Hard economic games, where are they?

[Erik_Twice]

I'm a great economical game fan. I love the genre and I have to say, for good or bad, I'm quite adept at them. And aftera while you really suffer from the lack of difficulty found in the genre.

There are only two economic games I consider hard: Simcity 4 and Railroad Tycoon 3: Coast to Coast expansion. That's it. The rest are all quite easy in comparison, and while that doesn't make them bad games I would like to play a challenging game for once.

So, do you have any suggestions? =D

[Segatari2002]

While it's not the main point of the game, I've found that the economic model used in Hearts of Iron 3 on the PC is pretty involved and daunting at times. The game is a geo political simulator of the events that transpired between 1933-1948 so no matter what country you choose you'll inevitably have to deal with the second world war breaking out and all hell breaking loose on you. But that's one of the strengths of the game I think; you can literally choose almost ANY country that existed in that time frame and guide them how you want. So if you just want the economic problems, pick a country that stayed out of the way during the war and try your hand at it. One of my save files is actually Sweden. In a few short years, I've managed to make them into a European powerhouse so much so that I've stopped Germany's advance into Scandinavia simply through a poised threat instead of actual military actions.

[Pulsar_t]

Have you tried the Tropico or Anno games? Can't speak of personal experience, but those are the most recent entries I can think of. Also, the Total War games can be challenging when balancing imperial budgets

[ZeroAX]

Have you tried the Tropico or Anno games? Can't speak of personal experience, but those are the most recent entries I can think of. Also, the Total War games can be challenging when balancing imperial budgets

Haven't tried Tropico, but Anno is a pretty easy game, economic wise. There's not a lot you can screw up.

And in Total War, if you just keep conquering areas and developing your trade network you'll just keep getting more and more money, and in the end your empire will be way too powerful just cause of its economic prowess.

[MrPopo]

I remember I once saw a simulator that let you pretend to be the Federal Reserve, and your goal was to attempt to avoid a depression or hyperinflation through manipulating the Fed interest rate. It was ball-crushingly hard.

[Ivo]

I remember I once saw a simulator that let you pretend to be the Federal Reserve, and your goal was to attempt to avoid a depression or hyperinflation through manipulating the Fed interest rate. It was ball-crushingly hard.

I remember JT posted in one of his threads a game where you were managing a family somewhere in a poor undeveloped area, and it was really really hard (by design) to succeed in keeping the family fed and healthy.

Ivo.

[Crystalis]

[ZeroAX]

Someone should make a Greece tycoon. See then what a tough economic game REALLY is

[Erik_Twice]

Wow, I love that cover!

[Para]

Casino Kid?