Hey guys,
What are the best management sims around these days? Ive got a lot of time to fill and I really enjoy the genre.
Ive played all the football managers, Hot springs story, Game dev story, Pizza something (i forget), Rollercoaster tycoon all versions. Those are what I can remember off the top of my head.
I would prefer games that have graphics rather than spreadsheets, as Im kinda burnt out on number crunching Football manager. (114 hours played on 2011. I think I got my £29.99s worth)
Thanks in advance
Merx
The best Management Sims?
Do you like managing creatures, too? If you've never played Dungeon Keeper before there's a great version of it over on Good Old Games for like, $5.99. I suppose there might not be enough micromanagement in it for you to enjoy it as you would those other games you mentioned but it's the only other game I can think of that's even remotely similar. Basically you dig a dungeon, build rooms to attract a variety of creatures, train them and ultimately defeat the heroes of the level with the aid of traps and spells.
Keep in mind that it's a game from 1997 and the graphics look like 1997. Just remember to press alt+R to up the resolution if you end up getting the game, makes it a little more manageable (hah, the pun!).
While I'm on the subject of Bullfrog, you might want to check out Theme Hospital as well. Another old game that might fit your interests more. I don't know where to get it though, but I seem to recall seeing it on PSN a while ago?
Ah yeah, Ive played Theme hospital. That was a great game. I remember having it on PS1, and my flatmate discovered his disc of it not long ago.
Ive never tried Dungeon Keeper but Ill give it a go.
Any other suggestions are welcome. Especially ones where you build a small buisness into a big one.
@Merx: Does it have to be a business? Sounds like you might actually enjoy something along the lines of Civilization V, I know I've spent countless hours on that game.
@Merx said:
114 hours played on 2011.
Weakling ;)
- But let's see. There's SimGolf, where you build and manage your own golf course, and even get to play on it. It's old but I still like to play it from time to time.
- SimCity is a given.
- I guess the Harvest Moon series could be considered a sort of farming sim, though it is very unique.
- Uplink is a very unrealistic, but extremely fun and nervewracking hacking sim. I've spent many, many hours on it.
- I would consider the Tropico games as being sims. Rule and manage your own island, including setting government policies and laws, dealing with foreign governments and internal strife, all the while trying to get re-elected.
- There's John Deere: American Farmer. Not that bad actually, but if you have absolutely no interest in managing a farm, you should probably stay away.
- Then there's Chocolatier, and its sequel. It's basically you developing your own chocolates and selling them all over the world. It has mini-games you have to play every time you want to develop a new chocolate though.
- Those are the ones I can remember from the top of my head.
You should take a look at Evil Genius. Similar to Dungeon Keeper but with James Bond villainy. I believe it can be found on Steam but I'm not bothering to double-check.
The Anno series is also extreamly good, Anno 1404 being brilliant.
Sim City is an obvious one, but the latest one (societies) being pretty poor in my eyes, leaving Sim City 4 quite old.
If you do like the Sim City games then the Cities XL series might be something to look at, CitiesXL 2011 is a very good looking game, and the first in the series City Life also has some interesting mechanics with citizen types, which kinda reminded me abit of Constructor, which is also a brilliant golden oldie, you would need a dos solution for that though, something like DosBox, which you could also use to play the original Hospital Tycoon,SimTower and Theme Park games.
And kudos to PeguinDust, Evil Genius is amazing, and yes it is available on Steam.
I've been playing Anno 1404 (with the Venice expansion pack) plus Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 and they've been really entertaining, especially the former. There's a surprising amount of things to do in Anno 1404 since they've got a built in achievement system in it too.
I played that on the PC and hated it. Its too much finance and not enough ride building. That might just be me though.Theme Park World for the PS2 is slighlty dated but its a great great game, and dirt cheap too.
+1 for Recettear and Evil Genius. Evil Genius is one of my all time favourite games, and you can find it on Steam for pretty cheap.
Hey guys.
Thanks for everyones input
I'm gonna give Anno 1404 and Tropico 2 Pirates Cove a go. They both look to offer what Im after. And although Ive never tried to format of Dungeon Keeper/Evil Genius, I will give them a go at a later date.
On a side note, since many of you may have played it, did anybody find in Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 a strange problem/bug where the crowds pathfinding seemed to break after a while, so they wouldn't go on rides or even down certain bits of path. Its difficult to explain but if you experianced it you will know what I mean.
@Merx said:
@Aeterna: How is the AI bad? We talking game breaking? I was considering giving it a go.
I would say so, the AI's are all in beta afaik and... most don't even work. There'll be one that'll just do trucks/trains etc, those I remember atleast surviving, the rest just... well, bankrupted.
That's why I would tell you to get Transport Tycoon Deluxe and then you can simply copy over the files, at least for the music and graphics I remember. This has been quite a while, so this may not be true anymore.
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