I feel like the type of person to like Tycoon games are ones that enjoy running businesses in real life + money. How many people actually ended up becoming business owners? Do you feel like Tycoon games influenced this desire?

I posted already today lol sorry for the spam but genuinely curious. Going first myself - I wouldn't say I'm a "successful" business owner but I am in real estate and olive oil.

Hey. Hope you don't mind me posting here, but thought this would be a good place to find some Transport Tycoon fans. It was one of my favourite games growing up, and I've built a game inspired by it that runs right here in reddit. It's currently in closed alpha, and I'm looking for people to playtest it. I think currently the core issue is it needs balancing, but that's hard to test with bots.

If you're interested please request to join the dev subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/iron_commons_dev/

* Generative AI Disclosure

I'm an experienced game dev who has been working in games long before chatgpt came along. I did however get claude to write some scripts for generating the isometric art as svgs to help me along. I had to adjust the output / recreate in Affinity to get it right, so its a mix of hand made and generated I suppose (also chatgpt for the logo, again edited in GIMP, and for the record I hate it, it's ugly...).

But they are placeholders, I plan on paying an artist to replace them in time. Claude also helped with the HTML/CSS parts of the UI as my web dev skills are not strong. But programming is my thing really, I just used it to fill in the gaps, so don't judge too harshly :)

Hi tycoon community!

It's been a while since our last post, and we're back with some news! Many Redditors across different communities have been asking for Sandbox Mode in our city-building and economic strategy game, Age After Age. So we've added it to our demo! Feel free to try it out and share your feedback.

We've also updated the UI in preparation for upcoming controller support.

Right now, you can play a short Story Mode, Challenges (including Steampunk steam pressure management), and Sandbox Mode:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/438570/Age_After_Age_Demo/

And there's more! We've released a new gameplay video and would love to hear your thoughts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLfBWqYj_xE

Disclaimer: No AI was used in the making of this game. All art, code and assets are fully human made, same as localization of pages(game is still in process).

Thanks!
Farom Studio Team

This is completely subjective - it doesn't have to be in absolute terms. For example when I was 13 or 14, I thought Railroad Tycoon 2 was pretty difficult.

Hey everyone, Alex here, undiagnosed autistic train lover / tycoon / city builder and amateur developer

I started making Subway Tycoon back in July. Its heavily inspired by Mini Metro/ City Skyline and Transport Fever. What I originally had envisioned as a mobile game quickly became a browser game.

The gist of it is to start a Subway Company and start and manage a company in real world cities and by recreating real world routes and manage increasing passenger demand. Some features include:

• 3D trains
• 2.5D Buildings and Maps
• Career level from 1-10 with each level bringing new features
• 3 different train types to pick from
• over 50 different contracts to complete
• Atlanta / Copenhagen / Amsterdam / Caracas - Toronto and London all playable.
• Online leaderboard to compete with friends
• Demand and Disruption random events

Its definitely a work in progress and I would really appreciate any and all feedback. My hope is to continue working on it and release a full version which will have more features and more maps with more play time!

Please leave any feedback here or on itch and if youd like to checkout the website its:

Subwaytycoon.com

V1.3: Major Update - Removal of AI / Addition of 3D models and more.
AI Disclosure:

AI-generated artwork, visual assets, 3D models, and written content have been removed or replaced with independently sourced, licensed, or developer-directed alternatives. Game design, gameplay systems, balancing, progression, maps, user experience, creative direction, testing, and final implementation decisions were made and reviewed by the developer.

AI has been used throughout development to assist with programming, debugging, technical implementation.

AI Audio - Currently is in the game but I am working on removing it as we speak!

First Party is a tycoon about running a games company. You can start in any year from 1980 to 2025 and play on to 2050.

• The real industry happens around you: real games and consoles, and the real news, from the 1983 crash to the 2025 tariffs and the AI boom's memory crunch. Events move your market, so a recession or a chip shortage hits your sales and costs.
• You make games, but you can also design your own consoles: pick the chips, lay out the board, pass the heat test, choose the case size, then fight the platform wars.
• Publish in boxes, on digital stores, free to play, take a subscription deal, or open your own store.
• The screen changes with the era, and so does the news: The Cartridge on a felt desk in 1983, the Scanlines magazine in 1995, savepoint.net in 2008, the Daily Quest app in 2017, and The Render, an AI feed over a small generated world, from 2025.

It's heading to Steam Early Access (Mac and Windows), Mobile version coming soon. I'd love to hear what you'd want from a games-industry tycoon that the others don't.

Disclaimer: Ai was used for development

I hate when games play themselves.

In a lot of sims you somehow know exactly what your competitors are doing. What everyone thinks of you. Even what will happen before you make a decision.

So how much should a sim tell you before it stops being fun to figure things out yourself? Any sims that got this really right or really wrong?

Longer version below if you're curious.

I want to experiment and figure things out. Sometimes make terrible decisions because I didn't know enough. Something a bit closer to how business actually works.

Don't get me wrong. I love numbers. But in real life I mostly have my own. Sales, conversions and that kind of thing. I dont have stats on what competitors are planning or what clients really think of me. I have to figure it out by talking to people.

So I'm building Red Creek. A Western business sim/RPG.

It's a hobby project next to my day job. I have a master's in economics and spent 13 years as a startup CEO and advisor. Before that I worked with government data modelling. So I've probably gone a bit overboard on the economy 😅

The model is built around 180+ townspeople. Each has their own money, job, business, family, assets, motivations and relationships. They make decisions on their own and stuff happens whether you're involved or not. You can influence how things turn out though. Right now there are 23 in the game for testing. Build housing and create jobs and more people move in.

But you don't get to see the model.

You only know what you see or hear and what you manage to figure out.

Say a merchant is desperate for cash. If you find out you might be able to help him or negotiate a better deal. Or take advantage of it. If you never find out those options don't show up.

The journal keeps track of what you've learned and the ledger keeps track of your money. I don't expect people to remember every conversation. But you won't get popups or relationship scores explaining what's going on.

You can build businesses, trade, speculate, invest, work for people, become a criminal, or live in the desert with only your pet turtle for company. Personally I play toward money and influence until I can shape how the town grows. But that's just me.

There aren't really any rails. Unless you build a railroad.

I keep going back and forth on how much to tell players. I want mistakes to happen because you don't have all the information. But I don't want people spending hours wondering what the hell just happened.

So yeah. Where would you draw the line?

AI disclosure: I am new to game development, Blender and Unity so I use AI to help with coding, generating and refining some game graphics and polishing dialogue for those characters who need better English articulation than I can provide of course I am reviewing everything (most of the fun in building it is when everything clicks, dont want to miss those moments). I use it to improve my English, including this post, since it is not my first language. The economic model, game design and ideas are my own.

I'm looking for games where you are managing something, be it an empire or a zoo. I remember playing a zoo tycoon game when I was younger that I liked. I'm a big fan of eu4 and those paradox games but really looking for something where you manage some sort of business or empire. Always though a criminal empire game would be cool if you know of any like that.

I'm currently developing an early-stage mining/quarry management game and wanted to gauge interest in the concept.

Think somewhere between Out of Ore and Captain of Industry, but with a stronger emphasis on actual excavation, earthmoving and running a mining company.

The main ideas are:

• Deformable terrain: Dig quarries, excavate benches, create haul roads and physically reshape the landscape.
• Autonomous machinery: Rather than manually driving everything, assign excavators and haul trucks to jobs and manage their operations.
• Business progression: Start with a small operation, take contracts, buy equipment and eventually expand into multiple sites.
• Logistics and processing: Manage stockpiles, material transport, crushing and washing plants.
• Realistic challenges: Ground conditions, weather, drainage, vehicle maintenance and operational costs, with adjustable difficulty.

The game is already in early technical development, with a working excavation and autonomous hauling prototype. It's nowhere near a finished game yet.

I'm curious about three things:

1. Would you actually play something like this?
2. Would the lack of manual vehicle driving be a dealbreaker?
3. What's one feature you'd love to see in a game like this?

I'm not advertising or selling anything. Just looking for honest feedback from people who enjoy these sorts of games.

Hello fellow tycoons,

I need some fresh games to play in the genre. Assume I have played the classics but I haven't played anything in the last five years or so. (I have actually played Big Ambitions and Software Inc., which I greatly enjoyed)

I am looking for games where you have the usual tycoon game loop, complex production chains and more, but with a specific twist: you are some sort of inventor. So you have an avatar and you design stuff that get built.

They may be tanks or dresses, like in Dressmaker, whatever really.

To answer your burning questions about Star Trek: Outposts Unknown, we are running an AMA with Magic Fuel Games' Kip Katsarelis (General Manager) and Zach Zampetti (Lead Designer).

We will be answering your questions for one hour on October 15th at 18:30 BST/13:30 ET/10:30 PT/17:30 UTC

Lead your crew across strange new worlds in this narrative driven outpost builder! Research, explore, and build as you face a mysterious cosmic force that threatens a new ally. Your adventure awaits, Captain!

Star Trek: Outposts Unknown releases on October 20th!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3469910/Star_Trek_Outposts_Unknown/

No AI was used in the making of this game.

Hi team,

I'm back after working on the tutorial based on some of your feedback store page! YouTube trailer

Since I was last here I've been getting outside feedback on Manifest and it kept coming back to the same complaint. One tester said they felt "assaulted by information". Another put it as "I just want to play." I think they were both right. A new company opened with every page lit up, and the guidance was a checklist you had to sit and read.

So the first hour is a played tutorial now, and it's most of what I've worked on since.

Some context if you haven't seen it: Manifest is a freight dispatcher in one solar system. You take cargo with a deadline, pick a ship and plan the flight yourself on fusion torchships, while the orbits keep moving under you. Ships wear out and captains get tired.

Tutorial is a switch on the New Company screen. With it on, the pages start locked and light up one at a time as the game first needs them. Finance opens when your first payment lands. The shipyard opens once your ship is earning again, so buying a second one doesn't leave the first sitting idle. Nothing new lights while your only ship is waiting at a berth, since a captain left idle too long will quit.

Each step in the tutorial Is press by press, the pop up card explains what to do, and the control to click is highlighted in magenta. The tutorial get you flying from one ship to three. You fly a first job, tow in a derelict you find on the way and crew it, service a worn hull, buy a third ship after you have made some money, and fit an upgrade for good measure.

There's a ? key now as well. Press it and then any control in the game for a short note on what that control is and what it reads.

AI Disclosure

Code. Most of the implementation is written by AI coding tools, working from my design and under my review.

- Arts and visuals. Inside the game, none. The UI is drawn by code, there's no image art, and the logo is text-art. The store capsule and header art on Steam and itch is AI-generated.

- Audio. No generated audio that I know of. Sound effects are a licensed Bluezone "Cargo Spaceship" pack plus a few Kenney CC0 clips. The seven ambient music tracks are licensed from Pixabay. None carries Pixabay's AI-generated label, and that's as far as I can attest to how they were made.

- Text and writings. There's no story or dialogue in the game. The in-game UI labels, notification lines and the guide steps were written alongside the code by the same AI coding tools, then reviewed and edited by me. I'm listing them here even though they could arguably sit under the code exemption.

- Marketing. My devlogs, the store description and this post were drafted with AI help and edited by me. The trailer is raw gameplay capture. Screenshots are straight from the game.

- Live-generated content. None. No model runs inside the game and nothing is generated at runtime.

I absolutely loved zoo tycoon as a kid and still play it now on my old PC (in which is too old to run decent games). I am getting a new gaming PC this year and would love similar games or recommendations for management/tycoon games as someone that has not much experience.

I did play sim city and roller coaster tycoon when I was younger too. I know planet zoo and planet coaster had mixed reviews when they released (maybe that changed with updates). City skylines is on my wish list.

I’m good with any games set in a zoo, park, city, hospitality etc. I don’t want anything too intense or with a steep learning curve (aside from city skylines).

My UI sucks. It might as well have been designed by Claude. I’m thinking of adapting the RCT behavior, but wanted to see if there are any contenders. Hit me

Hi all,

I'm not 100% sure if this counts as a tycoon, so if not I'm very sorry and just remove it. But, sumo is a business and there's plenty of management simulation to be found in this game.

You don't need to be a hardcore sumo fan to enjoy the adventure of building up your heya (stable) and creating the next Yokozuna. It even has an in-line glossary for key terms to make it easier to learn the language of sumo.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4885580/Heya_Sumo_Manager/

Features:

• 3D Match Engine with a complex and detailed Commentary system
• Create your avatar as an Oyakata with a rich background that affects your entire game
• Over 650 wrestlers across 40+ stables
• Accurate tournaments, divisions and banzuke (match-making) generation in an endless simulation
• 15 and 7 bout tournaments depending on division with playoffs, awards and win-loss records that affect promotion or demotion
• Scope out your wrestler's opponents and decide on the best tactics for every match
• Facilities management, improve your stables gym, kitchen, bedrooms and more to improve training
• Scout and Recruit hot prospects locally, nationwide or worldwide
• Over 150 events and event chains to keep things fresh and interesting
• Hire and Fire staff to train, scout and cook for your rikishi
• Balance training with keeping your Koenkai (supporter's club) happy and meet their demands
• Handle interpersonal issues and the reputation of your stable
• International wrestlers
• All 82 kimarite (finishing moves) - all animated

Rule 3: No Gen AI.

Hi everyone! I'm an indie developer working on The Gilded City, a city-building and economic simulation game set in the United States during the Gilded Age.

The game features free form roads and buildings, with customization of building outlooks. I'm also working on an economic simulation of production, goods, jobs, and trade. I've attached a short preview showing the current state of development.

I'd be curious to hear what makes an economic simulation engaging for you? Do you prefer directly managing individual factories or shops in the city, or making high level decisions that can affect the development of an industry?

If you'd like to follow the project, you can find it here on Steam. Thanks for taking a look!

AI Disclosure: No AI generated visual assets or sounds were used in this game. AI was used to facilitate code development and debugging.

BGM: Tower by Lukrembo

You can download it for free on Steam now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4950300/Exchange_Alley/

Apologies for the repost! My last post got removed for a lack of AI Disclosure (sorry mods), so here it is:

AI Disclosure

Exchange Alley was proudly made by humans only, no AI was used in the production of Exchange Alley or any other Priory Games experiences.

Enjoy!

Hey everyone! I'm a solo dev building OmniMart Tycoon, a deep supermarket management sim inspired by games like Airport CEO and Prison Architect.

Most store games I see currently are first person or a quickly put together friend slops (or both), but I wanted to focus purely on layout optimization, supply chain logistics and managing staff.

I just launched the Steam page yesterday. If this sounds like your kind of game, a wishlist would mean the world to me: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5015550/OmniMart_Tycoon/

The video shows current state of development, rough assets, but the base mechanics (staff, customers, building, stock, cashflow) are already working.

I'm currently working on the perishable goods mechanics (spoilage and best before handling). I'd love to know what your favorite/most satisfying mechanic is in these types management games so I can make sure I nail it :)

AI Disclosure: No AI within the game except from some Steam promotional materials.

I posted here 6 months ago about my little anime studio management game. A lot has landed since, so I wanted to come back, show what changed, and get feedback from people who actually play this genre. (It also turned one year old on itch this past August.)

Play free in your browser: https://magnate-games.itch.io/anime-biz-magnate

What happened since

v0.9 was the new foundation. v0.9.1 is where it starts to feel like a full game. Gameplay changed a lot, so it's worth another look even if you tried the earlier build.

What's new in v0.9.1

• Staff overhaul. The old system with 10 staff types and pools of freelancers is gone. Staff are now individuals with specialties and genre preferences. A director and a couple of animators is enough to make an anime, and other roles are optional upgrades.
• Movies. They have their own progression, funding, and marketing. Screens are a shared global resource, so rival releases compete with you and timing matters. You can sell rights, go direct-to-streaming, do distribution deals, or self-distribute.
• A living NPC world. Rival studios, TV and streaming platforms, and distributors each have their own bank balance, operating costs, and losses. They chase popular genres, delay releases when the window is bad, and some go bust while others rise. Every payment you receive comes out of someone's balance.
• Directors now matter as studio heads, plus studio policies, a reworked R&D system, and a room system that generates hallways automatically.
• New 2.5D / top-down visuals. The browser version also works on mobile now, but it's slow to load.

What the game is

Still the same idea: you run the business that makes anime, not the creative act.

License IP → Commission Script → Assemble Team → Produce → Market → Air → Earn → Reinvest

Access and demo limit

The free version gives you 2 hours. The Supporters Edition includes a Steam key.

The Steam release target has moved from my earlier Q3 2026 estimate to roughly 6 months from now. Update delays and a rough few months on my end did that, and I'd rather ship it right.

Balancing is still on the easy side and I'm planning active balancing patches. Honest feedback is more useful to me right now than anything else.

Known issues

Anime marketing is still being reworked, Player OVA needs work, and a few screens are rough. I changed a lot, so expect new bugs.

On AI use

Same honesty as last time. In my last post I was at 9 of 83 screens redone. The new visualizer art is my own work plus Kenney's assets, and only 2 screens still use gen AI: the start screen cover art and the main cover image. Both get replaced by the next update.

My promise from last time stands: no gen AI in anything players see at release. I'm nearly there, but it's still a work in progress.

For code, I still use AI as an assistant and I won't pretend that's small. Early on I mostly designed the architecture and AI helped implement it, since I come from a React/TypeScript background. As time went on I've been doing way more of the code myself, and I'm learning Rust and other new languages along the way. I'd rather learn and take years than release something I feel bad about.

Oh and I used it to help write the middle section of this post. Felt wrong not to mention it given the policy.

itch.io: https://magnate-games.itch.io/anime-biz-magnate
Discord: https://discord.gg/FnyJM8yyFs

What I'd love feedback on: balance, and what small features would make the mid-game more fun.

Hello tycoon fans, I am a sole developer of ISLANDS MIGHT FLY. It's a tycoon about a space station where you recreate historical periods with gameplay elements inspired by the Movies. You can play it on Steam right now!

You can recreate two periods: Sengoku Japan and Roman Empire. My goal for the full release is to feature a third period- Hollywood from the 1930s to the 2000s It would be played like the Movies, with a lot of added functionality like storages and vehicles and other improvements. Right now I am developing current systems further to make the simulation deeper and more engaging.

Since I am a solo developer the development is very very slow, so please don't expect a big update earlier than 10 months from now or maybe even little later. Also, the budget of the game is almost non-existent, so all the 3D assets(except the trees, the default character and some textures) are made by me. That's why the Hollywood update won't be next, it entails almost all kinds of settings(from Roman Empire swords and sandals genre to SciFi and every time period in-between) and therefore a big number of 3d assets and animations.

Even though the next update won't include the Hollywood scenario, I have already started developing the movie editor. Currently I don't how to solve the problem of voicing and animating characters' faces in these films. In "The Movies" the movies were silent. I would like to hear your opinions how to implement this. Silent movies only? Maybe you will be able to insert your own audiofiles of the line readings. I don't want to use AI for this. What do you think?

AI disclosure: no AI in the game. Most of the assets made by me by hand.

Hi everyone! I’ve been working on Warehouse Bots for three years, and the demo is finally available on Steam. I’d really like feedback from fellow management-game players.

You build a warehouse, choose orders and organize storage, while delivery robots move goods between shelves and truck docks. Keeping the traffic flowing becomes part of the challenge as your operation grows.

Free demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2837930/Warehouse_Bots/

If you try it, let me know what you enjoyed and what didn’t work for you — especially whether the orders and traffic controls are easy to understand. Thanks for taking the time!

AI disclosure: I used ElevenLabs to generate the trailer and in game story campaign narration.

it's more on the idle side but there's a fair bit of building and planning: you place every room yourself, choose where the restaurant and gym go, buy land on the sides when you run out of space, build floors on top

rooms earn per second while guests stay, every object inside can be upgraded, staff levels up too

free on android: https://fernas1999.itch.io/hotelinfinity

months of work so far, still adding stuff every week

---

If no AI was used, the disclosure is still required. Simply state "No AI was used in the making of this game, only help me in this post for trailer and the description (im italian and i dont speak good english)".