this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2025
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Tycoon Games

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All things "Tycoon" games. Park building, zoo building, business building simulations. Any games related to management, financial growth and economic strategy.

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What separates city builders from tycoon games? (ani.social)
submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Is a city builder a subset of tycoon game that just focuses on managing a city or some other polity? Is a tycoon game a city builder except it’s open to you managing something that isn’t a town/city/state?

Crossposted to [email protected] here. (My instance would not give me the little Crossposted thing when this little bit wasn't edited in and the posts were identical but in separate communities, so I figured I'd just do it myself. Wonder if this is just a my instance deal or if it happened for everyone. And if it happened for everyone, wonder if crossposting only gets auto-shown if it is a link post, and what the requirements are in general to make crossposting automatically show up.)

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I think tycoon is basically an "capital economy game". City builders can contain some economy stuff in them, but they can also don't and focus on other aspects (like frostpunk which is about managing people and survival for example)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

So basically we could absolutely have a clearly recognizable city builder in the absence of a money system in-game (even if thinly replaced with reputation or something that still gates progress just like most games would with money)? Maybe even one on the barter system, while you could not do the same with a tycoon game?

Okay, now I am thinking of a possible game where you are trying to have the best business before we invented money, and you have to barter for upgrades. Would this not be a tycoon game? Although you could argue that while this isn't money, it is the lead up to it, and such a game is still centering economic exchange with the purpose of growing a business. (But then again, in city builders, don't you have to manage income and expenditure of different resources, often including money, with the purpose of growing your settlement?)

Also, I cannot think of one off the top of my head right now but I am pretty sure there are tycoon games where you manage people/employees too, not sure if there are any where you worry about survival though.

Sorry if this comes off combative and contradictory, I really just mean it to be a nice friendly discussion.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

So basically we could absolutely have a clearly recognizable city builder in the absence of a money system in-game

Not only can we, this is the main way I’ve been playing city builders for a long time! Ever since Sim City 2000, I’ve turned the money off or made it not matter.