Actually Good Tycoon Games

[JarlFrank]

There have been a shitload of tycoon games in recent years. And then there's all the old classics. Some of them are meh. Some are good. Some are great.

Let's talk about the good ones in this thread.

Obviously, Rollercoaster Tycoon is the best tycoon game ever made. Lovingly crafted, so much attention to detail. It has a few clones, like Parkitect (haven't played yet), Planet Coaster (decent), Indoorlands (bought it on the current Steam sale, gotta try it out) but none manage to surpass it.

Yesterday I started playing Espresso Tycoon, which was pleasantly surprising as it actually turns out to be a cool little tycoon game. You can design your own coffees and there's plenty of management options.


What are your favorite tycoon games?
Did you recently discover something good?

 

[axx]

I enjoyed Zoo tycoon 1 and both its add-ons. It seems to be forgotten by everyone, even by Microsoft who published it back in the day but presently you can' find it in any digital store. Of all its sequels and clones, Planet zoo seems to be the best one, but I haven't tried it out yet.

Played a lot of Pizza tycoon decades ago. For some reason it's called Pizza connection in Europe and sold as such on GOG. Solid game, its two sequels seem to be crap however.

 

[pickmeister]

Anything made by Chris Sawyer (TTD, RCT, RCT2, Loco) or it's open source versions if you want those extra features like resizable windowed mode, mods etc. But if you want just the basic games, the originals are programmed so well they still work very decent on modern systems.
Zoo Tycoon 1.
And that's it. None other seem to keep my attention.
Additionally, tycoon games devs tend to not put much emphasis on graphics and instead of going for sprites like the old games, they opt for the uncanny valley cartoony 3D, which always puts me off.

Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic looks promising but I have a hard time getting into it for some reason.

 

[catfood]

Pizza Connection. Just the original, ignore the sequels.

 

[JarlFrank]

Played a lot of Pizza tycoon decades ago. For some reason it's called Pizza connection in Europe and sold as such on GOG.

lol I had a pizza tycoon game named Pizza Syndicate back in the day. Apparently, it's called Fast Food Tycoon in the US?
And it seems to be connected to Pizza Tycoon because the sequel, Pizza Syndicate 2, is also known as Pizza Tycoon 2, and Fast Food Tycoon 2.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/10363/fast-food-tycoon-2/

What the fuck, guys.
What the fuck.

 

[None]

Always enjoyed Theme Hospital. Two Point Hospital was alright as well.

 

[luj1]

Obviously, Rollercoaster Tycoon is the best tycoon game ever made.

/thread

 

[Naraya]

TTD or bust.

 

[Hace El Oso]

Railroad Tycoon 2 deserves a mention. The scenarios and campaigns are fun and interesting, figuring out the best way to make a route work (and be profitable) in difficult terrain and with imperfect equipment is engaging. The effect of the state of the economy on your company was a good idea. Trains are cool.

Additionally, tycoon games devs tend to not put much emphasis on graphics and instead of going for sprites like the old games, they opt for the uncanny valley cartoony 3D, which always puts me off.

Agreed, I can’t stand the lame cartoon 3D and since it’s the cheapest, least-demanding form of art available now it’s absolutely everywhere. A real shame.

Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic looks promising but I have a hard time getting into it for some reason.

The only real city builder to come out since Sim City 4 and very good, but unfortunately ‘getting going’ is the biggest hurdle. Sim City was always very gradual and organic, starting was easy.

 

[pickmeister]

The only real city builder to come out since Sim City 4 and very good, but unfortunately ‘getting going’ is the biggest hurdle. Sim City was always very gradual and organic, starting was easy.

I could get over a rocky start. But there were some minor details that I found extremely jarring. For example, the game is supposed to simulate/start in the 1950s. So why does every apartment have an air conditioning unit next to their window? I can't find an example anywhere now, so perhaps they fixed it at some point? Or why when I build a new bus station it's already half eaten by rust?
It felt like it's mocking what it's trying to simulate. I plan to give it another chance in any case soon, however.
Then they spend resources for Ukraine DLCs to virtue signal instead of putting in something actually impressive like Seven Sisters.
I get a feeling like they're focusing on imitating former Warsaw Pact countries and less the actual Soviet Union, which would make sense, considering the developers are Slovaks but it's also kind of a letdown. It's like having Numidia as the only playable opton in a game called Roman Republic.

EDIT: Nope, the AC units are still there..

Spoiler

And I don't understand why. It says 1960 right at the top. Are the devs such a bunch of zoomer they really have no idea? If they can't be bothered to do their research, they could just take a look at their own menu screen and see for themselves that the only thing resembling an AC unit are the cooling towers far back.

Spoiler

So is it idiocy or a bad attempt at mockery?

I'll still give the game a chance but it's a truly retarded choice.

 

[kangaxx]

RCT and RCT2 are the best as you say.

Does Sid Meier's SimGolf count? I absolutely fucking loved that game. There's a modern homage to that called GolfTopia that I think is underrated (if you like Golf).

 

[Plane Escapee]

What specifically makes a game a "tycoon" game?
I always thought of it as just one of a number of a suffixes to give a management sim but is it actually considered a subgenre with a certain subset of characteristics?

It feels wrong to call Caesar or Pharao a tycoon game but if Sim City (all builders, all sims, all have resource managment) is one I'm unsure what the cutoff point is.

 

[Reinhardt]

mercenary company tycoon aka battle brothers

 

[pickmeister]

Why do you guys consider RCT better than TTD/Loco? I might not remember it right but RCT always seemed to me more limited than TTD.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Railroad Tycoon 3 often gets overlooked.

 

[Gaznak]

Railroad Tycoon 2 and Locomotion for me.

Not great but good - Rails Across America, Transport Giant/Traffic Giant.

 

[Camel]

Airline Tycoon is a cool game.

 

[adddeed]

I dont consider SimCity a tycon game, it's city builder.

For me the best ones ive played are Sim Golf and Gangsters 1.

 

[Zewp]

Always enjoyed Theme Hospital. Two Point Hospital was alright as well.

What I didn't like about TPH was that it didn't really try to do much other than being a Theme Hospital clone. It could be great for people who never played TH, but I couldn't get into TPH because I spent too much time playing TH already.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Parkitect. Definitely give it a go, JarlFrank. It adds some cool mechanics like figuring out deliveries (not too complicated, just underground pipes iirc) and having to hide service buildings from guests.

I also had a lot of fun with SimAirport in its early access in 2019. I played it while booked off sick for a week and it was one of those games where I'd start playing in the morning and then look up and it's late afternoon. No idea what the full release is like, though. The studio's casino tycoon that they started after SimAirport seems to have failed quite hard.

 

[Alex]

What specifically makes a game a "tycoon" game?
I always thought of it as just one of a number of a suffixes to give a management sim but is it actually considered a subgenre with a certain subset of characteristics?

It feels wrong to call Caesar or Pharao a tycoon game but if Sim City (all builders, all sims, all have resource managment) is one I'm unsure what the cutoff point is.

I am not sure if people use the terminology differently, but...

I've always used the terms "tycoon game" and "business sim" as synonyms, referring to simulation games where you run a business of some kind. It is separate from city builders not only because of theme but also because of scope; a business is more focused on itself while a city builder (which don't need to be about a literal city; as is the case with Afterlife) is supposed to have more different aspects to it which you have to manage to obtain the desired effect (but since player time is limits, while you usually have more different aspects to manage on a city builder, these aspects are usually not as deep as in a tycoon game).

 

[Denim Destroyer]

I love Roller Coaster Tycoon but could never be compelled to play Parkitect despite having a much better track builder, more scenery options, and a deeper management system. Genuinely does not make sense to me.
Anyhow when it comes to tycoon games there is the aforementioned Transport Tycoon (OpenTTD), Roller Coaster Tycoon (OpenRCT), and Rail Road Tycoon 3 (never tried the others). I love this style of game so more suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

no love for simutrans? i've had it sit on my hd for years, never tried it.

 

[Shaki]

As someone who pretty much never played any of the tycoon games, are any good ones autism-heavy? I ran out of autism simulators in other genres, thought about trying this one, but at first glance all these look like casual games for normies to chill out and build shit 4fun, while I'm looking for something that requires the player to heavily optimize and plan every single move to not lose.

 

[thesecret1]

I played this one about a month ago:

It was fairly neat – nothing really complicated or groundbreaking, but still a pleasant little game. It was in need of some additional content (which they are gradually patching in despite the game not being in early access, including major changes to mechanics... No idea why they didn't just release later with all these things in, but whatever), and more difficulty since it was far too easy. Still, the progression curve was pleasant (virtually zero grinding of any sort), the mechanics were neat, and the whole game had surprising amount of detail (though a lot of it in sore need of more content, which they'll hopefully patch in soon).

Definitely not something if you want an autism-heavy or a difficult game, but a pretty good pick if you want something fun and entertaining to kill an afternoon or two with.

 

[JarlFrank]

Anyway, I really enjoyed Parkitect. Definitely give it a go, JarlFrank.

Will do, it's been on my wishlist for a while.