I draw the line at the point of the game.
Tycoon games are more about making money for the sake of spending that money on more things to make you money.
City Builders are more about building the city and balancing a budget.
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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This made me realize that I never played RCT for the money
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)
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.
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.
City builders have you zoning and laying down infrastructure, rather than actually building a city bit by bit. Most of what gets built is random based on zoning, taxes, land value, etc.
A tycoon game is all plopping down every single piece you want with varying degrees of background simulation that is still usually a fraction of what a city builder simulates.
IMO any city-builder that includes a big focus on "economic strategy" is close enough to be a tycoon game.
You have some city-builders that are closer to RTS or Tower Defence, I don't consider this sub-type of city-builders to be tycoon games
In my experience, in city builders you don't usually have any competition, although I think there were neighboring cities in Sim City 3000 that you had to negotiate with.
In tycoon games, you have competitors and your success depends on beating them. In the best tycoon games, you can buy your competitors' stock and profit from their effort.
In city builders, there's generally no rush - you can move at your own pace. Tycoon games don't give you that luxury - in the games that I play, you have to stay ahead of competitors and/or keep shareholders happy.
That is so interesting. In the tycoon games I have played I do not remember having competitors too often.
It might just be the ones I play; Railroad Tycoon 3, Airbucks, Detroit, etc. Edit: I forgot about the original Theme Park (by Bullfrog)