The Manga Works
Skip · Strategy · 2022
Steam Deck VerifiedThe verdict
SKIP IT.
It scores 27, under the fair line, at $8.99.
- Length
- 9.4h 44.5h to 100%
- Value
- $0.96/hr
- Reviews
- 70% of 290 positive
Watch this gameOne alert at a price you pick.
Buy now or wait
Discounted in 7 of its last 8 seasonal sales. Last cut ended 11 days ago.
- Next sale
- Winter Sale, Dec 17 to Jan 4
Sources: IsThereAnyDeal, Valve.
What drives the score
How to read this
Grades run S to D, read from the buyer's side. ▲ marks a lift, ▼ a drag or a dock, ? an input we do not have, • a fact this genre's score does not use. How the grades work
About the game
Make history with manga! Turn your work into anime, drama, and even movies!
Minimum specs
Minimum on the Steam store: 1 GB of memory, 246 MB of storage. Windows only.
The value story
It has been discounted 32 times in the 4 years tracked here. The median cut across all of them is 50 percent, about 5 weeks apart. Today it is at full price, and its last discount ended 11 days ago.
It is less well reviewed than 67 percent of its genre. Game Dev Story ($8.99, scores 73) outscores it, and so does Academia : School Simulator ($19.99, scores 36). Both sit among its closest neighbours.
More about The Manga Works
Of the 252 Steam-purchase reviews this site sampled, 1 comes from a buyer who refunded the game, sampled from reviews written July 2022 to August 2026.
9.4 hours to finish it, 45 to exhaust it. The completionist tail is 4.7 times the campaign.
It carries Valve's Deck Verified rating and runs 9.4 hours, about as long as a handheld game wants to be.
The drop-off
91% start to 7% rarestNo achievement in this game marks the ending, so there is no finish rate. The curve runs from the most-unlocked achievement to the rarest, and its shape is where players stop. Steam global achievements
Players
- Players online
- 6 when we last checked, on Oct 2, 21:54 UTC
Player counts from the Steam Web API.
What players say
Ahh… The Manga Works. This…. This is quite the game… I think it's a nice looking game, and had fun playing it casually. Although, I will say, it is a difficult game if you want to go beyond Novice. I initially brought the game in 2023 and… quickly became overwhelmed by the work load the game threw at me. My character physically wasn't able to meet the demands the publishers threw at him, which probably is a metaphor...
2 more reviews, 1 not recommended
Developed and published by Kairosoft Co., Ltd., The Manga Works is a management simulation game that explores the highly competitive and often unpredictable world of manga creation. Known for transforming unusual professions into entertaining simulation experiences, Kairosoft takes players on a journey from amateur artist to industry superstar. Through a combination of creative decision-making, career management...
Alright so, I make this review with the caveat that I can enjoy these games. And tend to. I have played many Kairosoft games over the years, starting with Game Dev Story. But it should also be stated, that these games are not good simulation games, and furthermore, all of the Kairosoft games are nearly identical. I'm going to go through specifically what I do not like about that are different about this iteration on...
Steam reviews, mixed to its ratio and rotated daily. Opinions are theirs.
No data upstream: critic score (Metacritic).
Cite this score
The Manga Works scores 27/100 on the BANG Score (a skip) as of Oct 19, 2026. The BANG Score rates what a game is worth for the money. Via Steam BANGERS. https://steambangers.com/game/1921770/the-manga-worksReviews set the ceiling, and price against real length moves the BANG Score inside it. How it works, and where it is weak → Steam reviews as of Oct 2, price as of Oct 18. A number here look wrong? Tell me and I will check the inputs.