There is a ton of love towards tycoon video games. Players are put in a leadership position and must oversee some type of aspect. This could be anything from a business company, a city, or even an entire government. Fans really can’t get enough of these games and each year we get a plethora of new titles launching into the market. If you’re wanting to step into a leadership role with a tycoon game on the PlayStation 4 then have a good few picks we would highly recommend checking out.
#7 Jurassic World Evolution
If you enjoy building up parks and attractions while managing the business side of things then you’ll want to keep tabs on Jurassic World Evolution. The video game is developed by Frontier Developments who has brought out such classics as the RollerCoaster Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon franchises. With this release, players are put in control of building their own Jurassic Park where you’ll manage the design of the park and the business aspect of maintaining a successful business. Speaking about the development studio, Frontier Developments are planning to launch Planet Coaster on the console platforms as well during the holidays of 2020. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Planet Zoo will receive the same treatment.
#6 Prison Architect
In Prison Architect, players take total control over a private prison. Everything is in your control as you’ll need to build up the prison and manage it. Designing the layout, ensuring that there is enough room to house plenty of inmates, along with hiring staff is just part of the job. There’s a bit of a challenge in place as well. This means making sure your prison is in order and keeping the inmates relatively happy. However, just because you designed and maintain the prison, doesn’t mean you can’t find yourself getting fired.
There are a wide variety of areas that will determine if your position needs to be replaced. This could be anything from riots, wrongful executions, escapes, to even re-offending paroles. Knowing how to keep your prison in order and prisoners are reformed is crucial to keep your position overseeing the facility.
#5 Surviving Mars
Set within the cold desolate red planet, Surviving Mars has players managing and overseeing the colonization of the new world. Of course, there will be some challenges that will come up giving players some tough obstacles to pass through. This is another city-builder type game as well where players will have to build up their colony and gather resources to maintain their colonization. As a result, the game will have a bit of a strategy element to the gameplay similar to another game we’re going to discuss below, with our other recommended pick, Aven Colony.
#4 Tropico 5
Just like other installments to the Tropico series, in Tropico 5 players are put in the leading government role of ruling an island in what is essentially a fun government tycoon simulation game. Within Tropico 5, players will go through four different eras while the game tosses several objectives to complete. As the leader of a country, gamers will have to handle various aspects of maintaining the order of the countries people to bringing bliss and prosperity. However, if you’re not looking to go through a campaign or facing against other players, the game does offer a sandbox mode. Within this sandbox mode, a pre-generated island will be created for players to tweak and control.
#3 Aven Colony
Much like Surviving Mars, a game we listed above, Aven Colony is based on the human colonization of an alien planet. Because of this, there are various hazards you will have to deal with such as freezing night temperatures, alien plagues, and keeping your residents happy. Essentially, Aven Colony is a futuristic take on something similar to the SimCity franchise. Players will be building some structures that will not only help with providing resources to keep the colony well-fed and safe but also a means of entertainment to keep civilians morale positive.
Outside of providing water, oxygen, crops, and electricity, gamers will have to maintain a means of commute, crime control, and employment. As mentioned, the city colony as a whole will have to fight against the various plagues and diseases that will spread across the planet which may have players act quickly at a moment’s notice.
#2 Stardew Valley
Harvest Moon fans may have found the franchise going a bit stale or in a direction that left the IPs roots. As a result, one fan decided to take it upon himself to make a Harvest Moon spiritual successor and the result was a massive indie hit. Stardew Valley was a quick hit that left players mindlessly tending their farms, ensuring crops were taken care of, livestock was happy, and became friends with everyone in the nearby town. In Stardew Valley, players take on the role of a protagonist that is growing tired of the hustle and bustle in the big city. One day, our character opts to visit their grandfather’s dilapidated farm that was left in their name.
Here is where you’re next goal resides. You’re trading the city life to become a hardworking farm owner. This would mean clearing the farm up from the various weeds and stones while starting to plant crops and prepare them for harvest. You’ll find yourself preparing the soil, laying down seeds, watering them, and plucking the goods when they are ripe. However, there’s also livestock to take care of, a local town to meet NPCs, social activities, along with some RPG elements when seeking out resources in various caverns. If you after a more lighthearted tycoon game then you’ll find quite a bit of enjoyment with this game.
#1 Cities Skylines
Easily comparable to the beloved Sim City series, Cities: Skylines is a tycoon title in which players can build up and maintain a city, full of buildings and civilians. The game will put gamers in control of various zoning, road placements, taxation, transportation, and even public services. Of course, the game will throw players a few problems as well. This could be as simple as focusing on civilian needs to natural disasters wrecking sections of your city. Much like The Sims 4, Cities: Skylines have also received several expansion packs.
For instance, the Mass Transit expansion pack introduced new transit systems into the game such as cable cars and blimps along with a mini-expansion called Concerts which allowed gamers to bring in new event venues for concerts and festivals. While the game was originally released for the PC platform, it eventually made its way onto consoles in 2017. Those of you who want a city building tycoon game on the PlayStation 4, you can’t get much better than Cities Skylines.
