think of this as more of a neutral review. So, please read on if you're curious: there are pros and cons worth considering with this title. In short: I had fun, but with some serious drawbacks that mean you need to accept you're in the long haul with Early Access to get the most of this game. If you're fine with that, sign up. If not? Hold your fire.
I've just finished my first playthrough up to the end of "Act One" - 1947, wherein the game currently ends in its Early Access state. The game did just receive a Beta update (when I purchased the game), but it's yet to come through to the main branch for another 1-2 weeks. I didn't feel like Beta testing a game that was still EA, so I just played what was stable. The easiest comparable is THE MOVIES, though this is a very different experience that focuses partly on the stars and inter-studio/governmental conflict just as much as it does the mogul elements. There's little innate cr...
User #372573english
44 hrs at review
Not Recommended
Frustrating and unplayable in its current state, both beta and the main line.
