Best economy games. Top 10 games for fans of management

• Industry Giant 2
• Railroad Tycoon 3
• Offworld Trading Company
• Patrician 3
• Victoria 3
• Capitalism 2
• Railway Empire
• Anno 1800
• Capitalism Lab
• OpenTTD

Economic games as a genre seem to be past their prime. Due to the nature of the genre, even older productions can still offer compelling visuals and gameplay mechanics. The graphics often didn't go for realism and were simplified on day one. Unlike the gameplay mechanics. Productions about managing companies meant to become a global powerhouses are based on real market laws, allowing control over crucial areas and leading to complex and extensive mechanics. And that's true. People who enjoy brain challenges are really happy about it.

The genre of economic games is mainly reserved for Windows - as many as 7 out of 10 titles presented here can only be launched on PC and laptops, or at least it used to be the case, because now they can also be played on portable, Windows-based "consoles." So here are the top 10 games for hardcore management fans, ranked in a rather random order.

Industry Giant 2

Industry Giant 2 is a business management simulator focused on trading. The title takes the player to the 19th and 20th-century USA. The goal is to build a global enterprise where every part functions smoothly. Easy to say, harder to achieve. At the onset, we only have "a few pennies" in our pocket and we don't really know where to start. Initially, the realistic and complex market laws and principles can be overwhelming.

Conversely, simulating economic dependencies can somewhat ease the process. If someone understands these rules in real life, they will also know what to do here. An interesting feature introduced by the developers are historical events, including crises, which we can escape unscathed using some of the strategies that helped actual entrepreneurs in the history.

As we mentioned at the beginning, the title focuses on trade, including buying and transporting raw materials. However, what's more exciting is the production of specific products and their sale (you will also need to take care of the logistics). In Industry Giants 2, there are as many as 150 different goods to trade and produce. Not all of them are available at the start, set in the year 1900. You can also trade over 50 types of vehicles.

The original version was released way back in 2002. Thirteen years later, a refreshed version was completed, but it did not introduce many changes. The authors mainly aimed to update the old production for newer operating systems.

1. Industry Giant 2 (2002) in our encyclopedia