I’ve met my fair share of gamers who look at Tycoon games and cringe with distaste. Where’s the excitement? Where’s the action? Well I can tell you, managing a fictional park in Roller Coaster Tycoon, or a virtual family in the Sims isn’t a piece of cake, but man is it awesome when things go well.
Teaching Gamers Business Management
I kid you not, playing these Tycoon games as a child gave me a macro-insight into how a franchise and businesses actually function. I branched into Tycoon games such as Fast Food Tycoon, Mall Tycoon, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Game Dev Tycoon, and even Zoo Tycoon.
You know what these games taught me? Managing anything is difficult, and sometimes you have to plan things out on a time-schedule, and things must be done based on necessity. The games listed above come with scenarios to put yourself in, a budget to work with, and even social requirements to heighten the difficulty. That sounds like life to me.
Slight academic advantage
I look back on my years playing these Tycoon games, and the business practices and ideologies I’m learning in college are mentioned briefly within the games. I feel as though I have some sort of advantage in understanding this course work because of games I played a decade ago, back before the thought of majoring in Business Management hadn’t even crossed my mind. The advantage I feel is only so slight, but it’s nice going into a class with a comprehension of the basics and working up from there.
Give me Roller Coaster Tycoon: World
The main focus for my hype about this new installment (outside of the gameplay and additions) is the ability to experience the game using what I’ve learned in college. Rarely do you get to play a game with prior insight to how it should operate correctly. For example, in the Assassin’s Creed series, I never had thorough prior knowledge about historical parts of Italy to use as a reference for the authenticity of the game.
That being said, some of my excitement is reserved for the new additions that have never been used in the earlier installments of Roller Coaster Tycoon. A major add-on is the multiplayer mode, where you can own a park with friends and even compete online. Also, the new graphics are more appealing than the bit ones in the previous Tycoon games I’ve played.
When can I get this sweet game?
Roller Coaster Tycoon: World has no set-in-stone release date on their website or Steam, but it will be available sometime in 2015. Once it’s out I promise a great review from a long-time Tycoon fan.
