In Devices Tycoon by Roastery Games, you cannot develop simultaneous projects. The game restricts active production to one project at a time, meaning your company must finish or advance the current device or software release before assigning staff to a new development task.
Current Project Limits in Devices Tycoon
The development pipeline in Devices Tycoon handles only a single active creation at any given moment. Whether you are creating a smartphone, a laptop, headphones, a processor, or an operating system, all active company resources funnel into that specific build.
Players on the official Steam community forums confirm that you cannot split production lines. For example, you cannot develop a phone operating system, a smartwatch OS, and desktop hardware concurrently. Once a project begins, the game locks your development queue until that unit completes its development cycle.
Department Downtime During Development
Because the game limits work to a single sequential queue, company staff experience unavoidable downtime depending on the current phase of creation. Devices Tycoon lets you hire and upgrade more than 16 offices for three core professions: designers, programmers, and engineers.
When a project moves between different stages, departments not actively involved in that specific stage remain idle rather than starting work on secondary devices.
| Department | Primary Development Role | Pipeline Behavior Under Single-Project Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Designers | Device styling, sizing, color, packaging | Idles once visual design concludes and work shifts to engineering or code |
| Programmers | Operating systems, firmware, software | Idles while hardware specs and external device casing are being arranged |
| Engineers | Component integration, processors, specs | Idles during initial aesthetic design phases until engineering work begins |
Community discussions note this sequential structure causes noticeable inefficiency. When your engineering team is actively working on internal hardware, your design team sits idle because the system does not allow them to draft the shell for the next product line.
Community Requests for Multi-Project Management
Parallel project execution is one of the most requested features on the game's Steam discussion boards. Players have suggested several ways the workflow could expand in future updates:
- Parallel Hardware and Software Tracks: Allowing software teams to develop an operating system update while hardware engineers build a new phone or tablet.
- Tandem Department Workflows: Enabling design teams to begin concept work on upcoming products while programmers and engineers finalize an in-progress device.
- Subsidiary Delegation: Utilizing acquired companies to take on independent manufacturing or design tasks rather than running everything through one central queue.
While players have proposed trade-offs for multitasking—such as increased financial risk, morale penalties, or resource management trade-offs—the developer, Roastery Games, has not officially confirmed plans to add simultaneous project queues in current patch notes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you develop a device and an operating system at the same time?
No. Operating systems and hardware devices must be created one after the other. You cannot assign your programming department to work on a mobile or smartwatch OS while engineers construct a physical device.
Why are my designers or programmers idle in Devices Tycoon?
Employees remain idle whenever an active project transitions into a phase outside their specialty. Because the game does not support background or secondary projects, unused departments simply wait until the active project reaches their discipline or until a new product begins.
Can acquired companies handle separate projects automatically?
Currently, acquiring other companies does not grant the ability to offload secondary hardware or software projects to those subsidiaries. All product creation remains managed through your primary single-project interface.
