What Makes a Roblox Tycoon Successful?
Tycoons in Roblox are a type of building game where you create something, like a house, a library, or a school, by earning money and buying parts for your build.
Tycoons are usually a zen, if sometimes passive, method of entertainment that might remind you of building a Lego set. For players, they can create beautiful and complex environments piece by piece while chatting with their friends and, in some games, defending their territory from other players.
For tycoon creators, it’s a fun way to learn 3d digital modeling, basic coding in Lua, and potentially build a following as a Roblox game developer. However, since tycoons are extremely popular and numerous, it can be hard for developers to get their tycoon noticed among the horde.
What makes a great Roblox tycoon stand out? Let’s look at some popular tycoons and see what works.
Bigger Is Generally Better, But Make It Easy to Navigate
When it comes to tycoons, in my opinion, bigger is generally better. Create an expansive world with many areas to complete, like Tropical Resort Tycoon by Ready, Set, More!, and you will have a loyal fanbase that keeps coming back. However, don’t make it so big that players get lost in it!
For large tycoons, consider adding vehicles or convenient teleporters to get to different places. To help players find their next goal on large maps, you could add a button on the screen that points players toward the next buyable object when they click on it. Also, rather than forcing players to start from the beginning every time they load in, a save system should be added to allow them to continue from where they left off.
Keep Your Tycoon Experience Active With Minigames and Random Events
One of the main complaints about tycoons is that they are too passive, and sometimes there are long waits for you to earn enough money to buy the next thing. Carnival Tycoon by Piddy Games 2 fixes this problem with fun carnival minigames as some of the stalls you can buy. As you progress, you can play mini golf or ring toss at one of your stalls to pass the time.
For your tycoon, you could add an obby with money at the end, or a scavenger hunt for a secret badge, or a working pool table in a house tycoon, or any other minigame you can imagine. This will keep players from getting bored and leaving.
Another feature that makes this tycoon exciting is an element of randomness to what you build. The game picks three options for each new stall for you to choose from. Each stall will affect your carnival’s rating and income, so it adds a bit of challenge for players as well as encouragement to try the next stall. To add some randomness to your tycoon, you could try adding randomly dropping supply crates with money for players to battle over, or you could randomize the content of your rooms.
Add Choices to Give Players Power and Increase Replay Value
Mage Tycoon by Mage // Tycoon has players that keep coming back to it, because it offers many ways for players to customize their experience.
Players can choose between several different tycoons to build for their lot, which adds replay value and allows players to try out new types of magic. If you like cutesy things, you could try out the Valentine’s Day Cupid tycoon, while your edgy friend can make the Blood tycoon and you can battle each other. Players can also choose different ways to upgrade their character’s abilities or choose which tycoons they want to upgrade.
To add choices to your game, you could allow players to choose between different builds, or modify where rooms could be placed with different layouts. Color customization is also a good idea for things like furniture.
If players finish the tycoon, you could get them to replay it by adding a rebirth system that gives new rewards with each rebirth. For example, Mage Tycoon has a few tycoons that only unlock after a certain number of rebirths, making them highly sought after.
Also, bring old players back in and build hype for new players with limited time events, for things like holidays, or make a random weekend where they can make double the cash.
Don’t Make It Take Too Long Between Purchases, or You’ll Lose the Player’s Attention
One thing that some tycoons could improve on, however, is how expensive objects get towards the end. Objects may start out at a low rate, but if you raise the price of certain items too much the player’s wait time will increase, and they will lose interest in building the next thing. Keep it in mind that progression should be evenly paced, not exponential, because players will get bored if they have to wait five minutes to buy one piece when earlier it took five seconds between pieces.
If You Include Weapons, Give Players the Option for Peace
Some tycoons give players a sword or gun at the start of the game, to give them something to do by picking fights with other players or defending their territory. However, this doesn’t always necessarily fit the theme; imagine a daycare tycoon where someone runs in screaming, “STICK EM UP! IT’S TIME FOR BABY MURDER!”.
Players should be given the option to opt out of violence, whether it be a quickly affordable owner door or a barrier around their property that kills players who pull out a weapon. This can prevent drama and rage quitting in your servers.
Create a Trademark Tycoon Design That Fits Your Theme
For your tycoon, you’ll want something that’s immediately recognizable. With tens of thousands of tycoons on Roblox, you need to stand out and make something that both fits what the players are building and shows off your own unique style.
Try using your own background music and making your own models, since the ones available on Roblox have been used for a thousand other games. You can also use scripts to animate your environment and make it feel more alive, like, for example creating a fancy animated fountain in your princess castle.
Think about the audience you want to reach for your tycoon; for example, a haunted house tycoon might attract horror fans, so you could give it a spooky atmosphere that reminds them of their favorite horror games. The aesthetics and sounds of a tycoon are very important in making it memorable. Go big with your imagination and have fun with it!
Leave a Reply