Hockey Coach Dynasty

You are the coach, not the general manager. Hockey Coach Dynasty is a text-first coaching career simulator. You build the lineup, set the systems, run training, handle the press and answer to the board — and every decision lands somewhere you can read it: in the game log, the box score, a player's journal, the assistant's weekly notes, or the letter that tells you a club has been watching.

Start at the bottom. Climb the whole ladder. Begin in US high-school hockey or North American AAA 18U and work up through junior, college, semi-pro and professional hockey — 140 leagues, 2,109 clubs, 69 countries — with promotion and relegation, job offers, sackings, and summers when nobody calls. Every bench in the world has a named coach who is judged the way you are.

A game night is a night of decisions. Set the lines and special teams, pick the forecheck and the defensive system, read the matchup, then coach the game live: two intermissions in the room with real adjustments and their costs, one trainer call per break, and the coach's moments — one big shot, one crease read, one fight a night where you make the read before the puck leaves the stick. Or simulate it and read the sheet.

Build people, not just rosters. Development projects with a real capacity — your staff can only carry so many — a four-weekly review from the development coach, and a journal on every player: what you opened, what changed, what the summer delivered. Recruiting, scouting with provenance on every number, contracts, trades, the draft, waivers, free agency.

Money is finite. Ten facility tracks with real effects, ten budget lines, full season books, ticket pricing, sponsors, loans and transfer windows. A club that cannot afford the hire does not make it, and the refusal tells you the figures.

A world that moves without you. Coaches are sacked, hired and poached every summer. Clubs move divisions, relocate and expand. International tournaments and continental competition run on their own calendar. Rivalries have history. Your saves are deterministic, versioned, checksummed and backed up: the same seed and the same decisions produce the same season, every time.

Make it yours. Every league, club and player name is editable. Steam Workshop name packs let the community give the world any names it likes — build one from your career and publish it in two clicks. Original crests, colours and sweaters for every club; procedural faces for every player; re-skin the whole interface from a JSON file.

Watch it, or don't. The live game is a real-time 2D telecast driven by the actual simulation — skaters, puck, shot lanes, goal replays — with a no-GPU accessible view, three themes, high-contrast and colour-blind modes, UI scaling, keyboard remapping, controller navigation and a layout built for 1280×800 first.

Features

140 leagues, 2,109 clubs, 69 countries; start in high school or AAA 18U and climb

A named head coach on every bench, reviewed every summer: sackings, poaching, offers, Coach of the Year

Lines, special teams, forecheck and defensive systems with measured costs and payoffs

Coach the game live: intermission adjustments, the trainer's call, and the coach's moments

Development projects with capacity, four-weekly reviews and a journal for every player

Recruiting, scouting with provenance, contracts, trades, the draft, waivers, free agency

Facilities, budgets, season books, sponsors, ticket pricing, loans, transfer windows

Board goals set each season and judged at its end

International tournaments and continental competition; promotion and relegation

Steam Workshop name packs, a free editor and a club identity studio; every name editable

Live 2D telecast with an accessible fallback; three themes, high contrast, colour-blind modes

Deterministic, versioned, recoverable saves; Steam Cloud; 51 achievements

Controller navigation, UI scaling and a 1280×800-first layout for Steam Deck

What this game is not

Not a 3D physics hockey game. No licensed leagues, clubs or players — the world is fictional, set in real places, and the names are yours to change. Single-player only. English only at launch.