Summary
Tycoon games allow you to build a commercial (or literal) empire and take it to heights you could only dream about. The joys of running your own business, achieving victory over your competitors, and having it all come crashing down due to your own hubris are all within your reach in any flavor you want.
While most tycoon games offer a robust single-player experience,the multiplayer optionsyou’re left with are usually pretty bare-bones. If you want to enjoy your favorite tycoon game with a friend, consider adding some of the games on this list to your gaming library.
8Anno 1800
Anno 1800 is a solid city-builder, but it also contains some great tycoon elements as you grow your settlement. The game is set during the Industrial Revolution, and you’re tasked with modernizing your city with a mind toward more commerce and growth. With excellent graphics and immersion, it’s a game you should try if you’re a fan of the genre.
If you want to enhance your Anno 1800 experience, you may also check out its online multiplayer. The game’s multiplayer mode is fairly simple, existing as a sandbox that’s more or less the same as single-player mode. You can spend hours with a friend helping to grow and industrialize your city, making it a sort of unofficial co-op.
7Offworld Trading Company
Offworld Trading Company is a sci-fi strategy game that offers a fun twist on the tycoon genre. At the start of the game, you’re offered the choice of one of four factions, each offering their own unique strengths and weaknesses. You’re then tasked with growing the company while keeping up with your rivals, making sure no one out-competes you.
Speaking of competition, the game’s multiplayer mode plays nicely into the factions you’re given at the start. You and your friends are pitted against each other, and you’re forced to claw your way to the top while sabotaging your rivals. This is the Mario Party of tycoon games, and you might find a few friendships put to the test.
6Prison Architect
Prison Architect isn’t a traditional tycoon game by any means, but it still has the same gameplay features as other games in the genre. You’re free to build your own private prison the way you like it, micromanage every detail, and sob quietly to yourself when it all goes to hell.
Of course, crying with a friend is way better than crying alone. A co-op gaming mode was released in 2019, shortly before Paradox Interactive bought the rights to the game. You and your friend can spend hours building the prison of your nightmares, whether it’s in person or online.
5Mindustry
Mindustry may look like a simple game, but this factory building sim for both desktop and mobile is surprisingly complex. Along with the satisfaction you get from building and managing your factory, you also have to defend your stronghold with the game’s strategy and tower defense elements.
There’s not really a defined purpose to the game’s multiplayer. While you and your pals can certainly defend your factory together, you’re free to do whatever you’d like. There’s a thrill to this sort of freedom, but players who want more structure to their multiplayer might feel a little disappointed.
4Industry Giant II
Industry Giant II might be an older game, but it’s still loads of fun if you want a solid tycoon experience. It’s a solid supply chain simulator that lets you live out your capitalistic fantasies, or just build freely without having to worry about profits in “free game” mode.
You’re bound to have plenty of fun in the game’s single-player mode, but if you have friends nearby and want to throw a LAN party, Industry Giant II delivers the goods. Hopefully a remaster adds online multiplayer one day, but for now, local is your only option.
Mad Games Tycoon 2 is a great game if you’re a fan of Game Dev Tycoon and want to expand your gaming empire across titles. Make all the games you’d like, grow your business, and keep up with market trends and customer demands. It’s a solid title that deserves its place among the best tycoon games out there.
What makes Mad Games Tycoon 2 stand out, however, is its excellent multiplayer support. The game boasts a thrilling competitive mode that pits you and your friend against each other as heads of competing game businesses. You can attempt to simply make more money than the other person, but the real fun comes in trying to sabotage each other.
2Parkitect
Parkitect is loads of fun, being a classic amusement park builder in the same vein as Roller Coaster Tycoon. You can get lost in building the ride of your dreams and fulfilling the needs of the park’s visitors. The game also offers several quality-of-life updates that improve upon other games with a similar premise.
In the game’s multiplayer mode, you’re able to help your friends build the biggest and best amusement park, the likes of which no one has seen before. You can also instead opt to create a nightmarish hellscape filled with rides that break just about every safety law; whatever you choose is up to you.
1Factorio
Don’t let its simplistic graphics fool you; Factorio is a solid tycoon game and has been a staple of the genre for over a decade. The game offers everything you’d expect as you manage your supply chain and grow your company, but you’re also given added layers of complexity through the game’s blueprint creation system.
Of course, it’s only natural to want to share a game this good with a friend. Factorio also boasts a solid online co-op where you and your buddy can build and improve your factory together, design blueprints together, and ultimately shoot for the stars. There are plenty of tycoon games with online co-op, but Factorio’s is a truly satisfying experience.
