recommendations for econ/commerce games

[QuantumPion]

I need a game to hold me over till ME3 comes out besides BF3. I'd like an econ/commerce type simulator along the lines of Simcity or Transport Tycoon, etc. I was thinking Tropico but it is full price right now, I don't want to spend $40 on it. Anyone have other suggestions for these types of games?

 

[Arkadrel]

If your not sick of Railroad tycoon, theres a open source version of the game called OpenTTD.

OpenTTD also supports LAN and Internet multiplayer, both co-operative and competitive, for up to 255 players.

Really is the best of its kinde Ive ever played.... ei Railroad tycoon.


Tropico 4 isnt worth its pricetag... the voices and scenaros are fun at first but... nah.
Not really anything you can use to compair 1 town vs another players, and its scewed by custom hero + perks thingy.


A new game of its kinde... How about Ano 2070?
I havnt played it but it looks really good, judgeing from youtube videos.

http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/04/13/anno-2070-debut-trailer

 

[QuantumPion]

If your not sick of Railroad tycoon, theres a open source version of the game called OpenTTD.


Really is the best of its kinde Ive ever played.... ei Railroad tycoon.


Tropico 4 isnt worth its pricetag... the voices and scenaros are fun at first but... nah.
Not really anything you can use to compair 1 town vs another players, and its scewed by custom hero + perks thingy.


A new game of its kinde... How about Ano 2070?
I havnt played it but it looks really good, judgeing from youtube videos.

http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/04/13/anno-2070-debut-trailer

When I mentioned transport tycoon I assumed everyone knew that referred to openttd and not dosboxing the original retail game

Haven't heard of Anno 2070, it looks pretty interesting but it is still also full price. Also it is published by Ubisoft and I pretty much refuse to buy any of their DRM'ed shit.

 

[Fallen Kell]

EVE Online.....

 

[Born2bwire]

I would skip Tropico. I've got Tropico 3 and it's just too easy of a game. It's got some fun quirks and concepts, but the problem is that I don't need most of the various options, edicts, or buildings to succeed in the campaigns or sandboxes. You're better off going with a Simcity game for more depth.

What about Rollercoaster Tycoon? GOG.com is selling it now.

 

[Via]

Tropico 3 is definitely "casual". But I still think it's a really fun game.

X2 is the commerce game I was most absorbed by. I played the same game for what must have been months. Seeing you stations and fleets humming along is a joy imo, but I always tell people this about X2: Make sure you play your first game as if it's the only one you'll ever play. It takes a long time to get your economic empire going, and it's really hard to go through all of that again if you decide to start another game. I've tried.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Via's suggestion of X2 is an excellent choice ... but I'd suggest X3 simply because it's a more modern engine ... They recently released X3 Albion Prelude, which looks to be essentially a stand alone expansion vs X3 Terran Conflict .... Which was essentially a stand alone expansion for X3 Reunion ....

I sunk all my time into X3 Reunion, spent hundreds and hundreds of hours with that game ... loved it ... played with mods, built huge automated trade empire ...

Anyhow, I haven't tried Albion Prelude and have been playing Skyrim and Star Ruler lately ... As well as some Assassins Creed 2 and minecraft, but when I get back to the X games, I will probably sink 5 or 6 months of it being my "only" game until I move on to something else ....

It's pretty much my 2nd favorite economic game ever (behind tt/ttd/openttd ...)