Vegas Tycoon (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.5 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Jason Ocampo
• Reviewed on: 02/06/2004
• Released on: 01/15/2004
• Originally published on GameSpot: Vegas Tycoon (PC) Review

Las Vegas is America's playground, as well as the setting for the umpteenth tycoon game to come our way in Vegas Tycoon. Developed by the same folks responsible for 2001's impressive Monopoly Tycoon, Vegas Tycoon could very well be the quintessential casino-building game, not to mention one of the better tycoon games overall. It has a lot of things going for it, including beautiful graphics, oodles of detail, and lots of depth. Sadly, it's a game that doesn't quite hit the million-dollar jackpot due to some cumbersome gameplay, an unusually and often frustratingly high level of difficulty, and interface issues. These things don't keep Vegas Tycoon from being a good, solid game, though.

Actually, there are essentially two games in Vegas Tycoon: a resort-building game and a casino-building game. Indeed, real-life Las Vegas is no longer just about gambling, since the city has transformed itself in the past two decades to become a premier entertainment destination for gamblers and nongamblers alike. In the resort sim, you have to develop a world-class themed resort, complete with a luxury hotel, upscale shops and restaurants, nightclubs, magic acts, theater and stage shows, roller coasters, and more. However, the main economic driver for your resort remains your casino, and in this portion of the game, you have to design the interior of your casino down to its smallest detail. It's much like building a house in The Sims, but it's done on a much larger and more complicated scale.

These two portions of the game interact closely with each another. The more people you lure to your casino, the more likely they'll explore the rest of your resort and spend money at your hotel, your restaurant, your jewelry store, and so on. Additionally, the more you upgrade your resort with high-class shops and services, the more likely you are to attract wealthy visitors, celebrities, and whales (the really big-money gamblers) to your resort and casino.

Your ultimate goal, of course, is to lure as many visitors to your resort as possible to separate them from their money. The game shines in terms of the options available to you. Pretty much every Vegas attraction you can think of is available, including dolphin acts, fireworks, rock concerts, and more. There are upgrades available for a number of buildings, and you can tweak everything from ticket prices to hiring a celebrity chef for your exclusive restaurant. If a country music convention rolls in to town, you can change the band in your concert arena to try to attract more convention-goers. In the casino, you can analyze every game to see what kind of crowd it draws, and then you can adjust the betting limits and house rules to attract different sorts of gamblers. Vegas Tycoon does a great job at capturing the diversity of the Vegas Strip.

There are literally thousands of peeps roaming about the city, thus representing the wide array of visitors to Vegas. As in real life, most of them are tourists and gamblers, with only slightly smaller numbers of businessmen and VIPs. Of course, the rarest visitors are celebrities and whales. So every decision you make has to be weighed against the kind of visitors you're looking to attract. Businessmen like nightclubs and the topless revues with showgirls, but that can be a turnoff for female visitors. Tourists, meanwhile, will probably want a magic show or a souvenir shop. Inside your casino, the elderly will want a good game of keno, while young single men will flock to the sports lounge and bar.

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