the park i spent a whole summer building

one summer i basically disappeared into theme park tycoon 2. started with a couple of cheap rides and a food stand, and by august i had this sprawling park with a custom wooden coaster i tuned for weeks so the guests would actually rate it well without getting sick on the drops.

what i loved is that nobody made me do any of it. there was no quest telling me to build, no reward chest for finishing a coaster. i just wanted the park to look right. id spend an hour placing trees and paths and fences one block at a time simply because it was mine.

that was the golden age of tycoons on this site. retail tycoon, lumber tycoon, the whole era where a game handed you a plot and some tools and just trusted you to make something. most of what trends now grabs your attention and never lets go. the tycoons let you get lost on your own terms. this one still does, and thats exactly why its lasted. i went back last month and the coaster still runs. felt like visiting an old house.