Rollercoaster Tycoon Board Game

by Parker Brothers

Product Features

• Rollercoaster Tycoon Board Game

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• ASIN: B00005YXUL
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,119 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

Product Description

Rollercoaster Tycoon Board Game

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great fun and easy to play, July 31, 2003

By 

Mark Butler (Antioch, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Rollercoaster Tycoon Board Game (Toy)

Based on the computer game, this boardgame shares a lot of the concepts. It is similar to Monopoly in that you buy and "own" amusement park attractions like bumper-cars or roller coasters. Movement of the "customers" (i.e. the people counters) around the board is quasi-random and if you can get them to land on your attraction you get points. The player with the most points at the end wins.

What sets the game apart is the "auction" function, many of the event cards drawn hold an auction where the players bid for properties from their rapidly diminishing pile of money. Do you pass on the fries stall and try to save your money for something bigger or blow it all on a large ride? its fun to try and do a little strategy.

Physically the board is a large one with 4 standup cardboard rides, the rest are flat. The physical qualities are pretty good, although the stand up pieces don't lock in very well so care will have to be taken that they don't get ruined quickly.

The only real complaint I have with it is the lack of money, you start out with a lot and don't get very much during the game so the auctions are huge at the start and its frustrating to have no money left in the midgame.

All in all its a fun, easy to learn game thats not very complicated and plays quickly, it takes us about 1/2 hour to play typically.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As much fun as the PC Version, November 11, 2002

By 

airtime (pa) - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Rollercoaster Tycoon Board Game (Toy)

This is the board game version of the popular PC Game(In which I'm addicted to).

I was a bit apprehensive when I bought this game mainly because I thought it would be like an amusement park edition of Monopoly. I was wrong.

Although it follows the same type of concept that Monopoly uses, the gameplay is quite different. 2+ players compete on a huge gameboard for the most points. Players own rides and attractions, but don't make a profit, they earn points for the most amount of customers that land on their attractions. Meanwhile time ticks away, and whoever has the most points at the end of two summers wins the game. One of the great things about this game is that it is time sensitive, so one game should only take 30 mins to an hour.

One downside is that it takes a long time to set the game up everytime you play. There are so many pieces that can get lost, which in a game with a lot of players I could see things getting misplaced a lot.

I reccomend this highly especially if you're an coaster enthusiast or just love going to amusement parks. If you love the PC version run out and get the board game version immediatly.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A visual and fun game, like Monopoly yet accessible to many, August 19, 2002

By 

Jayson (Rancho Santa Margarita, ca, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Rollercoaster Tycoon Board Game (Toy)

Based upon the very successful PC game and it's expansions, the board game captures the aspect of the computer game but simplifies it to be an accessible family style game easy for all ages to learn and enjoy.

Similar to Monopoly is some aspects player are given a certain amount of play money at the beginning at the game in order to purchase thrill rides, roller coasters, food stalls or other in a quest to build a desirable theme park. You don't control a 'player' by conventional means, but you and the other players try to steer park guests to rides you own and purchase throughout the course of the game and are awarded points each time a guest rides your attraction. Larger attractions gain you more points, however, they cost more and there are fewer of these high profile attractions scattered amongst the park as compared to the many cheaper rides that give you fewer points.

The game board itself is fairly large (about 1.5 times the size of the Monopoly board) and very colorful. There are many card board cut-outs that represent rides, guests, points, and other misc. objects. Children will love the three large cardboard models of coasters. However, with so many smaller cardboard pieces, make sure you keep your eye on them all when you pack the game back up.

The rules/manual are very easy and quick, and a family can learn to play in as little as 15 minutes. There are two sets of cards: Events (tells you what to do per turn with either good or bad effects), & Attractions (the various rides you will purchase or bid through an easy auction process during the course of a game). Also are two dice: 1) a basic 6 sided die moving a guest 1-6 spaces per turn, & 2) a 8 sided colored die that dictates which guest (based on color) a player will move that turn.

Guests (you control with the dice) move freely about the park (any direction the player wishes) in order for that guest to arrive at an attraction a player owns....hence you wanna steer the guests to your high profile attractions to gain more points.

The game ends after a simulated 2 years, and the player with the most guest points wins!. A typical game last about 20-25 minutes, sometimes faster depending on how quickly you go through the simulated 2 years.

The game gets interesting during the auction phase of a turn where players bid for a particular ride. This can be fun as sometimes you pay tons for a cheap ride, or nothing for a large ride...you want to do this somewhat strategically.

Though the game is designed for 2-4 players, based on my experience you need at least 3-4 players to make things interesting. While fun with just 2, you miss out on a certain element of attraction bidding and strategy of placement of rides becomes more important with 3 players.

Overall a great game for the price and very easy to learn.