News Tower lets you manage a newspaper in 1930s New York, and there’s a demo

If you pay attention to industry layoffs, you’ll know the news media – media in general, really – is in a bad spot right now. I can’t remember the last time it wasn’t in a bad spot. Perhaps in the 1930’s, which is the setting for News Tower, a newspaper management sim in which you attempt to construct your empire in New York from 1929 onwards.

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News Tower | The Wolf of Brooklyn Trailer

The name is descriptive in that you’re gradually expanding and refining your newspaper operation within a single building, adding new rooms, new equipment, and new staff – and decorating and pampering the staff to keep them happy. These games come alive in the theme-specific details, though, and here you’re also sending reporters across the country to cover events, and piecing together frontpages from the clippings they produce.

There’s a News Tower demo available now from its Steam page. It’s technically been available since early January and was seemingly meant to disappear on January 15th, but it’s still there now, perhaps alongside next week’s Steam Next Fest demo onslaught.

Should it disappear, you won’t have long to wait to play more, as News Tower is due to release in Early Access on February 13th. Your progress from the demo won’t carry across and its developer says they hope to keepe it in early access for a year. The initial release will include a campaign that runs up until the year 1932, with 1933-1939 updates coming post-launch.

Next Fest hasn’t started yet but Steam is already full of new demos, including those for Final Factory, Tales Of Kenzera: Zau, Children Of The Sun, Abiotic Factor, Pepper Grinder and Lightyear Frontier. Blimey.