Games Like Theme Park Tycoon That Should Have Sequels

Games like Theme Park Tycoon gain cult followings even among non-gamers. Building and managing mega structures draws players in, but good tutorials and beginner scenarios make them stay for hours or even years. A great tycoon game like RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 lets players get creative and lay out their parks and cities how they want, regardless of efficiency.

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By  Megan Smith

Once players pass the simple stage, complex management mechanics keep them locked in. While games like SimCity and Theme Park Tycoon get sequels, not every great tycoon game or business/building sim gets a follow-up, even if they deserve a second chance or a refresh.

10 Cities XL

Focused More On City Planning And Development Than Simulation

City management enthusiasts who love big cities have a soft spot for Cities XL and its subsequent games. Cities XL lived up to its name by offering players huge populations and tiered development options. Building, zoning, and road placement are 100% in the player’s hands, but they must account for the effect social classes have on their city’s RCI zones.

Unfortunately, it was marred by bugs, a disruptive online subscription model, and poor developer response to community concerns. In the hands of another developer, a Cities XL sequel could provide a decent alternative city building sim focused on city planning and development.

9 SimTower: The Vertical Empire

Building An Empire Into The Sky

SimTower was a straightforward building sim that got gamers to think vertically. Figuring out which facilities worked together and filling gaps between rooms was critical to making the tower profitable. So was elevator management, since poor pathing can drastically reduce cash flow.

Sites that host illegal copies of DOS games still have SimTower in circulation, but finding a legal copy that works without a lot of searching is next to impossible. It's not hard to imagine an updated SimTower sequel that allows mixed-use zoning selling well to fans old and new alike.

8 Sid Meier’s Railroads!

The Successor To Railroad Tycoon That Leans Into Economics

Sid Meier’s Railroads! Offers a lot for a train sim. With careful strategy, extra elements like the stock market or owning industries can be safely ignored to funnel all investments into building train routes. Paying attention to cargo rates and values, plus building train routes strategically, results in more money to build railroads that are satisfying to watch.

A mobile port of Railroads! Came out in 2023, but no sequel is in sight. The port’s success may stir interest in a sequel though, and barring that, games like Transport Fever 2, Mini Metro, and Railroader can hold over train sim enthusiasts.

7 Dungeon Keeper

Foil Adventurers And Grow A Dungeon Worthy Of An Evil Lord

Playing as a bad guy was a treat back in the 90s, and Dungeon Keeper allowed gamers to live the life of a dungeon boss. Players use imps and other creatures to dig out a sprawling underground lair, manage rivaling species to effectively sic them on invading heroes, lay traps, make sacrifices, and foil other dungeon keepers’ plans. Multiplayer modes also allow gamers to compete or team up against each other in 15 different levels.

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There are dozens of dungeon-making games that find their roots in Dungeon Keeper’s RTS dungeon management mechanics and dark humor, but, aside from its 3D sequel, it has no true successors, as its 2014 installment is only a sequel in name. For now, fans can try the upcoming Dungeon Tycoon, where they’ll foil adventurers to grow their evil dungeon business, but it is not a true sequel either.

6 GearCity

10-Year-Old Business Simulator Still Going Strong

Car enthusiasts who’ve always dreamed of running a car company but don’t have the capital to do so can take on the challenge in GearCity instead. Marketing itself as a complex business simulator, GearCity covers all aspects of managing a car company.

Virtual CEOs have to account for their car designs and factory workflow, dealership and marketing, financial systems, and funding their racing team. While the game still works, a sequel could do wonders for its cars and user interface. Developer VENT can partner with other studios to update its visuals while maintaining ownership over its brilliant simulation.

5 Ceasar 3

Complex But Rewarding City Management & Diplomacy

Caesar 3 commands players to master road planning, supply chain management, diplomacy, emergency response, and siege defense. To avoid overwhelming players, Career Mode starts them as citizens in the Roman Empire. Ranks of citizen to architect or governor teach players how to plan cities and resources, manage boons or challenges from the gods, and start military campaigns.

To this day, players still go back to Caesar 3. The precise combination of mechanics and difficulty curve, along with its semi-fantastical elements, is difficult to find elsewhere. A Caesar 5 can build on what the first three games in the series introduced, and improve upon what 4 tried to introduce.

4 The Movies

Become A Producer, Director, Writer, And Movie Studio Owner

In The Movies, players get the full experience of becoming the owner of a movie studio. They'll need to manage stars’ health, skills, and addictions, find staff with great stats and genre specializations, and balance the budget for building a good studio lot. Creative players can also use the Advanced Movie-Maker to plug custom scripts and make truly unique films.

Sadly, the only simulator games to come close to all the ground that The Movies ambitiously attempted to cover are Blockbuster Inc., Hollywood Animal, and Movie Tycoon. Each game shares elements with The Movies, and Movie Tycoon in particular looks similar to Lionhead Studios’ work.

3 Capitalism 2

Used By Stanford & Harvard To Teach Economics

Capitalism 2 starts players off with a simple retail store and teaches them how to stock it, select suppliers, price goods, and sell to a bigger clientele. It then expands to land value and store location, client demographics, production costs, training, advertisement, freight, and more. Capitalism 2 is complex enough that university professors use it to teach economics in MBA-level courses.

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By  Rhenn Taguiam

Capitalism 2 designer Trevor Chan never got the chance to make Capitalism 3 under Ubisoft. Instead, he independantly made Capitalism Lab, an expansion of Capitalism 2. Chan, with a bigger team, can move this spreadsheet tycoon classic into Unity or Unreal Engine for a modern look with quality of life improvements.

2 Patrician (Series)

Historical Empire Management, Trading, And Strategy Simulator

History and city-building sim fans have a lot to bond over through The Patrician series. Countries in the Hanseatic League are thrown under the spotlight, as are 1300s trade conditions, piracy, and politics. On the gameplay side, every sequel features visual improvements, positive adjustments to profitable goods and general game balancing, events with consequences, and better AI.

However, as a consequence of its straightforward gameplay, the series ended with 2010’s Patrician 4. A sequel may find a new audience now, with new stylized historical dramas populating streaming services, and historical simulation games like Anno 1800 and Victoria 2 still doing well.

1 OpenTTD

20-Year-Old Game Developed By Loving And Dedicated Fans

OpenTTD gives players the ultimate transportation tycoon experience. From 1950 to 2050, players link cities, resources, and industries through land, air, and sea. To do that, they need to design transport infrastructure that delivers cargo on time, improve their rail and vehicles, and do a little bit of terraforming.

It’s undeniable that OpenTTD is the default business simulation game for players who want to build their ideal train network. The remake of Transport Tycoon Deluxe has been in open-source development for 20 years, and its dedicated community is proof of that. If its community ever starts work on a sequel, it can modernize its look, formally incorporate some must-have player mods, and continue developing that game for another 20 or more years, just like they have with the current release.

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The Best Free Simulation Games On Steam

Simulation games range from relaxing life sims to high-stakes war games. Luckily, Steam's free offerings span all the genre has to offer.

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By  Rie Takumi