Pizza Tycoon is an excellent game that teaches good money management and (the basics) of running a good business. Not only that, but its darn fun!
I first played this game about ten years ago, when I was very young. It was a classic within my family; whenever we would play a game together, it was always Pizza Tycoon: the ultimate game of competition, sabotage, and teamwork.
The graphics aren't companionable; the busy cars, clay-like people, the clay-like pizza... Everything in the game is pretty much clay-like.
But that's okay, because the game-play makes up for it.
The game-play is simple: choose a character (each character has different stats like charisma to persuade people, etc) and establish a running Pizza franchise! It's best when playing with friends though, because sometimes the AI is either too hard or too easy... I never really played against AI anyway. If one of your competitors gets in the way, pick up the phone and order some "hot Ice cream" to destroy their restaurant or plant a stink bomb. Then, once you get to the top, you can choose to move to another country and establish your business there!
But that's not all, there's a terminal system: you can call up the bank if you need money, get
insurance to be reimbursed if you are sabotaged, work for the mafia, and more. Working for the mafia presents good results, assuming you don't get caught. You can go from a lousy pizza man to the mafia bigwig... but if you get caught sabotaging or doing crooked work you go to jail for a few days, which is precious time for your store.
Also, you can customize your shop. You can buy various styles of decor, add a TV, a radio, vending machines for revenue, and other things that will make customers want to choose your franchise. Also, you can hire workers and enlist them in training to become master chefs or top notch waiters. Last, but not least, you can make your own pizza, according to the current trends of the town at that time. If you add a lot of pineapples, you can be sure to expect the blue collars to eat at your shop. If you add some lobsters, maybe the white collar will come in. The possibilities are endless and constantly changing as well.
You can go as far as making your own advertisements so people will know of your franchise. Some are really flashy and attract a lot of attention; others will degrade your store. It is ultimately up to the owner to choose wisely.
All in all, this game deserves 8/10, because although it is far from perfect, it excels in what it does have.
