Reign as a Tycoon Champion with Our #12 Must-Play Games

Top 12 Best Tycoon Games to Kill Time

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Video games have the unique ability to test our decision and problem-solving skills. No other genre does this as well as tycoon games. These building and management titles can be highly addictive, so we’ve assembled the best tycoon games that will surely get you hooked in 2021.

1. Cities Skylines

Get immersed in the thrill and hardships of running your very own modern city. Cities Skylines is one of the best tycoon games because of its traffic simulations and day-night cycles that make every playthrough realistic. Put your city management skills to the test with some of the most challenging gameplay the genre has to offer.

platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Switch

Features

• Realistic traffic simulations take immersion to the next level
• Day and night cycles bring your city to life
• Districts allow you to set up unique policies that raise your prestige as Mayor

2. Two Point Hospital

If you ever wondered what it was like running a hospital, now you can find out. Two Point Hospital gives you the tools to design and run high-tech hospitals where the unpredictable is a lab accident away. What makes this one of the best tycoon games to play in 2021 is its brilliantly wacky humor and a near-infinite number of incidents to manage.

platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Switch

Features

• Build a hospital that can be as brilliant or diabolical as you are
• Cure a limitless array of crazy diseases and ailments
• Push your ingenuity to the limit as you improve every aspect of your healthcare enterprise

3. Planet Coaster

Unleash your creativity in an industry simulation that will literally take you on a wild ride. Planet Coaster is the best tycoon game for building your dream theme park featuring the most insane gravity-defying rollercoasters ever. Enjoy the thrill of entertaining and delighting hundreds of visitors with your vision of the ultimate amusement park.

platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Features

• Build the complete theme park of your dreams
• Design the craziest rollercoasters and rides that tower over a landscape terraformed to your vision
• Take your creativity to the next level with the Thememaker’s Toolkit to add custom 3D models to your park

4. Game Dev Tycoon

We’ve got games about building stuff from cities to themes parks. But what about a game where you manage a company that makes games? Game Dev Tycoon is the ultimate meta tycoon game where you’ll create the next best-selling games of all time. Research and invest in the latest tech trends until you’ve become the world’s leading games studio.

platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, Android, iOS

Features

• Take a trip through gaming history from the wild west days of the 80s all the way into the modern era
• Grow a games studio filled with talented staff and innovative ideas
• Design and develop games your way by making decisions from areas of focus to technologies used

5. Satisfactory

So far, all of the titles in our best tycoon games list give you a bird’s eye view of your ventures. Satisfactory puts you right where the action is, overseeing work through your own two eyes. Outside of building and managing your own space factory, you’ll explore an alien planet and maybe fight a few creatures here and there.

platforms: PC

Features

• Overcome the alien landscape by building massively expansive factories
• Master the art of the conveyor belt with unique high-tech machinery
• Explore an alien world filled with dangerous encounters and rich resources

6. Industries of Titan

Unleash your inner CEO by setting up shop in the resource-rich moon of Saturn, Titan. Through your relentless management savvy, you’ll take humanity to the next frontier as you build the ultimate space-based city-corporation while fighting against any and all competitors.

platforms: PC

Features

• Go deeper than the surface of your buildings by constructing internal structures and devices
• Combine city and corporate management skills with strategic military prowess
• Strike a balance between your workers’ needs, the Council, and your city…or strongarm them all under the might of your tyranny

7. Tropico 6

Rule a tropical island paradise with an iron fist in this highly decorated city management title. In Tropico 6, you’ll step into the shiny shoes of El Presidente where you’ll once again be choosing between the path of the dictator and that of a true statesman. The fate of your people across four different eras rests in your hands.

platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Switch

Features

• Experience a true challenge by managing multiple islands at the same time
• Design and build the world’s most intricate and varied transportation network
• Get political by making grand speeches and sending your confidants out on international raids

8. Prison Architect

We know you can run a business and a city in your sleep. If you’re ready for a true challenge, though, you’ll want to check out Prison Architect. In this unique tycoon game, you’ll design and build your own prison layout filled with inmates and guards, all of which need tending to. This brilliantly fun title has a host of intertwining mechanics that’ll keep you busy for hours.

platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Android, iOS

Features

• Design your own unique inmate confinements
• Construct layouts that keep the flow of ruthless criminals moving smoothly
• Strike a balance by running a tight ship while remaining ethical and humane

9. Jurassic World Evolution

Let’s face it. We’d all love to run our very own Jurassic Park, even if it means getting our heads bitten off. Jurassic World Evolution is the best tycoon game to capture that exact feeling. Take charge of the most legendary of movie parks and try your hand at conquering nature’s most terrifying creatures.

platforms: : PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch

Features

• Balance between managing science, entertainment, and security of your dino park
• Set your giants lizards loose on park-goers and watch the ensuing chaos
• Manage all of the business logistics of running a park filled with dinosaurs of all sorts, from docile longnecks to T-Rexes

10. Megaquarium

Put the majesty of the ocean on display in your very own aquarium empire. Megaquarium deserves a spot in our best tycoon games list by virtue of its unique premise. From designing sealife displays to managing staff within a positive working environment, there won’t be a day when things aren’t going to get a bit fishy.

platforms: PC, Mac, Linux

Features

• Grow your aquatic business from humble beginnings to a full-blown empire
• Assign your team to research new animals to impress your guests and keep them coming back
• Keep your eye firmly on the bottom line with detailed finance reports

11. Big Pharma

Medicine is big business but staying at the top can be tough going. As the manager of a startup pharmaceutical, you’ll set your sights on taking the industry by storm. Big Pharma is a tycoon game about changing lives through the management of all-star employees as well as the development and distribution of life-saving drugs.

platforms: PC, Mac, Linux

Features

• Start from the bottom as a budding startup and rise to the top of the pharmaceutical game
• Compete against rival companies in the race towards the cure to some of humanity’s worst ailments
• Make the game your own through a smorgasbord of community-made mods

12. Frostpunk

Anyone can manage a city under near-ideal situations. It’s a whole other ball game when the setting is a frozen post-apocalyptic future. Frostpunk is more than just a tycoon game; it’s a dark survival management game where keeping the generators running is key to keeping your civilians warm and healthy. Your problem-solving skills under dire situations will be tested to the limit.

platforms: PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, Android, iOS

Features

• Immerse yourself in a dark dystopian future where every decision comes with a heavy price
• Set the boundaries of the law so that the needs of the many are put ahead of those of the few
• Walk across a thin line where you’ll regularly be challenged whether to rule with an iron fist or through warm compassion

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

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