Game: Roller Coaster Tycoon

Thread: Re: Slight Game Lengthening

petegrey — 2008-02-06T00:52:22+00:00

Dale-not-Chip wrote:
We really enjoyed this game, but we made several changes to the game.

One - we found we always bought the maintenance man, so we just give all the players it.

Second - we took out all the advance month cards that calls for the maintenance men. This makes the game last longer. this makes it last slightly longer than it takes to give out all the rides.

third. At the end of your turn you get to roll the dice and move the closed sign.

We only remove the advance cards when we are playng with 3 or more.

Question-how would you use the dice roll to move the closed sign?

Thread: Re: ProCon Review

SVan — 2008-02-03T05:48:43+00:00

For me it's a beginning Auction game. Very easy to teach, strategy is easy to see. Plus the theme is good.

Thread: Re: ProCon Review

freechinanow — 2008-02-02T16:22:05+00:00

Thinking about it again Mark, trying to hoard money in order to collect game points by the end would have been an interesting strategy to balance against buying up everything and keeping your fingers crossed. I like how you mentioned this game is like "training wheels" for other high-end auction/economic games. After playing RCT, I definitely will be pursuing other games using this sort of mechanic.

Thanks for the response!

Thread: Re: ProCon Review

gamemark — 2008-02-02T15:29:31+00:00

RTC: the boardgame is kind of like a "training wheels" game for the economic engine games (Puerto Rico, Race for the Galaxy, Cuba, etc.) that are in vogue right now.

The primary strategic decision in the game is when to switch over from buying stuff to hoarding money - in other words, when is the potential of payoff too low to justify spending bucks on it? This is complicated by the random events & the auction mechanic, which actually makes for a pretty enjoyable little game.

It's not one I'd want to pull out all the time, but I'd give it

Nice capsule review, btw - even if I don't completely agree with you.

Thread: ProCon Review

freechinanow — 2008-02-02T03:04:19+00:00

Hopefully these reviews will offer very short, though hopefully helpful pro/con reviews for those trying to make their mind up about this game.

GAME: ROLLER COASTER TYCOON (2002)

PROS

- Very nice looking game. Large board and many nice, durable parts.
- Auctioning for park attractions was fun and interactive. I enjoyed that there were four different types of auctions that could come up.
- Game moves quickly with little downtime.
- Easy to learn

CONS

- Long setup. Finicky and slightly useless 3D items that serve only the look of the game.
- Rather routine, uninteresting events. Depending on how the Event Cards are shuffled, gameplay can be dull.
- Low replayability. You played one game of this and you've played them all.
- Rule issues. Players without money can be decimated quickly. I guess that's the luck of the draw.
- Luck / Strategy imbalance. Most games need both. This one is more about the luck. There are some strategical and tense gambling moments though.

Final comment:

If I had a choice between Monopoly, the Game of Life, or Roller Coaster Tycoon, I'd probably go for this one. Monopoly is too long and boring by the end and Life virtually plays itself. Tycoon at least has a plucky auction mechanic which keeps the game spirited almost throughout. I find the tension heightens if you hide your money and game tokens until the end. A good kids game (simple, interactive), but one that they might have to leave the adults out of (routine, no challenge).

Edits: Thinking more about it, RCT has enough going for it that makes it a solid enough entry game for kids into auction gaming. I will very likely not play it again, but I wouldn't shun it either. In consideration, I raised my rating half a star.

Thread: Re: Event deck composition?

Dale-not-Chip — 2007-12-03T12:36:11+00:00

And if your missing an advance one month card your not gonna miss it. We take several out of the deck each time we play. Only leaving them all in for a 2 player game.

Thread: Re: Use for blank cards.

herman_the_german — 2007-11-26T21:27:36+00:00

Game over too soon?

Use one of the blank cards to go one month back in time (time travel card) and another to advance a month (to counteract time travel effect.)

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fractaloon — 2007-08-04T02:56:00+00:00

The game is designed to fit back into the box after being assembled. Only the tall tower needs to be removed from the base.

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fractaloon — 2007-08-04T02:55:14+00:00

Back of the box.

Thread: Re: Slight Game Lengthening

Dale-not-Chip — 2006-12-31T01:51:29+00:00

We really enjoyed this game, but we made several changes to the game.

One - we found we always bought the maintenance man, so we just give all the players it.

Second - we took out all the advance month cards that calls for the maintenance men. This makes the game last longer. this makes it last slightly longer than it takes to give out all the rides.

third. At the end of your turn you get to roll the dice and move the closed sign.

We only remove the advance cards when we are playng with 3 or more.

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ronster0 — 2006-10-01T01:34:01+00:00

1 point card - food stalls

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ronster0 — 2006-10-01T01:33:57+00:00

2 point card

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ronster0 — 2006-10-01T01:06:00+00:00

Three Point Ride - Mostly the Water Rides

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ronster0 — 2006-10-01T01:04:19+00:00

5 point card - The Steel Roller Coaster - Best Scoring Card

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ronster0 — 2006-10-01T01:04:11+00:00

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ronster0 — 2006-10-01T01:01:13+00:00

4 Point Attraction - 2nd best to own

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ronster0 — 2006-10-01T00:59:07+00:00

Sample of Event Cards

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ronster0 — 2006-10-01T00:42:11+00:00

Tower ride on box lid

Thread: First Play with the kids

ronster0 — 2006-09-30T17:42:36+00:00

I was able to pick this game up dirt cheap on ebay. My kids love the PC and Xbox version of the game so I thought this would be a great family game to play. The game was mostly unpunched and this enhanced the setup and each got a task to help punch out and setup the game.

The game only plays four players so I became the banker and auctioneer. The four players were my wife, son (13) and two daughters (9,7). The game started easy enough by giving each player two attractions. The problem with this is that they are drawn blindly (not looking at the card) and my son picked up the 5 point steel coaster (plus another ride) while all the others were only able to pick up 1 and 2 point attractions. This gave him a huge advantage to begin with.

Everybody took a mechanic and handyman which help against the negative events that can be drawn. Because my son was able to score on his coaster first he was out to a big lead and thus everybody was trying to catch him.
Some event cards cause attractions to enter the game via auctions. There are auction, double auctions (2 rides at a time), blind auction (you cannot see the ride) and double blind auction. I liked this part of the game and for the most part they family did good at getting the hang of this.

Although my son had the fewest attractions, he did have both coasters. My oldest daughter, thourgh aggresive auction buying and liberal use of the closed sign (allows you to close another persons attractions) closed the gap in the later game.

With the game getting near the end it seemed it would be a close game. My wife reminded us that the money you had left over at the end of the game counted towards your overall points. All three of the girls had piles of cash while my son, who was in the lead, was very low.

The last month came and the game was over and we counted the money. My son was clearly in the lead in points. A quick tally of our money would decide the fate. My oldest daughter came close, but my son with the two coasters managed to eek out a victory.

It was a fun game and we all enjoyed it. The game was longer than I expected, about two hours, but all had fun. There are decisions to be made, how much to bid on an auction (especially the blind ones), what attractions are to be closed, and how to move the patrons. There was a pile on the leader aspect, but it was not too bad.

Next time (we will play again) I think I will make all the opening attractions given out, only be 1 and 2 point types. Thus leaving all the larger ones open to auctions during the game.

Thread: Re: copy of the rules for Roller Coaster Tycoon

ronster0 — 2006-09-29T21:09:41+00:00

I tipped you both 6 GG. Seems fair... if not, just let me know.

Thanks again.

Thread: Re: copy of the rules for Roller Coaster Tycoon

ben_ethus — 2006-09-29T20:50:41+00:00

ronster0 wrote:
Wow, thanks for the super fast response. I can't belive I misses these. OK, who posted first...... for the GG.

According to the BGG timestamp on our two posts, it looks like my post came in one minute before Peter's.

Hope you and your kids enjoy the game.

Thread: Re: copy of the rules for Roller Coaster Tycoon

ronster0 — 2006-09-29T20:44:31+00:00

Wow, thanks for the super fast response. I can't belive I misses these. OK, who posted first...... for the GG.

Thread: Re: copy of the rules for Roller Coaster Tycoon

ben_ethus — 2006-09-29T20:41:50+00:00

ronster0 wrote:
I just got this game off ebay and it was in excellent condition. The only problem is that there were no rules included.
I have searched the internet but have not found any.
Since I got this to play with my kids, I was hoping that somebody could help me out by posting the rules so I can play.

offering 10 GG if you can help me.

thanks in advance as my kids are dying to play this game.

Ba-donk!

http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/RollerCoaster_Tycoon.p...

Thread: copy of the rules for Roller Coaster Tycoon

ronster0 — 2006-09-29T20:34:55+00:00

I just got this game off ebay and it was in excellent condition. The only problem is that there were no rules included.
I have searched the internet but have not found any.
Since I got this to play with my kids, I was hoping that somebody could help me out by posting the rules so I can play.

offering 10 GG if you can help me.

thanks in advance as my kids are dying to play this game.

Thread: Re: Event deck composition?

Walt Mulder — 2006-08-08T04:12:42+00:00

Here's the content of the Event Deck:

2 blanks
1 it's raining
1 Some guests are not happy
1 The park has won an award
3 Your Marketing plan acctracts guests
2 Bathroom break
2 It's hot
4 advance one month - handyman
4 advance one month - mechanic
8 advance one month - gain 100,000
6 Closed
2 hunger strikes
2 action rides
2 all players collect 500,000
2 Auction (blind)
2 Auction (Double blind)
5 Auction
5 Auction (Double Open)

Thread: Re: Event deck composition?

Windopaene — 2006-08-07T05:07:26+00:00

Not what I meant Walt. I've got 53 Event cards, (two are blank). I'm trying to figure out which is missing.

Thread: Re: Event deck composition?

Walt Mulder — 2006-08-07T04:27:17+00:00

30 Attraction cards (1 is a blank)
54 Event cards (2 are blank)

Thread: Event deck composition?

Windopaene — 2006-08-07T03:34:49+00:00

So I thrifted one of these recently, and I think I'm missing a card. Could someone please give me a breakdown of the numbers of cards of each type? It would be most appreciated.

Thread: 5 player and more complex (shares, etc)

Medvick — 2006-07-27T19:43:33+00:00

Variant for both a more complicated game, less luck-driven, and more strategy. Also allows for 5 or more players.

Game Background:

There are four owners of a park (the 4 colors) and they are competing against each other and at the same time trying to make the park better.

Now we have some mystery shoppers (the players – will use 5 in my example) that travel around the park and play and/or invest in the four owner’s ideas/concepts. They seem like average guests that enjoy the rides and facilities, but they have the ability to invest in the four owners of the park.

Setup:

- Each company gets one guest point, 13 stock cards (Use a deck of cards?) , and $5,000,000 net worth -- consider it money they started up with.
- Each player gets $1,000,000 to start with
- Have a turn order indicator (thanks to Puerto Rico like games) with the number of players on it.
- Take 2 of each color company tokens and randomly give out two to each player. (or you can take the deck of cards and deal out 2 to each player, which may result in someone not being vested in a company. - I do not like that idea – but could be an option)
- The player that is in the worst position of ownership gets to set the turn order.

Turn:

1.) You have a choice on your first move of your turn:

Stock Purchase
- You can buy up to three different stock or two of the same stock
- Price: $100,000 per guest point of that company.
- Money goes to the bank

Move Customer
- Move as normal.
- If guest lands on a park ride – you can get $300,000 or 2 guest points (your choice)
- The owning company of that ride gets $100,000 and 1 guest point.

2.) Option variant for engineer http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/25688

Each player does their turns.

3.) Next is the turn for the companies.

- Each company appoints a president in the order of how you set them up on the game.
- If you are the majority share holder you are automatically president.
- If there is a tie for majority – thus no majority some sort of tie breaker will occur or negotiations (which ever method you want)
- You can only be the president of one company (in 4,5 player game) If someone is president of two companies they have to step down in one of them.
- After president is decided, the cards are taken for each company – and the owners act for the best interest of that company as the normal game – using the company’s money.
- 6.) If engineer or mechanic comes up then pay its price – no insurance (see variant at bottom to add a mechanics union to the stocks)

4.) Determine Next Turn player order
- the person who was not president in 5 player game automatically determines player order
- in 4 or less person game – the person with the least stock value, count, whatever determinate want to use.

Game End:

Divvy Out Company’s Players Points:
1.) Give 2 points to the majority owner and alternate giving the rest out with the non-majority getting the first one. Example: a company has 7 points – give 2 to majority then the rest get split up (giving the non-majority the next one) thus the majority will have 4 and the non-majority will have 3. If there is 6 points, the majority will have 4 and non-majority will have 2.
2.) Any splits that occur will be divided in half (rounded down) -- the remaining one (if odd) will be donated to fixing back the park and thus goes to bank.

Turn in stocks:
1.) 2 points for the majority owner for each stock owned
2.) 1 point for each minority owner for each stock owned
3.) If ties occur, then split points with the same rounding down formula as above.

Your Money:
Will count only in ties

Add all your points up to determine winner. Ties (Money, number of stocks owned, dice roll, age, whatever)

Variants:

1.) Engineer variant: trash etc
2.) Having a fifth entity to invest in ( the maintenance union)
a. Their union get paid $100,000 or 1 player’s point for each time a ride is fixed or trash is removed.
b. Stocks are not divvied out, but can be bought (you have 6 tokens -- won’t need them)
c. You can have your park have 2 maintenance guys that do everything and can move up to 6 spaces on any turn. (and can do only one thing per turn – pick up trash, or fix a ride) Place this turn for each player after they select their first move.
d. Or when the $200,000 comes up – if you want have that just be paid to the maintenance union? (Have not thought of that one yet)

Thread: Re: Mechanics & Handymen Alternate Rules

Medvick — 2006-07-27T19:43:00+00:00

Thread: Re: Lost Games, due to GSK Error

apotheos — 2006-03-27T18:54:05+00:00

This site is for The Roller Coaster Tycoon boardgame, not the video game.

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However, this problem is IIRC related to having an old version of Direct X. Upgrade to something newer.

Thread: Lost Games, due to GSK Error

RollerBuddy — 2006-03-27T18:10:14+00:00

Ok! I have a slight problem with the original Roller Coaster Tycoon! I have been playing it for a while, and I was having fun, and then one day a GSK Error Trapper popped up, and wouldn't let me play. It's been about a month now and I have finally decided to reinstall it. Upon doing so, I was able to keep my old save game files! This was a good thing, because I didn't loose my progress, and my game is now up and running again. The only problem is, even though I still had my save games, I lost my progress in the game itself because my name was no longer on the scenario chart, therefore, Bumbly Beach, etc. were still unplayable. I had completed Forest Frontiers and Dynamite Dunes, but I hadn't quite finished Leafy Lake yet, so I finished it, and my name showed up on the scenario chart, when I typed it into that box that comes up once I had finished all the objectives. Now, I still want my name to come up on the other 2, but I have already beaten the scenario, so the box won't pop up. How do I get my name up there, so that I can open up 2 more scenarios?

Thread: Re: Slight Game Lengthening

GVogel — 2006-02-11T02:34:32+00:00

(Warning - this idea was conceived only after one play...)

One idea that I had was to remove one of the "advance month" cards at the start of the game. Therefore, you'd have to reshuffle the deck, and the next "advance month" card that would come up would end it. This of course could come up as the first draw, or the 3rd, 10th, etc. so players would have no idea as to when the game would end.

You could even remove them all from the deck and choose one randomly so no one would know what was lost - then place them back in randomly to shuffle. Heck - you could even shuffle it back in when it came time to reshuffle if you wanted to.

Does that sound feasible, or do I need to play more before opening my yapper?

Thread: Slight Game Lengthening

peacmyer — 2005-07-27T06:36:28+00:00

Some have opined that the game is over too quickly. One easy variant is to ignore the "draw another card" portion of the Event Cards. Of course, this will change the dollar amounts one wants to bid on attractions, but should make the game slightly less chaotic. Also check out Fishbulbs variants for the blank cards in the "General" subforum.

Thread: First play with 3 kids - they loved it

Friendless — 2005-04-02T09:31:46+00:00

I bought this on Thursday and on Friday morning I sat down with my sister, 8yo son, 9yo niece and 4yo nephew to give it a try. The first thing we noticed is that this is a very beautiful game - the kids were absolutely enthralled by the look of it. There are lots of cardboard pieces, some of which would have been wood if a German designed it :-), but the cardboard is quite sturdy. The three 3D models were easy enough to assemble, but I'm a little worried that they're going to fall apart if I tweak them too much.

I won't explain the rules here, but they are easy enough despite being 8 pages long. The hard bit is the auctions. For the first auction, the kids were happy to make outrageous bids, but I pointed out that winning the first auction at all costs was not a good move, and we started again and they seemed to find a reasonable level, which is always hard when you start a new game. In our game we had only a couple of blind auctions, but of course one of them included the steel roller coaster which was sold for a song. I really don't like the blind auction thing - if I was into that I would play Modern Art - and it seems like a strange mechanic for a children's game.

I started the game by conserving my money waiting for later auctions, but with event cards giving money away fairly regularly, there wasn't much shortage of money. By the time I had a suitable number of attractions the game was almost over. I suspect I should have squawked with the seagulls earlier in the game to get some useful attractions. The "next month" cards came out regularly, often 2 at a time, and the game proceeded alarmingly rapidly. In fact, just when most of the attractions were built, the game finished. I felt somewhat deflated.

The team consisting of my sister and 4yo had somehow managed to get both of the roller coasters, and although I eventually got the Closed signs onto them, it was too late - they'd already managed to score about 20 VPs from them. Both of the other kids had reasonable collections of attractions, and reasonable numbers of VPs, but not enough to compete with the Roller Coaster Queen. I came in dead last, with my newly purchased attractions not yet having done any attracting.

Overall, a somewhat disappointing experience for me, who was expecting a hot dog rather than cotton candy. On the other hand, the kids *loved* it - 8yo said to his cousin "I love it how my dad buys all these cool games". I think it's one of those games I will hide away until non-gamer kids come to visit, and then we can all get our cotton candy and be too excited to go to bed. However, until the kids are here, I will be hoping to stick with LOTR Confrontation... with fries.

Thread: Session Report

saulsehy — 2004-12-30T14:34:51+00:00

Nick, Autumn and I sat down to play Roller Coaster Tycoon this afternoon. This is Nick's new Xmas present. I'd found it on EBay with all parts but no rules. However, after one game to learn it, we were more than ready for this one.

Everyone took a Handyman, nobody took a Mechanic, and even though he got stung by this early on, by pulling Month Advance Mechanic cards, Nick pulled out to an early lead. This game seems to encourage bash the leader, and we avidly did with the "closed" signs. Somehow, I managed to get better rides than Nick & Autumn by only bidding on key areas.

After getting stung by a patron complaint and moving into last place, I was able to land people on my Log Flume twice in a row for big scores. I eventually won the game.

This is a fun, light kids w/ adults game.

Thread: Re:Mechanics

owll — 2004-12-14T21:03:46+00:00

scottdprt (#52272),

Excellent ideas for the game. It makes it more exciting.
Keeping the game simple is the idea but this game is crying for some variants to be challenging. We will try your rules and we have a few new ones to try, like reducing the starting money and allowing the shops to earn money instead of guest points, to make the shops more desirable to visit.

By the way, my game is missing the attraction card for the Wooden Coaster. I know it's a 4 point but what is the starting price?
Thanks for the answer and we will post our gaming experience with the new rules.

Owll

Thread: Mechanics & Handymen Alternate Rules

scottdprt — 2004-09-01T23:28:15+00:00

Roller Coaster Tycoon Board Game
Mechanics and Handymen Alternate Rules

Object
No changes

Contents
The following additional items are needed to play.

4 unique Mechanic pawns, 4 unique Handyman pawns, a pile of Trash Tokens (suggest using penny or pieces of discarded candy wrappers).

If possible, the Mechanic and Handyman pawns should match the player’s chosen color (red, blue, yellow or purple).

Every Time Setup
The price for hiring a Mechanic is increased from the basic rules by $200,000. The new prices to hire a Mechanic are:
2 players – $600,000
3 players – $500,000
4 players – $400,000

If a player hires a Mechanic, he or she chooses a Mechanic pawn and places it on one of the attractions that was dealt to him or her.

The price for hiring a Handyman is increased from the basic rules by $200,000. The new prices to hire a Handyman are:
2 players - $600,000
3 players - $500,000
4 players - $400,000

If a player hires a Handyman, he or she chooses a Handyman pawn and places it on one of the attractions that was dealt to him or her.

Unlike the original rules, a player may hire a Mechanic or Handyman at certain times during regular gameplay.

On your turn
Draw an Event card and follow its instructions immediately.
Roll the dice and move a guest token.
Award Guest Points
Roll the dice and place trash token.
Move Mechanic and attempt to repair an attraction.
Move Handyman and remove trash token(s).

1. Drawn and Event card and follow its instructions
Additional rules: If the Event card shows either a Mechanic or a Handyman, you have the choice of hiring the appropriate employee at the same price they were valued at during the Every Time Setup. Employees hired at this time are placed at the Park Entrance and NOT at any attraction.

2. Roll the dice and move a guest token
No changes.

3. Award guest points
The number of guest points awarded to players is reduced by the number of trash tokens currently placed on the attraction. For example, the Motion Simulator is normally a 2-point attraction. If there is 1 trash token on the Motion Simulator space, it is treated as a 1-point attraction when awarding guest points.

4. Roll the dice and place trash token
Roll the 6-sided dice to see if the guest makes a mess after riding the attraction. If the roll is less than the number of guest points for that attraction (do not modify for the number of trash tokens), then a trash token needs to be placed. Place a trash token on the nearest space that has less trash tokens than the number of guest points printed on that space. If more than one space is eligible for a trash token, you can choose which space gets the token. For example, the Motion Simulator has 2 trash tokens and the Wooden Roller Coaster and the Pizza Stand have no trash token. If a 1 is rolled when a guest visits the Motion Simulator, a trash token can be placed in either the Pizza Stand or the Wooden Roller Coaster space.

5. Move Mechanic and attempt to repair an attraction
You may move your Mechanic token a total of 4 spaces. If your Mechanic ends his move on an attraction that is closed, you may attempt to repair that attraction. Roll the 6-sided dice; if the roll is equal to or greater than the number of guest tokens for that attraction then the attraction is repaired and you may move the closed sign to any other attraction on the game board.

6. Move Handyman and remove trash token(s).
You may move your Handyman token a total of 4 spaces. If your Handyman is on a space with trash tokens on them, he may remove 1 trash token at the cost of one of his movements. For example: if a Handyman is on a space with a two trash tokens and an neighboring space has one trash token, he can remove the two trash tokens on his space, move to the neighboring space and finally remove the trash token found their. All this will use up his total movement of 4 spaces.

Alternate Rules
Repair Costs: Sometimes a quick turn of the wrench isn’t enough and you have to pay for parts and Mechanics overtime. Choose one of the following repair cost rules to add variation to your game.
Fixed Repair Cost One: When a Mechanic is successful in repairing an attraction, pay $100,000 to the bank.
Fixed Repair Cost Two: When a Mechanic is successful in repairing an attraction, pay $100,000 times the number of guest coins for that attraction to the bank.
Variable Repair Cost One: When a Mechanic is unsuccessful in repairing an attraction, pay $100,000 to the bank.

Striking Mechanics: If a player draws an event card with a Mechanic printed on it, he may attempt to cause another player’s mechanic to strike. The player chooses any other player with a Mechanic. Each player secretly chooses a number of guest coins that will be discarded in order to prevent or cause a strike. The player that has spent the most guest coins is the winner and the loser must discard their Mechanic pawn. In case of a tie, both players lose their Mechanic pawn. Mechanics lost due to a strike cannot be replaced during this turn.

Striking Handymen: The rules are the same as for Striking Mechanics except using Handymen instead of Mechanics.

Sabotage! Your Mechanics and Handymen can now sabotage another player’s attraction.

If a Mechanic ends his move on an attraction that is owned by another player, he may attempt to sabotage the attraction. In order to sabotage the attraction, roll the 6-sided dice and if it is less than the number of guest coins for that attraction, it has been sabotaged. Move the closed sign from any attraction NOT OWNED BY THE CURRENT PLAYER and move it onto the attraction.

When a Handyman removes a trash token, he has the option of carrying the trash instead of discarding it. This reduces his movement by one space per trash token carried. When moving the Handyman, the player has an option of dropping a trash token in their space at any time during its movement unless this will leave more trash tokens on that space than the number of guest tokens for that attraction. Dropping a trash token restores one movement space to the Handyman which can be used immediately.

Security: After hiring Mechanics and Handyman, the players have an option to hire a Security Guard for the same price as the other workers (you will need a Security Guard Pawn for every player). Security Guards are placed on either attraction that the player owns and may move up to 4 spaces after step 6 during a players turn. Security Guards prevent any Mechanic or Handyman from committing Sabotage in their space or any space that is one space away.

Security Abuse: Use the security rules above but the Security Guards have one additional option to use during their move. If a Security Guard ends their turn on a space occupied by a guest, they may accuse the guest of causing trouble. Move the guest pawn to the park entrance and then roll the 6-sided die. If the roll is a 1-2 the Security Guard is fired and removed from the game.

These rules are currently being tried by my regular game group and have undergone no formal playtesting. Any comments or additions would be appreciated. Just write to scottdprt@yahoo.com.

PS. I’m currently looking at a way of adding what the peeps think. Like a side board that if the peep goes too long that you can get a bonus guest coin for getting them to a restroom. Idea needs a lot more work.

Thread: User Review

TomVasel — 2004-05-07T05:05:24+00:00

Roller Coaster Tycoon is my favorite computer game. There are definitely flashier games out there - games that probably have much better artificial intelligence out there, etc. - but I’ve always liked the idea of running my own theme park. Even when I create a theme park that terrifies guests, causing me to go bankrupt - I still have a good time, and when I do well - my enjoyment increases that much. When I heard that Roller Coaster Tycoon was being changed to a board game, I had mixed feelings. I was pleased as punch that my favorite computer game was coming to the board game scene, but at the same time extremely nervous because Hasbro was the company producing the game; and they certainly have a poor reputation for producing games that are any fun to play.

However, like several games in the newer line of Hasbro, Roller Coaster Tycoon (Hasbro, 2002 - Craig Van Ness) is actually fairly fun to play! It certainly will never go down in the annals of board gaming history as a game that changed the landscape with incredible mechanics and deep, interesting play. However, for a mass-produced game, I was heartily pleased with the game - it is fun to play, especially for kids and teenagers. There is a large luck element in the game, but some auction mechanics and strategy or where to move, help move this game to a rank higher than most “roll-and-move” games.

A huge game board is set up, with twenty-attractions scattered around the board next to a duel-circular track. Most of the rides are just pictures on cardboard - these are placed around the board, face down on the spot where the attraction will go. Seven guest tokens, one of each color, are placed on start, and two “Closed” signs are placed on the River Rapids space and the Wooden Roller Coaster space. A month marker is placed on the March Year 1 space on the time track. Paper money is sorted out and placed next to the board, with each player given $2,000,000. A deck of Attraction cards, one for each attraction, are shuffled with two dealt to each player and the remainder forming a draw pile. Each player reveals their cards, turns the appropriate attraction markers and places two of their player pieces next to the entrance of each attraction. The players then place the remainder of their player pieces in front of them, while paying the bank the cost of their starting attractions (listed on the attraction cards). All players then decide whether or not they want to hire a handyman and/or a mechanic - both costing the same amount (depends on how many players there are). If they hire either or both, they take the corresponding marker for each and place it in front of them. A player is randomly chosen to start, and then play proceeds clockwise.

The first thing a player does on his turn is to draw an event card and follow the instructions on it. The event cards are varied, but include these things:
- Moving guests. Guests are moved to the bathroom because they need to utilize it, go to the hot dog stand because they are hungry, etc.
- Auctions. The top Attraction card is flipped over, and the players auction it off in a round robin style, with the player whose turn it is making the first bid. Once a player passes, they are out of the auction, and when all players have passed but one - that player gets the attraction - turns the attraction over and puts one of their markers near the start. (Three attractions: the two roller coasters and the Whoa Belly - are three dimensional, and are placed on the board when won).
- Double auction. The same as an ordinary auction, but two cards that are auctioned off together.
- Blind auction. The same as a regular auction, but players bid before seeing the card.
- Double blind auction. The same as above, but with two cards.
- Collect money. The card states an amount that all the players receive. Some cards give money only to the active player.
- Closed Signs: The player may move the two closed signs to any attractions (they MUST move them to different ones).
- Advance One Month: The player moves the month marker down one space on the month track. There is often another instruction - many times a penalty for the player if they don’t have a handyman or mechanic. The player then draws another Event card.

After drawing an event card, the player rolls two dice - a six-sided die and an eight-sided die. The color on the eight-sided die (any color if the player rolls a “wild”) is the guest that the player must move - and the number on the other die is the exact amount that guest must be moved. The player can pick the direction, and which way the guest turns at an intersection, but must move the entire distance. If the guest lands on an attraction that someone owns, points are awarded, otherwise (including if someone owns the attraction, but a Closed Sign is on it) nothing happens, and the player’s turn is over. Otherwise, the player who owns the attraction receives some guest tokens equal to the value of the attraction (from one to five), as does the player who is moving the guest. This means that if the player whose turn it is manages to move the guest to one of their own attractions, they will get double points.

When the month marker reaches the end of the Month track, the game ends immediately. Each player receives one guest point for each $100,000 they have, and then all players total up their guest points - and the player with the most is the winner!

Some comments on the game...

1.) Components: Good grief, there are a lot of bits in this game! Even after bagging everything, the box still seems extremely crowded, and initial setup isn’t quick. As it is an American game, everything is cardboard, and while I would have preferred some things differently (such as a track for points as opposed to little “coins” and wooden player entrances instead of cardboard strips) - it’s still pretty impressive. The attractions themselves are extremely attractive, with the two coasters and the Whoa Belly being the pinnacle of the lot. Three-dimensional figures mounted onto plastic bases - they were certainly a pain to put together, but look pretty spiffy once completed. I added glue because the stinkin’ things kept popping out of their bases, reminding me of Pitchcar. All counters are double sided, which is extremely nice, and I especially liked how the face down attractions fit onto the board in an almost camouflage way. Speaking of the board, it’s a giant one - and one that really invokes the theme park. The cards are extremely clear, and are of good quality. It’s a shame a game that came with such great components didn’t include a plastic insert, but other than that, I was heartily pleased with the amount of components I got for the rather low price.

2.) Rules: The rules were not horrible, printed on six pages, and did include some illustrations (albeit in black in white). The formatting was not what I’d prefer, but pretty standard for a Hasbro game. Teaching the rules, actually, was incredibly simplistic, and anybody who’s played a roll-and-move game will pick it up instinctively, even though the game play is much more than that.

3.) Roll-and-Move: Some people instinctively duck for cover when the Hasbro name is mentioned, and for good reason - a majority of their games, for lack of better wording - suck. Much of this is due to the lackluster fun in rolling the die and moving your piece around the board, awaiting the inevitable conclusion of a boring game. Roller Coaster Tycoon at first seems to emulate that same idea until people suddenly realize that, hey - the tokens can be moved by anybody, and none of them belong to any of the players! Now, of course, this concept is nothing new to fans of “German” games, but it is unique to those who only have touched American rubbish. At the same time, I don’t think Euro-gamers should shy away.

4.) Hasbro: Sure, the strategy in the game is not the same as El Grande or San Marco, but there is still more than your average Hasbro game. I don’t think that I’ll ever bring this out in my die-hard gaming group; there are too many games that are better. BUT, the game offers enough strategy that it can act as a gateway to get your everyday person into the wonderful world of gaming. Hasbro’s games have recently started including games such as this, and one can only hope for better things in the future.

5.) Strategy: The strategy in the game is not as minor as it might appear. Besides typical auction strategy (although it’s a little risky with the blind auctions), knowing what guest to move where can be quite important. Is it better to give myself two points, alone - or to take four points, while giving Bob four points also? These decisions aren’t mind-boggling, but they aren’t always automatic, either. I will grant that some decisions, like buying the handyman and mechanic (very similar to the insurance policies in the Game of Life) are no-brainers.

6.) Computer Game: The game certainly looks like the computer game, using the same graphics, and having some of the same entities (handyman, guests, etc.). But all of that is really only a small connection, as the game play - especially the auctions, isn’t much like the computer game. I can’t see people liking one, and disliking the other, however - so the game could even be a portal for computer gamers.

7.) Fun Factor: The game is a lot of fun. The thrill of winning an auction, the ability to snag an expensive attraction, the stealing of others’ guest points, and the Event cards - all add up for a fun time. I doubt you’ll see too many session reports on the internet, but don’t be fooled- this is a game the general public will enjoy.

If you have contact with a lot of people who are not a big fan of “designer” games, this may be an excellent choice for you. It certainly isn’t a bad game by any means - as it is visually stimulating and has fairly good mechanics. That fact that it’s fun, based on an extremely popular computer game, and easy to learn help, also. No articles on strategy will be written about Roller Coaster Tycoon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if several lists of “How I became a Gamer” have it at the beginning of their list.
Tom Vasel

Thread: Re:Location of Rides and Probability Management

godard — 2004-01-25T22:03:01+00:00

The few times I have played, I have tried to have rides all over the park (since the peeps tend to disperse, and you have no idea which one you are going to roll), and to NEVER buy a ride that is an even number of spaces from one I already own -- since it should be easy enough to get a peep to the original one in the first place.

Thread: Location of Rides and Probability Management

Curtis Anderson — 2003-12-28T23:42:55+00:00

I was just looking at reviews and articles, and I'm not seeing the location of rides mentioned as a consideration (I've never played this game). Isn't it useful to own rides adjacent to each other, because it provides more opportunities for visitors to reach your rides from a particular location? Isn't it beneficial to have rides near another player's valuable ride, because the player will try to move visitors there? How does it affect bidding strategy that some rides are closer to intersections and others aren't? Is it less useful to have rides the same distance from an intersection, because a piece moving through the intersection can only choose to go to one, which makes the unchosen ride less valuable?

Thread: Re:Use for blank cards.

galeninjapan — 2003-12-24T06:13:22+00:00

Fishbulb (#7429),
I really like this idea, thanks!

Thread: Use for blank cards.

Fishbulb — 2003-04-07T12:59:07+00:00

For the blank attraction card, we use it as an Upgrade Attraction card. Place it on any attraction to give it an extra point. Maybe they added the reverser part to the log flume, added a new style of train on the steel coaster, or just lowered the price at the fries stall.

Also, for the blank event cards, we've made them to help against the constant coaster closings. You move one closed sign to another ride, and the closest guest to the newly opened attraction (whoever drew the card picks in a tie) moves to that space and rides it immediately. Knowing that the steel coaster owner could draw that at any time for a free 10 (or 12 with the Upgrade Attraction) will make you think twice before following the usual keep-the-coasters-closed style of playing.

Best part is, both of these fit with the theme. In a real park, peeps usually head to a newly re-opened ride since they're guaranteed a shorter line. And the Upgrade Attraction is straight from Chris Sawyers' computer game.

Try them out. Just don't write it on the blank cards until you are sure you like them.

Thread: Re:User Review

MrSquid — 2003-01-22T17:52:23+00:00

Trump (#2886),

Hello! I just played this game for the first time recently and I have been debating with myself your assertion that the handyman & mechanic don't justify thier expense. In a four-player game, they cost $200,000 each. Each hit you take from them costs $200,000. Of the four players playing, I was the only one who didn't buy either (everyone else bought both). I was also the only one that only got hit with a maintenance card once, the other players drawing the cards at least twice. So, it really worked out fine for everyone. You are right, because I came out $200,000 ahead, but everyone else either broke even or saved money by buying them. The jury is still out on this. As far as I can tell, it really is a gamble.

I really like your idea to use a mechanic to open a closed ride. The two coasters (I owned both in the game I played) are magnets for those closed signs. Perhaps you could pay $100,000 per Guest Point to re-open them?

Another variant I have been kicking around is to get rid of Guest Points entirely and just use money. Each Guest Point on a ride is worth $100,000. At the end of the game, the person with the most money is the winner. The big drawback to this idea would be that it might be possible for someone to get much richer than the other players and win all the auctions. I have assumed that since the game is so short that this might not happen because players would need to hoarde their money in order to win. Just speculation...

I would love to hear any other variants people have come up with!

Thread: Kids' Variant

qzhdad — 2002-09-05T13:05:46+00:00

I picked this game up because my 12 and 9 year old like the computer game. However, my four year old wants to play, too. We eliminated the money to simplify. He can count, but the concept of bidding is beyond him right now. (truth be told, my nine-year-old isn't a great bluffer, either)
So simply ignore all references to money. For the auctions, we played that the person drawing the auction gets the new attraction. If it's a double, the person gets one and the person to their left gets the other one. For a blind, it's random, if it's normal, the drawer selects one.
This isn't much of a game for gamers (I suspect), but it works great for the kids.

Thread: User Review

Psauberer — 2002-07-29T13:03:56+00:00

After playing Roller Coaster Tycoon, I would liken it to an hors d'oeuvres tray of gaming. You get a little bit of a lot of different things, and you aren't going to turn them away, but there's not enough to be fully satisfying.

Each player turn consists of two actions, followed by scoring. The first action is drawing an "event card" which will prompt one of several events to occur. The 54 cards can range from auctioning off an attraction to giving money or moving the game toward an end. For those of you who like to count cards, familiarity with this deck and looking at what rides are unowned at any given time can give you a better idea of what odds you are facing in any given strategy.

The second action is to move one of a group of guests to a new location by throwing a pair of dice. One die designates a group and the other die shows how many spaces the group will move. Since the object of the game is to accumulate as many "guest points" (earned when a group visits an owned attraction) as possible, this action becomes fairly obvious. You move the guest to the spot which maximizes your guest points. In the early part of the game, you may not be able to do so, but it doesn't take very long for the park to get built up and point scoring to happen on almost every turn. There is some decision making when you cannot land on your own attraction, as you have to share points when you land on another player's. However, because the point spreads in the game don't appear too quickly, it still usually ends up that you want to maximize your own points and don't pay too much attention to how much you are sharing.

Once you have moved a group, the guest points are distributed.

After being given 2 attractions to start the game, each player can only acquire more through auctions. This mechanism does require some money managment skills, as you have to make your limited supply of cash last quite a while at times.

As the game moves on, it becomes more important to do the right thing with your cash, as cash counts towards your score at the end of the game. You have to weigh the return you expect from an attraction when you decide how much to bid on an attraction.

The end of the game can come at different times in different games. After the 16 calendar cards in the event deck have been drawn the game is over. Thus it will be hard to count on being able to implement any one given strategy.

There are strategies that can be introduced here. However, there is also enough luck in play that it could be frustrating to those who dislike random elements. Overall, the game seems balanced, with mechanisms that tend to keep a single player from getting too far in front too quickly.

The components are of very good quality with the largest rides being 3-D and printed on both sides of the stock used to construct them. This gives the game a very unique look, one that enhances the game experience and theme. There is a minor bit of construction required, but the pieces went together easily.

Although I don't know how much Roller Coaster Tycoon reflects the computer game that inspired it, I would view this as a game that would serve as a means to introduce a computer gamer to board games. It is also a solid family game, making a good bridge from "roll the dice and move" games to deeper strategy games. It will get repeat playing in my family and I will not be ashamed to take it to my gaming group.

Thread: Re:User Review

Walt Mulder — 2002-07-29T12:56:06+00:00

Walt Mulder (#2932), :0 An apology for a few errors in my review. I must have stayed up late writing it and have since been shown the correct path. First off, each player starts with 3 Mil, not with 2. I've been playing this wrong, but don't think it affected anything. Players will obviously have more money to make higher bids on follow-on auctions. It still doesn't change the fact that you need to make your opponents pay dearly for any acquisitions. Also, the exact price for the Steel Rollercoaster is 900K (which is a bit less than around 1.2 Mil). Getting this in an opening hand is a mixed blessing. It costs a bundle, but it's a little further to reach with visitors, and leaves you less to bid on other attractions (especially if you also start with another high cost attraction). But no so bad now since you're actually starting with 3 Million. I'm still sticking to my high peg rating on the Mulder Meter. As a family game, it's entertaining, fast, and replayable. Sorry for an confusion caused by errors in the initial review. Stay tuned for my variants which still need a little tweaking and play testing. Walt Mulder

Thread: User Review

Dan Bosley — 2002-07-29T04:46:44+00:00

Roller Coaster Tycoon is one of the most popular and best-selling computer games of the last few years. And now it’s a board game.

A couple of things to note before the box is even opened. Chris Sawyer’s name (the designer of the original computer game) appears ever-so-tiny on the lower left front of the box. It’s really little, but at least something is there. However, there is no credit anywhere on the box (or inside for that matter) as to who designed the board game (which I understand from the ‘geek is Craig Van Ness). Quite different from the German games who plaster the designer’s name on the box.

The other thing to note is the starburst on the front cover proclaiming the big selling feature of the game: it has a “Giant 20” x 30” Gameboard”!

Well.... Isn’t that pretty darn exciting? Try to remain calm if you can. As exciting as that is (it’s giving me goosebumps just thinking about it), I think I would have been happier to see something written in the starburst like “Engaging, Absorbing Gameplay!”.

But hey, we’re talking about packaging here, so if they want to promote the size of the board as their key selling feature, well, so be it. Hey, it’s REALLY big, and big is REALLY good, and if the board is REALLY big and REALLY good, then hey, who needs to know anything else? Size matters. Bigger is better. Do you want to supersize that? Who cares what the game plays like? As long as the board is REALLY big! Big, big, big, big, big.....

But I digress....

And of course the sad thing is the board isn’t really all that big. Don’t get me wrong - it’s not little by any means. But I wonder what they would call a Formula De board (which is about twice the size of the Roller Coaster Tycoon board)?

Anyhow, enough of dwelling on the box. Onwards and inwards.

There’s a lot of stuff inside the box, including that lovely board. And it is an attractive board. It depicts lots of trees and grass and water and pathways, just waiting for you to get in there and start building some rides and things and turning it into a first-class amusement park. There are faint outlines depicted on the grass showing where each ride will go when it is built. And written on each section of the pathway is the name of the attraction with the number of guest-points it is worth (anywhere from 1 to 5 guest-points). Examples: the Burger Bar is worth 1 guest-point, the Haunted House is worth 2 guest points, the Swinging Ship is worth 3 guest-points and so on.

At the far right of the board is a two-partial-year calendar track (from March to October Year 1, and then March to October Year 2).

Most of the attractions are represented by attractive printed cardboard tiles. However, 3 of the rides - the Whoa Belly, the Wooden Roller Coaster and the Steel Roller Coaster - are not represented by cardboard tiles at all. Instead, you have to spend several minutes when you first get the game putting these 3 rides together with cardboard and plastic holders. They are eye-candy - that’s all they are - and kids will like them. Me, I would have preferred a tile. You also need about 3 hands to put them together. I don’t know how well these things will stand up to long-term use, but a tile would have been much more functional - and probably would last a lot longer too.

The game also comes with two kinds of dice, a deck of attraction cards, a deck of event cards, a bunch of money, a bunch of guest-point chips, some people (cardboard people stood up and put into plastic bases), some mechanics and handymen, and some miscellaneous other tiles and markers.

The game is for 2 to 4 players only.

The game starts with the Wooden Roller Coaster and the River Rapids rides being Closed. The 7 guests start at the park entrance. Each player is given $3,000,000 to start, along with two randomly dealt out attraction cards. Each player pays for his two attractions, builds them (flips the tiles on the board over - voila - they are built), and the game begins.

In a nutshell, each player’s turn consists of 3 steps:
1) Draw an Event card and do what it says
2) Roll the dice and move a guest
3) Earn guest points

The Event cards contain various good and bad things that happen. But the two key things that the Event deck has are the Month cards and the Auction cards.

Every time a Month card comes up, the “Month” marker on the time-track advances one space. (In other words, the game will only last about 40 to 45 minutes or so at the most - since once the last Month card is turned over, the game ends.)

The other important event is the Auction cards. When an Auction card comes up, the player flips over the top attraction card, and an auction begins for that attraction. Each player must raise the previous player’s bid or drop out. Last one still in pays his bid and builds the attraction and places his ownership marker on it.

So during the course of the game, all the players will be bidding for the attractions (each of which is worth anywhere from 1 to 5 guest-points).

There are 4 types of Auctions:
A) Normal - you bid for one attraction.
B) Blind - you bid for one attraction, but you don’t know what it is you’re bidding for (the attraction card is not turned up until after the auction is over).
C) Double - you bid for two attractions at once (a package deal) (two cards are turned face up).
D) Double Blind - you bid for two attractions, but don’t know what they are.

After doing the Event, you then roll the dice. One die is a normal 6-sided die. The other one is an 8-sided die. 7 of the sides correspond to the 7 guest colors. The 8th side is a wild side, and means that any of the 7 guests can be moved.

So if you roll Blue and a 5, you MUST move the Blue Guest 5 spaces. You can decide which of the several pathways he is going to go along. But you must move him the full 5 spaces (no partial moves allowed), and he can’t backtrack (in the same turn - that is, you can’t go into the same space twice in any given turn. Next turn, though, you could move him back again.)

Finally, the guest you moved scores points. If he stops in front of an attraction owned by you, you receive double guest-points. If he stops in front of an attraction owned by another player, BOTH you and the owner of the attraction earn the guest-points for that attraction.

That’s it. That’s the whole game. When the last month card is turned over, the game ends. Each player then gets 1 more guest-point for each $100,000 he still has. Then guest-points are totalled up and the player with the most, wins.

So - how does the game play?

I have mixed feelings about this.

I would rate it somewhere around a 3 to a 4 for a group of adult gamers. But as a family game, to be played WITH kids, or as a game to be played just BY kids, then my rating would go up to a 6. The kids (depending on their age) would likely rate it higher.

If we consider the target audience to be pre-teen kids, I have a hunch they would love it a lot and therefore the game, when rated as a family game to be played with kids, deserves a higher rating simply because of that. I must admit though that I have only played the game with adults - I have not actually played the game with kids, so I’m speculating here. But my gut feeling tells me that kids would indeed enjoy this game.

The theme alone is a strong draw. Pretty well everyone loves an amusement park, and kids especially love them. Kids have their favorite rides, and so getting to “own” your personal copy of that ride would be a “cool” thing.

I remember when my own kids were that age - they loved playing “Payday”. A game about going to work and paying bills. It was mostly (if not entirely) luck-based. I would never play that game with adults only. Borrrrrrring. But I played it many times with my kids, because they loved it, and would ask to play it again and again. It was a chance for them to pretend, for a short while, that they were adults - with a job and responsibilities and bills to pay. And for a kid, that was a fun thing to do. And I got my enjoyment out of Payday NOT from MY playing of the game, but from THEIR playing of the game. It was the sharing of time with my kids and seeing THEM enjoy the game that made it fun for me.

And I think Roller Coaster Tycoon appeals very strongly to that same “Let’s pretend” part of every child (and of course to at least some adults too!). It offers a lot of fun in the “Let’s pretend” department to a child.

There is a little skill involved in Roller Coaster Tycoon. But there is also an awful lot of luck. And what skill there is, is overwhelmed by the luck.

1. At the start of the game, each player draws 2 cards as his initial attractions. Luck.

2. At the start of the game, each player may buy a handyman and/or a mechanic. These are basically insurance against bad event cards. If you turn over one of the bad luck cards, it will cost you money if you don’t have the appropriate handyman or mechanic. But of course, it also costs money to buy the handyman or mechanic at the beginning of the game in the first place.

Do you feel lucky, punk? Do ya? Because there is no skill involved at all here.

3. Auctions. Yay! Skill. However..... Half the auctions are conducted with the Attraction card(s) face down. That is, you are bidding blind - without knowing what it is you are bidding on. So that wipes out the skill part - it’s luck again.

And secondly, in most auction games, you decide on how much you are willing to pay for something based on its perceived value by you. And that perception of value in turn is at least partly based on what that “something” will probably earn for you during the rest of the game. The trouble is, just because you buy something for more money (because it is “worth” more guest-tokens) has absolutely nothing to do with whether you will actually earn anything from it or not.

4. You move a specific guest (determined by the color on the die) a specific number of spaces (determined by the other die). Yes, because there are multiple paths and directions to go, you have choices where to move that guest. But there’s no thinking here:

A) if you can move to an attraction that you own, then that’s where you will move, and collect the double-guest points.

B) If you can’t do A, they you will move to an attraction owned by another player, provided you don’t think that other player is the leader. If you do think he is the leader, then you will move to some other player’s attraction, or else move to a non-owned attraction.

C) If you can’t do A or B, then you will move to a non-owned attraction.

And of course which guest you move and how far he moves is totally dependent on die rolls.

So no skill here, either, since there are no (real) decisions to make.

I should also point out that this moving the guests business is even more painful when only playing with 2 players. At least with 4, you can try to avoid giving points to the (perceived) leader when you move a guest.

But with only 2 players - either I own the attraction, or you own the attraction, or it’s unowned. With a 2-player game, whoever lands on his own attractions the most will win the game - since by doing so you are collecting guest-points while your opponent is not. But everytime you land on your opponent’s attraction, you BOTH score equal points. So in effect, it’s kind of pointless to bother doing that. The only way to get a lead on your opponent is to land on your own attractions. And that is totally dependent on luck.

Now I have nothing against luck in games. Although when there’s too much luck, I find them somewhat boring, as you lose too much control. And judging by how many people enjoy gambling at slot machines and playing lotteries etc., a lot of other people do enjoy testing their luck. But it’s one thing to play a game where your decisions have at least some impact on how your fate will be determined, even if luck plays a strong part; and it’s another thing where it doesn’t matter a darn what you do - you could still win or still lose. You can’t really affect things at all. (Or if you can, the effect is negligible.)

That’s the way I feel about Roller Coaster Tycoon. You just can’t really affect things very much at all. Whether you win or lose is up to luck. It is a very pretty game, though. And I really believe kids will like it because of the theme and the “Let’s Pretend” factor. And if you have kids, it may well be a worthwhile purchase for you. But for me, I’m going to put it away until I get grandkids.....(and that’ll be a few years yet).

I give it a 3.5 on the scale for “gamers” and I give it a 6 as a family game to play with kids.

Thread: User Review

Walt Mulder — 2002-07-29T04:46:12+00:00

In the recent past Hasbro has done well reproducing and upgrading old classics, and even throwing out a few new games that break away from the Monopoly mold. We now see what is a foray into the conversion of computer games to cardboard format rather than the other way around. The theme they've chosen is very friendly. What could be more fun then trying to profit from attractions at an amusement park. What makes Roller Coaster Tycoon really different than the run-of-the-mill Hasbro product is its European flavor. Yes, the familiar roll/move/collect mechanisms of the American game are still there, but now we have auctions and events to deal with also. Sort of a Hotels meets Modern Art, though some have likened the game to Marracash.

The mechanics are simple. Each player starts with 2 million dollars and 2 attractions. You must pay to the bank the amount show on each attraction from your starting cash. Some attractions like popcorn stands only cost 200,000, but the whopping Steel Rollercoaster is a round 1.2 Mil. Of course, the more expensive the attraction, the more victory points it will earn you when frequented by a group of people. You mark your starting attractions by placing a token of your color in front of it. Each attraction shows a victory point value which you receive whenever a group of visitors lands in front of it. So how do you get more attractions? Well each turn, a player reveals an event card. Certain event cards call for auctions of either single attractions, a double attraction auction, or a single blind or double blind auction where you don't know what attractions you're buying. You may not bid more than you have. This random event works well in the game. For example, if you started the game with the Steel Rollercoaster and a middle value ride, you'll be down to about 200-400K left in cash. If your opponent started with two piddley rides, they might have 1.4 Mil in ready cash and are more likely to win an auction for a good ride. Oh, all cash at the end of the game is worth 1 VP per 100K. The trick in the auction aspect of the game is making other players pay dearly for attractions while getting yours for a lark. Once you pass on the bidding your out of the auction for good. Letting someone pick up a double blind auction for 200K is a windfall to the other player. The only way to get more money comes through event cards that either give one player or all players a sum of cash. But, you don't know when that magic cash event card is going to come up. Blow too much money on a low point attraction and you may not have enough for the lucrative one when it appears.

Meanwhile, there's all the people running around the park looking for food and fun. After the event is resolved, the player rolls the dice (1 special eight-sided, and a standard 6) and moves the given group of tourists around the park. You must move the color group shown (of which there are seven and a wild card on the special die) the total amount of the roll. Fortunately you have a few choices of where to move them. If they end up in front of your attraction, you collect double the VP for that ride. If you move them to someone else's attraction, you each collect the amount of VP's shown. Finally you could move them to a neutral space if possible where no one benefits, or maybe getting them closer to your shops and rides. There's a few interesting event cards that allow visitors to be moved to bathrooms or the information kiosk thus strategically repositioning them hopefully in your favor.

The game has a built in mechanism to end itself (which needs some tweaking). There are a number of event cards that move the year marker forward. When the year marker reaches the last space, the game is over. Most of these event cards give everyone some extra cash, and eight of them have either a maintenance person or custodial person on it. Way back at the start of the game you have the choice of purchasing a maintenance or custodial person token for an exorbitant fee depending on how many players there are in the game. They are really insurance tokens, since when an event comes up showing their picture, you must pay 200K if you don't have the correct person in your possession. Are they worth having? Well, maybe, if you play with the variant I've posted. Throw in some "closed attraction" markers which may be moved via event and you have a way to slow down the leader. Anyway, when the game marker reaches the end, all players total up their VP tokens + 1VP for every 100K cash. The player with the most VP's wins the game.

So now for the spaghetti western version of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The components are adequate for the game. The attractions are printed on sturdy cardboard and there are three 3-D attractions to add some depth to the board. The two rollercoasters, and the whirly bungee drop thingy ride are nice touches. I wish there were also a 3-D Ferris wheel and log rides. They are functional and a nice touch though unnecessary for game play. The VP tokens are likewise on good card stock. The cards themselves had a bit of quality to be desired. They're a bit flimsy and my attraction card set was smashed on one corner causing crimping in about 5 of the cards, but Hasbro has assured me of replacements as soon as they're in stock. Overall, the components give a nice dB level to the game with the roar of the crowds and calliope music in the background. Also very good is the inclusion of event cards and the auction mechanism. This keeps the game fresh and different every time adding replay value. The bad is the luck factor of people movement. It's hard to mitigate that in this type of game. RcT is directed at the family market and as such the luck factor is a necessity in helping even the most game challenged player having a shot at winning. If you despise luck in a game, stay away. Yet, with some strategy, money management, and a bit of luck, you can come out on top. There's really nothing ugly I can find about the game. I'd love to see more of this type of game than the latest mindless movie game knock off that will outnumber
this type of game 5 to 1 on the shelves. Oh, and at $20 retail, the game is a bargain.

So, finish your soda, buckle in, lower the safety bar, and get ready to start screaming your lungs out at about an 88dB level on the Mulder Meter. Rollercoaster Tycoon will give you a game of loud family fun that works great with both the kids at home or the kids at heart in your local gaming group. It loses about 6 dB for card quality, and another 6 for not adding a few tweaks to improve the game a little more (but then what would I have to do with my time). Mind you, this is light fun but at least you're safe from spewing up that milkshake you just had if you rode the real thing. Cheers.
Walt Mulder.

Thread: Quick Comments

dmyers112 — 2002-07-25T16:15:26+00:00

I purchased Roller Coaster Tycoon because it seemed like a good game for my family and friends to play (they aren't Board game geeks like me!) I actually found it to be a pretty good game. (needs a little tweaking (see the end of my review) No it's not monopoly because YOU aren't a pawn going around the board buying things. You are part owner of the park and you purchase stands & rides with the draw of a card and a little bidding. You then try to move the pawns (park guests) into your rides & stands (die roll/card draw) which gets you guest chips worth points at the end of the game. It certainly is better with a lot of players (4 max). These same cards advance the months which of course ends the game. There are of course other action cards. The mechanic & handyman are also in there like the video game. There are quite a few game pieces and it is truly a different engine.
Now the tweaking - The more people that play it seems to me you don't really need to hire a Handyman. If 4 people play the handyman cost $200,000 to hire at the beginning of the game. There are 4 handman "clean up the park" cards. If you didn't hire a handyman it cost $200,000 to clean the park. The chances of getting 2 of the "clean the park" cards is slim (but not impossible) so why hire him? same thing for the mechanic.
secondly I would probbly take out some of the month advance cards because we never seemed to purchase all of the park rides before the end of the game and you can always go through the cards more then once (the cards don't say "auction fry stand" they say "auction" (among other auction types) this also makes the above handyman & mechanic chances go up!

All in All I am glad I bought it. I can get anybody to play. If I want to tweak the rules I can. Then when I say who wants to play "Roller Coaster Tycoon?" Everybody says sure. Then I add "Ok but this time I am going to remove 5 Advance month cards to mix things up"

Thread: Session Report

BoardGameGeek — 2002-07-23T22:02:26+00:00

Played this tonight with 3 players. A very enjoyable family game that reminded us of the old game Hotels by MB with a bidding twist that works. Each player starts with 2 Million in cash. All are then dealt 2 attraction cards from which they have to pay the bank the amount they're worth. Better rides with higher payouts cost more. This is a nice mechanism since the person then has less to bid for rides that come up in auctions. The turn consists of revealing an event card, rolling the dice and moving a park visitor, and collecting ride points.

The event cards consist of things like allowing you to close other player's rides, moving park guests to more opportune positions, holding an auction for a park attraction, paying cash to one or all the players, and moving the year marker which will eventually end the game.

The auctions make the game interesting. There are 4 types. Single attraction face up, double face up, single blind (face down), and double blind auctions. You don't know what type of event card or auction is coming up. If you blow too much money on an early auction, you might miss the opportunity to win a double later on. The more attractions you own, the more points you get when a visitor frequents your ride.

Player movement consists of rolling 2 dice. One die has 7 colors (one for each of the visitors) and a wild spot that allows you to move the visitor of the color indicated (or one of choice if rolling a wild spot). The other is a six-sided that shows how far they must move in the turn. You cannot retrace their steps. This is where the second dilemma can present itself. The obvious is to move a visitor to one of your attractions which scores you double it's ride value in points. The next option is to move the indicated visitor to a ride of another player allowing both of you to collect the amount of points shown. Finally, if the first two options don't suit you, you can try to position the visitor closer to your attractions.

Finally there's the option to buy a maintenance or custodial person at the beginning of the game for a set amount. You may purchase both if you like. These people allow you to avoid nasty event card payments should you not have one or both of them in possession. Think of them as insurance tokens.

In our first game, Tye started off with the wooden roller coaster and popcorn stand which cost him quite a bit of cash. He was out of the running for a few double auctions that came along. I managed to pick up the steel rollercoaster for a lark in a double blind auction, but couldn't capitalize on it for pretty much the rest of the game. High value attractions seem to get hit by the closed tokens a lot and are furthest away from the gate meaning they don't get as much traffic. Micki managed to get the information kiosk at the park entrance. It's fairly low (a one pointer) in value, but there's an event card that moves 4 visitors to it during the game. If you happen to own it, it's 8 points. Plus, there's lots of traffic through that area, so she managed to score well in the game. An ususual amount of year turn event cards came up and ended the game after about 2/3 of the event deck was run through causing a low scoring game. I ended up with 27 points, Micki with 17 and Tye with 22.

In the second game, the steel roller coaster never came up. Tye managed to get the wooden roller coaster in a bid but could only capitalize on it twice. Lots of points went to middle of the road attractions like the water rides and ferris wheel. Micki made a killing off her attractions. I had the most rides (12) in the game and got hit late on by the event card which caused everyone to pay 1 point for each ride they owned. Ouch. The game went to the next to last card, and all attractions but 2 made it on the board. Final score Micki 49, Tye 38, Walt 35. If the maintenance cost event card had come up earlier it would have been a different game.

Overall, this is a great family game with a good balance of luck and strategy. It could use a few tweaks though. Here's a few changes we decided to make. You may turn in either a maintenance or custodial persion chit to reopen a closed ride (you then lose their insurance protection). There are two blank event cards that come with the game. One event we made was to allow all players to purchase a maintenance custodial person for 100,000 more than the original cost at the start of the game. The other allows the purchase of a custodial person in the same manner. Finally we take out one of the year movement event cards and shuffle it into the last 10 cards to assure the game will at least go into the bottom 5th of the event deck. I also used the extra sprue cardboard to cut out a fifth players ownership tokens and allow another player. I think that six players would cause the event deck to be run through too quickly.

Overall ratings, Micki - 9, Tye - 8, Walt 8.5

Thread: User Review

Trump — 2002-07-22T13:38:04+00:00

The gameplay is very straightforward. Each player starts with 2 random attractions. As the game progresses, there are opportunities to buy more attractions via auctions. On your turn you flip an Event Card, do what it says, then roll to see which Guest you get to move. If you move a Guest onto an attraction, you get the shown number of Guest Points (i.e. Victory Points). The owner of that attraction also gets that many Guest Points. If you move onto your own attraction then, you collect twice. At the end of the game, you convert all of your money into Guest Points, so there IS a good reason not to burn through your cash like it doesn’t even matter. OK, so that’s how to win…

Attractions vary in location and how many Guest Points they will generate. Since money is converted into Guest Points at the end of the game, you have to decide just how much you’re willing to spend for an attraction based on how many Guests you can get to visit it before the game ends. It’s also worth considering focusing on attractions that are near one another as this does increase your chances of getting Guests to choose YOUR attractions. The auctions to buy them come in four types: Normal, Double (buy 2 at once), Blind (buy 1 without knowing which it is in advance), and Double Blind (buy 2 without knowing which they are in advance).

There are seven Guests in the park. Each turn you roll an 8-sided die to see which one you will be moving, with the eighth side being a Wild where you can choose any guest. You roll a 6-sided die to see how many spaces the guest will move. They MUST move by exact count so it’s not always so easy to get them to hop on your steel roller coaster.

There are 52 event cards and thus there is a maximum of 52 turns in the game. 16 of those cards act as timers. Once they’ve all come up, the game is over. Also, when you draw one of them, you turn right around and draw again, so it’s POSSIBLE that the game could end on the very first turn, but it’s admittedly unlikely. I think it’s the Event Cards which impose the upper limit on the number of players. With 4 players, you’re lucky to get 10 turns. I don’t see why you couldn’t allow more than 4 players as long as you don’t have a problem with less direct control of the Guests though. Other Event Cards allow you to close attractions, or move 3 guests to the restroom, or move a bunch of guests to get something to eat, etc etc.

At the beginning of the game, you can pay either a Handyman, a Mechanic, or both. You are essentially buying insurance against drawing a bad Event Card which will cost you some money if you don’t have the proper employee. I find these employees to be very similar to buying insurance in the game of Life. By this I mean that their cost really doesn’t justify their expense. Better to just forget about them and take your chances.

I wouldn’t recommend playing with only 2 players. It works, but you lose the precious element of negotiation which I think makes the game a bit more interesting. For example, suppose a player is trying to decide where he should move his Guest. If you could convince him to move on to YOUR attraction so that the two of you score points, so much the better. Of course, if the other players feel like you’re winning, then nobody will want to visit your attractions no matter how many points they’ll get out of the deal.

This is a quick game (45 minutes at most) and it makes a decent filler if you like the amusement park theme. I’m already considering various ideas to make the game a little more appealing to the gaming crowd (without totally alienating the family audience) and I’ll see about putting them up here after I’ve tried them out. I will certainly be changing the rules for the Handyman and the Mechanic. They have got to come down in price or nobody in their right mind will buy one. Alternatively, I’m considering giving them some kind of expanded capabilities to make them more valuable. For example, you might use up your Mechanic to open one of your closed rides. I need to work up a two-player variant too, since something needs to replace the missing negotiation element.