Has anyone played one of these? I played SimCity2000 when it came out (many years ago ~ ha ha), and being a designer/architect, I was addicted to it for six months, building cities, managing things, etc. So I thought maybe one of the TMs on Big Fish would fun to try. I'm not expecting much, but on first look,they appear to be mostly excessively cartoony, "sugar-candy-land" stuff, with musical soundtracks that would seem to get on your nerves after a while. Are they all like that? I'd like to try one, but have no idea how to sort through all the dross. Thanks in advance!

Being as you mention SimCity 2000, I thought of this:

All My Gods

The Promised Land

Adelantado: Book One

These are casual games, of course, so they are on a smaller scale, but you might enjoy them.

There are a lot of different kinds of games that fall under the heading of "time management": some are timed, some are not, some offer both timed and untimed. And then again there are other games that are more like simulations, and some of them are pretty darn good.

I can find more for you to recommend, but let's start with the three listed above and you can tell me what you think. If this isn't the sort of thing you are looking for, I can make other suggestions. While some of them appear cartoony, the play mechanics are sound.

I don't enjoy this style of agme and got bored to tears with every one I tried

[And any that were "timed" went out of the window right away ]

But many, many people do seem to really enjoy them

Nowt like folks and their different tastes, eh

Many moons ago I tried Restaurant Empire and I guess it was okay, but these are not really my type of game either.

Check out Banished on Steam; a city building game that is not cartoony and has very good reviews.

Banished

Also keep in mind that sometimes games are classified as "time management" by Big Fish, whereas in fact they are not really what we think of in that regard (many people thinking of waitresses seeing how fast they can serve their customers, and so forth). There is an overlap in this category from other genres and some of the games are really fun and are also untimed.

Thanks, Marian

You trying to tell me something Marian?

I don't know if Restaurant Empire is considered time management but when I look at the videos and descriptions of games that are supposedly (classified) as TMs, I don't see anything interesting.

Just my opinion only though, of course.

No, I wasn't trying to tell you anything, oldbroad.

Speaking for myself, though, I would call Restaurant Empire a simulation/strategy game.

Thanks Marian. On my games list I do show it as casual/strategy but I have no clue of these things really! I just remember trying to "build" my restaurant, furnishing it and I think I was supposed to be getting other restaurants but I don't think I did. And there were some kind of cooking contests or something. I used to love to cook (mostly now I only love the eating part) and that was why I bought the game. I still have it (disc). Maybe I should see if it still works and if I'm any better at it.

There have been a lot of casual games over the past 10 years that were referred to as "tycoon" games, some with the word "tycoon" in them - build up your hospital, theme park, restaurant, etc. Restaurant Empire sounds similar to these, although I haven't played it - kind of a business strategy/simulation game.

Thanks, Pokey. I will check out that game on Steam.

Marian, I may be looking in the wrong format (Big Fish) for a strategy type game involving time management. I enjoyed SimCity2000 because it was not timed (UGH!) and was of a long term nature. It stands to reason that any Big Fish game is not going to offer long term entertainment unless it is something like slot machines or roulette. These kinds of games aren't at all compelling to me. Same with dashing around a restaurant or amusement park frantically racing some clock. (Again, UGH!)

Probably, I should go prospecting on a site like Steam or GOG for a game meant to be engaging over time rather than a sprint to some finish line.

Many of the "time management" games on Big Fish are not timed. Having said that, if you go for a full-blown strategy/building game, those will definitely take longer to play and finish - although some of the ones on Big Fish can take, say, about 10 to 12 hours to play.

I hope you will be able to find something that suits you - it's worth checking out Steam and GOG, for sure.

Tycoon! Yes, I think that's the word!

Yes, there was even a Trailer Park Tycoon game, which was supposed to be pretty funny.

I played the Roller Coaster Tycoon game. It was a standard PC game, back in the day when we bought games in a box at the Computer Game Store (remember those? ) I bought and played it because I had learned to design roller coaster systems, working for many years with a Norwegian engineer on a huge amusement park project we did in Japan. That project was a blast. So, I thought the game would be fun. It wasn't. It was all about managing vandalism in the park, making sure park guests had food and drink but not enough to make them puke everywhere, keeping watch on the maintenance crew every minute, etc. A continual juggling act, and you didn't really have any time to enjoy it.

What an interesting and unusual job experience, Reenie.

And you are right about Roller Coaster Tycoon - it's very demanding.