The K-pop music genre, as we know it, began developing in the early 90s and became a major part of South Korean culture. It wasn’t until 2012 that the viral hit song, ”Gangnam Style” by Psy exploded in popularity, making him a global icon and paving the way for other K-pop sensations like 2NE1, BTS and BLACKPINK to gain global recognition and tour the world.

K-pop Idol Stories: Road to Debut is a management simulation game published by PQube Limited and developed by PT Wisageni Multimedia Indonesia, in which players take charge of a new K-pop group. It is now available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.  

Players step into the shoes of a manager and shape their girl group’s destiny on their journey to the Hall of Fame. Step into the spotlight behind the scenes! Build your dream idol group as you scout rising stars, shape their weekly schedules, and guide their journey to fame. Mix work, training, and downtime to help your idols shine their brightest to get them ready for their grand debut.  

At the start of the game, players have a few options for the theme of their new all-K-pop group before holding auditions to scout aspiring talent. The auditions are done through an odd minigame that feels like a roulette, and the number of potential performers is determined by successfully landing the arrow and the marker in the same spot. From there, you interview each person and learn a little about their backstory and why they want to enter the music business. Players can choose all of them if they wish, but will need to be mindful of their funds, as more performers will require more money.  

The main game involves players organising their weekly schedules around a wide range of activities to help develop their skills, boost their morale, keep them healthy, and build relationships with everyone. The activities include vocal, dance, and acting lessons; various team-building exercises; gym workouts; and other activities to let them wind down and relax, enjoy a day out shopping, have dinner or drinks, or just give them time off. Giving them medical checkups will replenish their health and stamina.

Make them work too much, and they’ll tire out, get sick or injured, which will make them perform poorly or make them quit. Let them relax too much, and they won’t develop the skills needed to become the next big K-pop superstars. After sorting out their schedules, the results will come through so players can see which stats increase and which are affected. More different activities will be unlocked with game progression, giving you more options to build your group.

Things can come up during the scheduled activities with individual performers that might require additional spending. They might get minor illnesses and injuries, or they might need some money for certain things, whether it’s a necessity or just something they want. Players have the choice to either spend the money to help pay for medical treatment or buy them things they’re interested in, which will keep them healthy or boost their morale, or they can save the money, but at the expense of their health and morale.  

Managing a K-pop group is a big responsibility: not only must you manage funds and keep everyone healthy while building their skills and teamwork, but you must also keep morale high, which is a key RPG element of the game. Being a good manager is incredibly rewarding, but you might not always have the money to make it happen. Players can also choose to be bad managers, but they, of course, won’t get far in the game. It’s all about finding the right balance with everything in the game to prepare your K-pop group for their big debut.  

Depending on who you recruit for your group, they each have their own personal stories that you’ll also have to deal with. One in particular has a father who disapproves of her being a K-pop idol, and he might try to interfere in her affairs. You can choose to step in and help her, which will improve her mood and make her like you more, or you can let them sort out their own issues. You’ll also meet various other characters in the industry who can help give you tips or boost the morale of your future K-pop group.  

There are a variety of minigames that come up with certain activities, and how well you do can affect your group’s stats. They’re mostly rhythm-based games that are simple to understand, but some can be unnecessarily difficult at first; tough players can get used to them once they work out the rhythm. They feel out of place in a management simulation game, especially if certain players want to focus on the management side.  

You’ll also have to manage their social media presence, though there isn’t much to it other than taking the photo, getting it in focus, and posting it on the legally distinct social media app, Instantgram. It does allow players to see comments from fans or even haters about the latest activities of your group, plus what else is happening in the industry.

Your group may also encounter other up-and-coming K-pop groups, leading to a battle. Thankfully, there’s no physical violence involved, as the battles use a turn-based format where players have to show off their group’s skills and talents to outshine the opposing group until their metre fully depletes. The winners in-story are determined by Fan Support. It makes more sense when actually playing it, and it is simple and straightforward.

The art style and presentation are bright and colourful, much like the glitz and glamour of the K-pop world. The artwork for all character designs and backgrounds features a highly detailed anime style. The characters feature simple animations reminiscent of motion comics and are full of style and personality. The cutscenes also feature motion-comic-style presentations.  

Being a K-pop-themed game, music needs to be a big part of it. There are many upbeat tunes to enjoy throughout the game and in the cutscenes. There isn’t any singing, however, which is the most important aspect of K-pop or any music genre. It’s understandable that getting licensed music or recording original K-pop songs would be difficult and expensive, but that’s what K-pop fans want.

The story of the game leads up to and ends when your group is ready to make its big debut (assuming you succeeded and didn’t blow your funds or overwork your singers), but it would have been nice to have at least one song to celebrate successfully completing the game. The ending is still nice and bittersweet after all you’ve been through together, and it has a nice ending track to go with it and the end credits.  

The K-pop industry is actually quite brutal in reality behind the scenes, and this game is a lighter take on it. The game has some drama in the story, but overall, it presents the industry in a way that fans and aspiring K-pop singers picture it. If only the real thing could be as pleasant as depicted in this game.  

K-pop Idol Stories: Road to Debut isn’t the first K-pop management simulation game and doesn’t do anything overly groundbreaking, but it manages to stand out on its own. There’s a lot to be mindful of in the game, but once players find their rhythm, it becomes an enjoyable experience with various stories to discover. Treating your group well feels rewarding, and they show their appreciation. K-pop Idol Stories: Road to Debut may not live up to its full potential, but it still has a lot of content to make managing an up-and-coming K-pop group a fun and pleasant experience. 

Written by: Sammy Hanson