Customer Reviews

Rollercoaster Tycoon Board Game

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

My dad bought this game for me. I was surprised when I opened it. The gameboard was huge and colorful! It is a fun game slightly resembling Monopoly. My sister, 7 years old, played it with me, and she liked it too. The only downside is that the big rollercoaster pieces don't stay together very well. It is also kind of a long game. All in all, I would buy it.
P.S. This game is great for 2 players too. It may not seem like much, but only people with 2 person families know how hard it is to find games that 2 people can play.

I bought this game for my 8-year old son for Christmas. It took for ever to get it set up the first time because there are lots of pieces. Also, the roller coasters are not designed real well. I had to use craft glue to get them to stay in the green bases. But once we got it set up, it was a lot of fun. It can be played with 2 - 4 players, but I think it's more fun with the maximum number of players. The game is kind of like monopoly because it takes both luck and strategy to win. But it's a much faster pace game than monopoly. Both my kids (ages 8 and 13) have enjoyed playing it.

This game could be vaguely compared to a RollerCoaster Tycoon themed Monopoly. The idea is interesting and fun - you operate rides and attractions to please the most guests. The many colors and cool props add to the fun of the game. If you are fmailiar with the PC game, I would strongly reccommend this product. The only drawback is the set up. There are many color-coded pieces that have to be sorted and passed out at each game and there is no convenient way to store them (I supplied my own plastic bags to separate parts).

I recently played this game with my brother and sister (ages 30, 22 & 19). We had a great time playing. I had originally bought this game for my home daycare, but have decided it's not a good game for a group of younger kids. The big cardboard rides make the game more 3-dimensional, but they aren't durable. And there are tons of little pieces to be lost. The board is big and colorful, but a little distracting until you get used to it, especially if you use all of the little pieces provided (most of which are just for looks really). Then 2nd time we played we only used essential pieces so the board wasn't as cluttered.

This game is alot like Monopoly, but more involved (more pieces, cards & rules). It doesn't take nearly as long as Monopoly to play though and the game never gets boring! I think overall they did a good job making a great computer game into a board game. And I'd highly recommend this game to families, especially if you've played the computer version.

This game is soooooooooo much fun! I definatly recomend it. Although it's hard to set up in the begining. It's really fun. I say the game should mostly be played with kids but it's fun.

The game play is pretty fun, although I usually beat my 6 year old because he spends all his money right away and I win the rest of the auctions for the minimum. The game takes a little long to play, and it is bad to set up, with so many pieces and tokens. We have only played it a few times because it is a pain to set up, but when we do play, it is fun.

I'd say this game is as good as the PC game, because it has the general characteristics as the real one. One big drawback is that it takes forever to set up and the roller coasters don't stand up well. It's better to play with 3 or 4 players to make it more exciting. It takes about 30-40 minutes to play.