Monopoly Tycoon
In the 1980s, math classes throughout America introduced a computer business simulation entitled Lemonade Stand. Purveyors sold one item, lemonade, and had to decide how many glasses would sell, dependent on the day's temperature. It was a low-resolution affair with simple beeping songs, but loads of fun. Two decades later, Monopoly Tycoon rediscovers the capitalistic charm of this simple forefather.
Jul 08, 2010 Monopoly Tycoon is the traditional fantasy of 'owning it all' taken to the next level. You have nothing but your inheritance and a dream to acquire wealth by buying and developing the Monopoly properties you know and love. Monopoly Tycoon (Windows) (Infogrames) (2001) What a fantastic game, it is such a hidden gem and many people have passed over it. Monopoly Tycoon is a corporation simulator that pits against against other striving upstarts to achieve goals ranging from daily profit margins to approval ratings. A player achieve these goals by creating retail shops and residences that sell their stock in Atlantic City. Players can also buy property blocks to prevent others from building on.
Although there are dozens of items to sell, real estate issues to consider, and much better music, it is still powered by the basic concept that made Lemonade Stand a fun way to learn. Monopoly Tycoon is sophisticated enough to be used in math classrooms today and be enjoyable at home as well, if players are willing to learn the ins and outs of complex consumerism.
Gameplay centers on the metropolis of Monopoly City, a town with blocks named after the famous locations on a classic Monopoly board. Players move from the famous American properties to locales from boards around the world. The streets are busy day and night and filled with people looking to purchase basic needs and luxury items. The simulation runs in a dynamic environment; day passes into night, and players have to constantly be aware of the clock to succeed.
Suffice it to say, Monopoly Tycoon is not an easy game. The in-game tutorials help start you down the path of success, but turning a profit becomes a matter of surveying people, undercutting the competition, and carefully adjusting stock to sales ratios to avoid shrinkage. Obviously, this will not necessarily appeal to the all-action shoot-em-up set; the game becomes taxing without sufficient thought and planning.
For those who invest the time, Monopoly Tycoon provides a serious test that is rewarding and enjoyable. In addition to deciding where and what to sell, players can choose to lease blocks in classic Monopoly-styled auctions. Random events, in the form of Chance Cards, add an element of luck to the mix. Finally, the game tosses in utility, railroad, and residential management for good measure. Just like the board game, there are several ways to win the scenarios, running the gamut of being a slumlord on Baltic Ave. to specializing in high rent/high pay businesses on Boardwalk.
Characters are based on the tokens from the board game, ten in all. Racecar is a hotheaded investor dressed in classic racing gear, proudly honking a horn after making a bid. In contrast, Shoe is a meek looking cobbler and careful planner, not risking nor losing much. Each AI is unique in style and personality, providing a variety of smart opponents to battle.
Although the computer doesn't cheat, it knows the rules of commerce well enough to build quickly, and sometimes ruthlessly. You must devise a solid business plan and stick with it, or else the game will dissolve into frustration and reloads. This is the rare occasion where finding a human opponent helps you learn about the game and develop a sound market strategy prior to playing the computer.
Such a complex business simulation requires a host of charts, menus, and graphs. Navigating is a snap, despite the enormous amount of data to consider. City maps are represented in two and three-dimensional forms. Players can swivel around their 3D blocks and watch buildings go up, shoppers walk into stores, and cars drive past. As day fades into night, street lamps come on and fun seekers begin to search for entertainment. The graphics are fun and informative when trying to decide where to build your next franchise.
Additionally, the music and sounds are enjoyable. Classic jazz and spry tunes featuring some excellent clarinet work provides a nice backdrop to the sounds of commerce and the street. More than once, however, the game hung up while trying to switch from one song to the next.
Monopoly Tycoon Buy
The game demands attention to details and knowledge of commerce models, which will put off some gamers lured in by the comfortable, familiar Monopoly logo. Those who take the time, learn the ropes, and rise to the top, might find themselves wanting to open a real lemonade stand or some other venture. Ultimately, Monopoly Tycoon is fun for corporate gladiators seeking a serious challenge in the cutthroat business arena.
Graphics: Very comfortable menus to navigate. The 3D blocks are attractive and full of activity.
Sound: The music is excellent, but the game has a tendency to freeze when moving from one song to another. Character sounds add to AI personality.
Enjoyment: It takes time and patience to develop a winning business plan, which may annoy some players wanting instant action and success. Provides several deeper levels to the basic Monopoly model.
Replay Value: Scenarios have three levels of difficulties. After winning using a slumlord approach, try taking the high road, or vice versa. Internet play provides realistic opposition.
People who downloaded Monopoly Tycoon have also downloaded:
Monopoly (1999), Moon Tycoon, Las Vegas Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, Game of Life, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Age of Empires III, Zoo Tycoon 2
What a lovely game Monopoly is. You can sit around a table with your whole family, buying streets, erecting houses, watching granddad push the dear old boot around the board. Then he lands on your three-hotel Mayfair and all hell breaks loose. You snatch every last penny from his withering hands, the bank confiscates all his property and the whole table erupts into a maelstrom of abuse. Monopoly has been breeding cutthroat capitalists for more than 70 years, and it's this aspect of the board game Milton Keynes-based Deep Red is concentrating on this time round. 'We've done two versions of Monopoly already while at Hasbro Interactive,' says Deep Red director Clive Robert, 'and we wanted to take it to the next level.'
Under Pressure
The next level sees Monopoly transformed into a sophisticated 3D strategy game that concentrates on real-time multiplayer action and the sort of non-stop fun you'd never expect to see in a business title. But although it might look like a chunky and colourful version of SimCity, the nature of this particular beast couldn't be more different.
For starters, it's scenario-based rather than free-form. The bustling city is already there when you start a game, so you don't have to mess around laying down roads and sewage systems. The core of the game, no matter what the objective of each scenario, is to build shops according to demand and try and outsell your rivals.
Each single-player scenario and multiplayer game starts off in 1930, which is when the board game first appeared, so the game has a refreshingly old-fashioned style to begin with. It's all about corner shops and small businesses. As the years roll by (five per game day) different shops become available, so you can start replacing ballrooms and bars with nightclubs and pool halls, eventually progressing to today's amusement arcades and video stores.
Monopoly is, of course, a turn-based game, but Deep Red was determined to make this a more intense experience and one which wouldn't allow anyone to go off and make a cuppa while thinking of their next move. 'You're under pressure all the time, so there's no time to sit back and relax,' says Clive. This soon became apparent while I was sitting in Deep Red's offices, thrown into a multiplayer match. I was still experimenting with the camera and asking probing questions such as 'What does this button do?' when my more experienced opponents had already built a five-storey apartment block, a bakery and a butchers. Thankfully I had creative director Jon Law as my right-hand man, and I'd soon begun building my own empire. With his guidance and my opponents' over-confidence at facing a newbie,I actually managed to win. Developers know what bad losers journalists can be.
Risky Business
Building shops might not sound that exciting, but as anyone who has played their brilliant Risk II will know, Deep Red knows a thing or two about gameplay. Checking up on each of your stores to see how many products they're selling becomes much more compelling when you have to start a price war with a neighbouring shop. The sound of money chinging into your bank account is incredibly satisfying and there are a load of features and details to keep you occupied. Auctions are Monopoly Tycoon's way of leasing streets. You can build on any block as long as it isn't owned by another player with building rights. If you buy a street that your opponents have shops on you can stop them from building any more, as well as collecting a nice rent at the start of each day. Of course, once you own a colour set of blocks you can start constructing hotels to attract the city's tourists.
Monopoly Tycoon Cd
When night falls the lampposts start lighting the darkening streets, and business shifts to cinemas, restaurants and pool halls. It takes all your self-discipline not to go build-crazy just to see what happens if you open a nightclub next to your rival's bar. Luckily, Deep Red doesn't want to make you a slave to the bank as you are in the likes of SimCity. Going into the red is allowed (as long as you manage to bounce back into credit within 24 hours) and you can usually get away with spending large amounts of cash and still win as long as your investments are sound. 'We started off making it so that your bank balance was one of the most important elements for winning,' says Clive 'but it just meant that nobody ever spent anything and the game got boring.'
Monopoly Tycoon Pc Game
There's little chance of that happening in the version I've been happily playing with for the past week. Monopoly Tycoon looks set to successfully follow the original Theme Park in the addictive quality of its gameplay. You can forget all the Theme, Tycoon and Sim games from the last few years. There are already plans afoot to create a couple of addon packs, one of which will include a game editor. Deep Red has also got a load of new scenarios up its sleeve and wants to do something with the criminal side of the game which isn't touched upon here. The jail was always a big part of the original, and the developers are keen to incorporate that element into it. Whether this includes hiring a bunch of goons to smash up your rival's shops or pick up protection money from small businesses remains to be seen, but you can see the potential for it already. I would put money on this being a huge game - it certainly deserves to be.