Prime Time (1996)

Gameplay

Prime Time is a satirical idle game where players take control of a rising tech magnate, Geoff Bozo, on a relentless quest to build the most “efficient” mega-corporation in the world. Starting with a humble book-selling empire, players automate, optimise, and exploit their way toward a trillion-dollar valuation. Hiring underpaid workers, crushing unions, and deploying delivery drones are all part of the fun.

Restoration Story

This one was buried in a folder called ZON_SIM.B8, deep in a corrupted dev archive. From the file structure and variable names, I suspect it was never meant for public release—possibly a parody made by a disgruntled studio intern. The progression logic was still intact, though the balancing was wildly broken. I fixed a few exploit loops but kept the original tone and art style. The title screen was just a static image that read “Prime Time: Your Convenience, Their Hell.” Felt wrong to change it.

The game was originally made in 1996, but the code was so poorly written that it took me a while to figure out how to get it running. I had to rewrite a lot of the logic and fix some of the bugs, but I think I managed to keep the spirit of the original game intact. The art style is a mix of pixel art and low-res graphics, which gives it a retro feel.