Canine Derby Manager

While not awful, it needs some QOL tweaks. No pause button to assess your situation between races, no increase in either ranked purchasing or training, hitting escape completely exits the game meaning no other method to get back to the options menu. I love the idea, I love dogs. I'm going to give it a thumbs up for the premise and hope improvement continues.

Dog game.

1/10

Canine Derby Manager is a really cute management game, and I liked the idea of running a dog racing kennel much more than I expected to. Instead of controlling the dogs directly during races, I am responsible for finding promising puppies, training them properly and trying to build a successful kennel. I enjoyed how the game turns something as simple as raising dogs into a proper management challenge. The main gameplay revolves around balancing training, energy and each dog's individual strengths. Every dog has different attributes, potential and personality traits, so I cannot treat the entire kennel exactly the same way. I liked having to think about which dogs need more attention and which training choices are actually worth the energy cost. Pushing a dog too hard can lead to burnout, which makes training feel more thoughtful than simply clicking the strongest option repeatedly. The racing itself is also satisfying because all the preparation finally gets put to the test. I can work my way through the different leagues, study the competition and decide how aggressively I want to prepare my dogs. Watching a dog I have spent time training perform well on the track gives the prog…