Business simulations let you pretend you're a tycoon, raking in money, investing carefully, and watching your empire grow!

There are a lot of business games out there right now, but it is an unforgiving genre, and bad games usually don't last long. In the last few years, there's been a boom of "tycoon" series games some of which are those dreaded "time-management" or "click-fest" games. With so many garbage business games and imitations out there, separating the wheat from the chaff is tough.

What follows are the 10 best business simulation games. They are ranked alphabetically because it is simply not possible to rank them, in my opinion. All the games on this list are very good, the rest are a matter of personal preference. They can all be purchased on Amazon.

Airline Tycoon might be one of the most controversial games on this list. It wasn't a best-seller, and hasn't always been seen as a very serious game.

Airline Tycoon is a lighthearted game. You are the owner of one of the four airlines competing with each other at the same airport, and there's a lot of sabotage and hijinks. Nevertheless it's a challenging game. It's cartoony, but its core economic system works fine. Airline Tycoon is also fairly uncomplicated, so good for beginners, and a fun change pace for long-time fans of the genre.

The recently released Airline Tycoon II is very good as well.

The Anno series games are about colony- and empire-building. The basic premise involves landing on an island and effectively managing resources in order to build up a profitable colony. The game focuses on the colony's economy, and it's very tough to both turn a profit and still make your colony pretty. There's also a military and combat aspect to the gameplay.

Anno is an enormous franchise. It includes:

• Anno 1602 (1998) Known as 1602 A.D. in the U.S. and Australia.
• Anno 1503 or 1503 A.D. (2003) This sequel introduced bigger islands, more complex buildings and military, and different resources from 1602.
• Anno 1701 or 1701 A.D. (2006) This installment is quite different. While the main principles are the same you have to deal with your country's queen and meddling homeland government. Eventually you can fight for your colony's independence. Other features include sabotage and natural disasters.
• Anno 1404, known in the U.S. as Dawn of Discovery (2009) In this Anno sequel, the quality started to dwindle, and not much new was added to the game.
• Anno 2070 (2011) Is the most recent addition to the franchise, poses new ecological and financial challenges by being set in the future.

Caesar is a city building-game set during the Roman Empire. In this game you try to transform your towns into big cities. Sort of like Sim City, but with more barbarian hordes.

The game's combat system, graphics, and other features have improved in the various sequels: Caesar II, Caesar III, and Caesar IV. Unlike many other series, in which quality diminishes after too many sequels, the Caesar franchise has remained consistently good.

Capitalism is a hardcore business game, so much so that some call it the most boring business simulation game. I would argue it's just very good at what it does: simulating business. In Capitalism, you manufacture and sell products. From farm to supermarket, you have to manage materials and resources to make products. The game also makes you pay attention to supply and demand to maximize your profits. If you're not careful in expanding your business, you can end up in a bubble or a crash.

Capitalism II is just an expansion of the first game, with improved A.I. and a few more things you can do. Sadly, the Capitalism series hasn't been updated in over a decade.

Some wouldn't call Europa Universalis a business game, from a grand perspective it is one, because it's about running a country. The key aim in this game is not to bankrupt your country, keep inflation in check, and try to expand your country's territory while keeping good diplomatic relationships with other empires.

Europa Universalis has some interesting sequels, such as:

• Europa Universalis II (2001) spans 1419 to 1820.
• Europa Universalis III (2007) starts in 1453 and ends in 1789, just before the French Revolution.
• Europa Universalis: Rome (2008) takes place during the Roman Republic.
• Europa Universalis IV (2013) is the latest installment of the series, and includes the Napoleonic Wars.

Europa Universalis is extremely challenging. The game's economic system is difficult to master, especially if you're not used to business games. Still, a great choice for a game-playing megalomaniac!

Source: levelskip.com

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