RollerCoaster Tycoon®: Deluxe
RCT Deluxe is one of those rare old gems that, no matter how much people try, has yet to have a spiritual successor fully recapture its essence or innovate in a meaningful way, and the reason for that is in the game’s fundamentally brilliant design: it’s a concise, well-balanced blend of extreme customization and structural rigidity, two seemingly-conflicting ideals that are perfectly intertwined. Coaster design, park layouts, scenery, and other aspects offer near-infinite variety, but the isometric view and deceptively simple and intuitive grid system offers a very acute precision to coaster refinement that allows a player to master the art of designing and redesigning coasters.
– Real player with 377.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Nostalgia Sandbox Games.
Where to begin? RollerCoaster Tycoon is arguably the best tycoon game of all time. The game’s development was mostly credited to only one man (Chris Sawyer), and was released in 1999. There were four games that defined my childhood. The Sims, Age of Empires II, Dungeon Keeper 2, and this.
RollerCoaster Tycoon truly gives you the power to make exactly the kind of amusement park you want to build. Even in the scenarios, it largely feels like a free building game; the game does not ask you to do anything you don’t want to do. For example, instead of asking you to build a park based on nothing but rollercoasters like some games might have implemented, Rollercoaster Tycoon simply plops you down on a plot of land and basically says, “Get this many guests and have a good park rating in three years. Have fun and buh-bye!” This game should be truly applauded for being a tycoon game that is not only great fun, but never turns into a chore by forcing you into situations where you feel you’re only doing something to beat a level. It gives you an end goal, and it’s up to you, the player, to decide exactly how you’ll get there.
– Real player with 125.4 hrs in game
RollerCoaster Tycoon® 2: Triple Thrill Pack
Where I grew up, in rural eastern Ukraine, in the early 2000’s, there was no internet, no smartphones, no kfc and NO FREE PORN! There was however intel pentium…and Roller Coaster Tycoon!!. I remember spending hours, meticulously building my park from scratch, earning milions on big rides and food, attracting 6k+ guests into my park…and then torturing them, by cutting off the escape routes, flooding paths and charging $15 for toilet. And it was magical, pure joy. Even now, with the graphics definitely looking tired, it will bring you hours of very simple fun, build a ride and see how much you can charge before guests say its enough. Or starve them, then build one burger bar, put a very steep price and watch money flooding in. Or even better, build a coaster that will eventually crash, then comfort all the mourners with free black balloons…and free rides on the coaster that just has crashed! Yes, this game was always my favourite, a safe haven where I could unleash all my sadistic fantasies! And after all these years, nothing has changed, I still love to see the message ‘Robert D. has just drowned’.
– Real player with 963.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Nostalgia Sandbox Games.
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is likely my favorite game of all time.
I’ve put much more than 500 hours into it spanning my entire life and continued to play it as a non-steam game whilest it was not available on Steam. When I saw that it was, my wallet got sad, because in just a few moments my money was gone.
This is in my opinion THE best RollerCoaster video game in existance, and well for that matter in my opinion the best Tycoon game of any developer. Everything is made to a precise definity and managing your park is easy, but at the same time heavily difficult! The more you know about how to play this game, the more fun it becomes.
– Real player with 153.6 hrs in game
Rise of Nations: Extended Edition
I am nominating Rise of Nations – Extended Edition {RoN-EE} for the 2020 “Labor of Love” award.
RoN-EE is the 2014 update of the “old” RTS from 2003,
when it won several GOTY awards for Big HUGE Games.
Despite its age, RoN has held up well, especially when I am in the mood for a quick Strategic War. A full-scale 1 v 3-or-4 game typically will run 60 minutes {game-time} or less.
Using ** pause /pause **can effectively make RoN-EE a TBS.
– Real player with 4981.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Nostalgia Historical Games.
Rise of Nations: Extended Edition
The game from my childhood and the only strategy that I love to play even now. This is a remastered version of the game from 2003 and one of the most popular strategic games. Extended Edition contains the full contents with the addition of Thrones and Patriots. Rise of Nations offers a lot of nice campaign where our goal is to lead our nation to dominate the world. During the game you have to take care not to be destroyed by other nations but also develop a number of aspects such as economy, science, technology, diplomacy and military power. Each of these aspects will give you the opportunity to develop troops, build new buildings and to develop new opportunities in old buildings, but also move to a new era. With each progression of the game is changing the look and statistics buildings, military units and other things. Each nation has its own unique army as long as the nation still exists. In the game to expand, we have to use wood, stone, food, science, and oil at a later stage of the game, not forgetting that each of these resources can run out of. There is also an advanced diplomacy through which you can contain very beneficial agreement with other nation. In the game you can also play scenarios and multiplayer, but only with friends because no one plays. The game in terms of gameplay has hardly changed, improved graphics and added more resolution size. I like this production and do not regret a single hour spent at the game. Great soundtrack, an old but still nice graphics and a lot of things to do while playing the game. In my opinion this is the best strategy game I’ve ever played, many hours of fun for me. The game I am able to recommend, however, the game also has a bug that irritated me at first because I could not change my resolution because the game was crashing. However, it was manageable change in a text file.
– Real player with 371.5 hrs in game
JUMANJI: The Curse Returns
Not what I expected being honest, I was envisioning more interactivity such as those in mario party games, it’s not a bad game but it does feel lacking. After playing for around 11 hours roughly I can say I have adapted to the game-play of dragging the corresponding item to either another character or the enemy at hand, it can be somewhat challenging, especially trying to get the save every location achievement which I had to enlist the help of a friend as the Ai was not working out, this is as far as core game-play goes however.
– Real player with 11.9 hrs in game
finally! a jumanji game that is actually a JUMANJI game!
why did it take over two decades for someone to make this??
doesn’t matter, it’s here now, i love it ♥
– Real player with 5.7 hrs in game
My Sweet Ants!
a literal masterpiece, everytime i remember the agonizing years of hating myself ive gone through i also remember my sweet ants and everything feels okay. nothing in this world is better than my sweet ants
– Real player with 4.2 hrs in game
Looks like I get to write the first review for My Sweet Ants! I’m afraid it’s not going to be a good one.
My Sweet Ants! is a free mobile app that’s been dumped from the iOS app store onto Steam. I got my key from DIG in their latest bundle. Why do I do this to myself? This mobile app is a game where you solve jigsaw puzzles of ants which have had anime girl eyes and mouths photo shopped onto them. Every day we stray further from god’s light, I guess.
Like all mobile apps, the quality is pretty low here. Resolution is fixed so the game falls below acceptable standards for PC.
– Real player with 0.1 hrs in game
Age of Mythology: Extended Edition
Average AoM enjoyer:
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠿⠛⠛⠛⠋⠉⠈⠉⠉⠉⠉⠛⠻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠋⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠛⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⡏⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣤⣤⣤⣄⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⢿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⢏⣴⣿⣷⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣟⣾⣿⡟⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⢢⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣟⠀⡴⠄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿
⣿⣿⣿⠟⠻⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠶⢴⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿
⣿⣁⡀⠀⠀⢰⢠⣦⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡄⠀⣴⣶⣿⡄⣿
⣿⡋⠀⠀⠀⠎⢸⣿⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣴⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠗⢘⣿⣟⠛⠿⣼
⣿⣿⠋⢀⡌⢰⣿⡿⢿⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⢸⣿⣿⣧⢀⣼
⣿⣿⣷⢻⠄⠘⠛⠋⠛⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢿⣧⠈⠉⠙⠛⠋⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣧⠀⠈⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠟⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⢃⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⡿⠀⠴⢗⣠⣤⣴⡶⠶⠖⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⡸⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⡀⢠⣾⣿⠏⠀⠠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠛⠉⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣧⠈⢹⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣰⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⡄⠈⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣠⣴⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
– Real player with 173.2 hrs in game
A great adaptation of various mythos. Personally I’ve always loved this game. It was my very first Video Game, thus AoM will always hold a special place in my heart.
– Real player with 73.4 hrs in game
Emily is Away <3
Teen Heartbreak Simulator 3
_well, kind of
not entirely_
It was January 2018. I just finished the first semester of my freshman year at the university and was done with the New Year festivities. Still somewhat anxious and depressed because of new environment and the death of one of my favourite singers of all time half a year prior, I was scrolling through YouTube to find myself something comforting. And I found a bit dated walkthrough (by Jacksepticeye) of this minimalistic, yet very cute game called Emily is Away (2015). It proposed a trip to the internet of the past, to good old times, when social media wasn’t that big of a thing and people used pretty simple AOL messengers for communication. Truth be told, back in 2008-2009 I used different kinds of chats, but despite that this game still somehow managed to make me feel nostalgic and appreciative [of something that I never really experienced before]. Although, behind that cute retro-aesthetic, a very sad story was hidden - a story about friendship and youth love, friendzone and broken heart; a story about growing up and understanding that life isn’t fairytale - people come and they go. And that’s a pretty bitter truth of life.
– Real player with 11.9 hrs in game
The emily series feels like an actual throwback to those early internet era, even when you werent there, it feels nostalgic to see everything so primitive, plus delivers an history that fits the era, with teens who like to update his status everytime they can, post photos of his activities, and most importantly, sending messages between ‘em.
– Real player with 9.2 hrs in game
Paranormal Detective: Escape from the 80’s
Nice puzzle game. If you’ve played other escape room type games, you’ll like this. Lots of 80’s references and humor throughout. I had to refer to a walk through twice: once for something I should have picked up on but the other was something I may have eventually stumbled upon what they were expecting you to do (tip: just play with everything extensively!)
Looking forward to the 90’s sequel, which is already waiting in my wish list.
– Real player with 4.9 hrs in game
This game is totally RADICAL DUDE! Just played through and I loved it. Great escape room elements with so much 80s. Such cheesy acting and there is even a rap to dance to. Don’t want to give away too much. Took me about 2 hours to complete. I did search pretty thoroughly for Easter eggs and such.
The game nailed what is wrong with so many escape games.
-
It has a great, fun story! This is lacking in so many.
-
Everything is polished and works well! (surprisingly hard to find)
-
A great length! I have played waaaay too many 15 to 20 minute experiences. This took me well over an hour to explore, complete the puzzles, and complete the end.
– Real player with 3.7 hrs in game
Motesolo : No Girlfriend Since Birth
Very funny game. Lovable characters. Had a watch party with friends and it was a blast! Still hoping for better Suna ending tho.
– Real player with 17.4 hrs in game
Motesolo was a lot of good clean fun. I cared about the characters, laughed out loud, and genuinely enjoyed sitting down to a playthrough. The interface is slick and design decisions support the style of game well. Game feels very professional, easy to get into, and rewards paying attention in a way that doesn’t feel difficult.
My only complaint was that the english translation had a number of typos that could be easily addressed by an editor. It wasn’t enough to interfere with my understanding but seems like good low-hanging fruit to fix in a future update.
– Real player with 15.6 hrs in game
THE GAME OF LIFE 2
Now, you may be wondering why I have over 100 hours in a game where there’s DLC and a season pass. It’s not about the money, it’s about the gameplay. I don’t have any dlc as it’s just the same gameplay but with different skins.
PROS:
Steal money from friends, bots, or others in online
Have pets (just dogs or cats)
Exploit the economy if you’re lucky enough not to land on tax spaces
You can be single just like real life
When married, it costs nothing and you actually earn money from it
There’s no divorce papers so your partner doesn’t take anything from you
– Real player with 424.4 hrs in game
I’ve had this game get stuck three times now right at the end. It counts the money and the pieces just stand there, moving their heads and jumping around. On top of that, all the maps except one are behind a paywall. Had I known I was only gonna get one map with this game, I wouldn’t have gotten it. I figured since it was so based around having new maps, that there would be more than one available to play without paying. Ha. Nope. I bought this during the Steam Summer Sale and it still wasn’t worth the discounted price. What a joke. Greed has gotten the best of this one.
– Real player with 15.6 hrs in game