Everyone
ESRB Rating
Genre
Perspective
Non-Sport
82
MobyRank
100 point score based on reviews from various critics.
4.0
MobyScore
5 point score based on user ratings.

Description

Ever had the urge to open an amusement park and create some wicked rollercoasters? Here is your chance! Rollercoaster Tycoon is an real-time isometric amusement park simulation. Create rollercoasters from over 50 designs, from classic wooden coasters to modern steel coasters in/around/through your park, as well as plenty of other attractions like miniature railways, boat hires, maze, slides, and more. Don't swing the guests too hard or they will become nauseus, but if you don't swing them enough it's not exciting. You need to tread the fine balance in your coaster design. For those who can't handle coasters, a set of less-intense rides like swinging ship or scrambled eggs may suit their needs. Or for the the truly timid, try slides and ferris wheel. Serve the customers' needs with restrooms, food (many different types from pizza to burger, fries to ice cream) and drink stalls, info kiosks, even balloon stands. Design the paths so customers don't get lost. Hire the staff to keep things running (engineers), clean (custodians) and safe (security guards). Beautify the place with flowers and plants, fountains and bench seats, lamps and signs, and more. Design how long you want to wait queue to be for a ride. Track EACH guest's feeling throughout the park and take surveys to find areas of improvement. Set prices for admission and/or for each and every ride. Remember, a happy customer spends more money! Can you build your park without going into bankruptcy? Comes with many scenarios. Winning each gains you access to tougher scenarios. Some have very little land, others have existing structures you must renovate. All are challenging.

Alternate Titles

  • "过山车大亨" -- Chinese title (Simplified)
  • "White Knuckle" -- Working title
  • "RCT" -- Common abbreviation
  • "Guoshanche Daheng" -- Chinese title

Part of the Following Groups


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User Reviews

Please someone pull me away from this game. I cant stop playing! William Shawn McDonie Bronze Star Contributing Member (1163) 5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars
If it were up to me, it would be game of the year for at *least* three years! Meg C (7) 4.75 Stars4.75 Stars4.75 Stars4.75 Stars4.75 Stars
Addictive, brillant, fun, better than most of the $@%# out today... The Imperial Darkhorse (131) 5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars
Simple, elegant, and (most importantly) fun! Afterburner (478) 4.25 Stars4.25 Stars4.25 Stars4.25 Stars4.25 Stars
(One part Bullfrog's Theme Park + One part Disney's Coaster ) over Micrpose's Transport Tycoon's Interface = Rollar Coaster Tycoon and a lot of fun Andrew Grasmeder (206) 4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars
Everything one could want in a theme-park simulation Null McNull (29) 5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars
Greatness takes time. Horny-Bullant (59) 4.5 Stars4.5 Stars4.5 Stars4.5 Stars4.5 Stars
A great way to kill time Jennifer Johnson (15) 5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars
A terrific, classic game any gamer will be addicted to Rick Jones (108) 4.75 Stars4.75 Stars4.75 Stars4.75 Stars4.75 Stars
One of the best games ever!! Wolfang (136) 5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars

The Press Says

Game Revolution Mar 01, 1999 A 100
GameGenie 1999 5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars 100
FiringSquad Apr 30, 1999 90 out of 100 90
PC Player (Denmark) 1999 9 out of 10 90
PC Gameplay (Benelux) May, 1999 85 out of 100 85
GameStar (Germany) Mar, 1999 79 out of 100 79
JeuxVideoPC.com Oct 08, 2001 15 out of 20 75
Jeuxvideo.com Jun 01, 1999 15 out of 20 75
All Game Guide 1999 3 Stars3 Stars3 Stars3 Stars3 Stars 60
WomenGamers.com Jun 02, 2000 3 out of 10 30

Forums

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Trivia

RCT's format is to give you five possible scenarios to play. Each time you successfully complete a scenario, a new scenario becomes available. Interestingly, there is no "sandbox mode" (i.e a blank landscape where you can simply build an amusement park without having to worry about meeting scenario requirements) until you complete all the scenarios. Once you complete all the scenarios, a "Megapark" scenario becomes available. Equally interesting, and running completely counter to prevailing marketing wisdom in the computer game industry, RCT doesn't come with a scenario editor. This has prompted the fans of the game to make up for these perceived deficiencies, and there are 3rd-party, fan-created programs available on the Internet that will let you play any scenario, or let you play in unrestricted sandbox mode, or let you create your own scenarios.

But for reasons which have never been adequately explained (at least, not that I've seen), Chris Sawyer seems to really really dislike 3rd-party, fan-created add-ons to Roller Coaster Tycoon. He regularly puts out patch updates for the game, many of which serve no other purpose than to defeat the 3rd-party, fan-created programs. Of course, the same fans who created the 3rd-party programs in the first place quickly release updated versions of their programs, versions which will work around the latest patch. Thus resulting in an ongoing, never-ending war of escalation between Chris Sawyer and the fans of his game.


This entry was contributed by Brian Hirt (9991) and Kartanym Bronze Star Contributing Member (9909)
 

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