A lot of games have some degree of economic management, but only actually stand out in this category.
Deep economic models make every action you take more impactful and give some weight to decisions beyond just right-clicking a problem away.
Of course,an intricate model leads to more problems when things fall through the cracks, but sorting those out is half the fun. The other half is clenching your jaw hoping that the market does not crash on you.
These games are very different from one another, but they all stand out by having an economic model good enough to make you feel like you are on Wall Street.
7Cities: Skylines 2
Middle Manager’s Paradise
Cities: Skylines 2
Most of the world today follows an economic system you can emulate onCities: Skylines 2. You cantoy with taxes, adjust the budget, work with banks, and even play on the stock exchange.
The game came out to mixed reviews, but Paradox has been working hard to make the game good (though still far from perfect).
In the summer of 2024, theCities: Skylines 2receivedthe Economy 2.0 patch. This adds previously unseen granularity to your city’s finances.
The interactions between the city, companies, investors, and the residents need balance for a healthy economy, so have fun trying to achieve that.
Addictive Industrial Sprawl
The factory must grow, and yourFactorioaddiction grows with it. Albeit not a traditional economic simulator per se, this isone of the purest, most beautiful industrial management gamesin the market.
Factoriostarts with you stranded on a hostile planet, and the goal is simple enough: get out. Doing that requires a ship though, which in turn comes from a factory, that uses materials and… You get the idea.
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This is a masterclass inlogistics management, with a smaller (but still very relevant) tower defense component on account of the murderous local fauna.
Factoriois practically never-ending, as you always find new ways to improve your processes a little more.
5RuneScape
The Ultimate Exchange Arena
Old School RuneScape
The two biggest trading floors of the world as we know it are Wall Street and the Varrock Grand Exchange.
RuneScape’s economy does not have intricate backend mechanisms and relies instead onthe beauty of the human condition.
TheRuneScapeeconomy follows classic supply and demand flows and has multiple layers. You can trade on Exchanges, with traders, and directly with players.
Each of these has its peculiarities, but the gist is thatthe flow of goods inRuneScapehas a hypnotic organic nature that closely resembles real-world economies.
You get periods of inflation and deflation, crises, and most of all, you have something new every day.
4Anno 1800
The Last Of Colonialist Management
Beneath the mesmerizing visuals and Victorian urban sprawl,Anno 1800packs astrong economic simulationthat gives its city-building art a purpose.
Anno 1800puts you at the helm of European power, and your job is to ensure the city keeps up with the times through trade, colonial exploration, and a whole lot of manufacturing.
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Succeeding inAnno 1800requires balancing your efforts to keep the goods flowingfrom the New World while optimizing their usage in the Old World.
Besides trading directly, you also have to manage the products your population has access to, which plays a major role in keeping the currency circulation alive.
3Dune: Spice Wars
Worms, Spice, And Everything Nice
Dune: Spice Wars
Dune is about two things: worms, and spice. TheDune: Spice Warsgame,releasedin 2022, does a good job driving this point home with a deep simulation of the galactic spice trade.
The flow ofDune: Space Warsis simple for most factions. Find spice, conquer a settlement, build a refinery, and bring it the resources needed to operate. Oh, and pray that Shai-Hulud does not pay a visit and wreck your harvesters.
The real fun begins when you dip into the Combine Honnete Over Advancer Mercantiles (CHOAM), or spice market for simplicity’s sake.
With its variable rates,you have to fine-tune your output to avoid running into trouble or zeroing your stockpile. You need spice to trade with other factions, and the Imperium skims some off the top for tax.
Dune: Spice Warsrequires clever management skills to regulate your stocks and survive inevitable disruptions because even the simplest of tasks are not that simple in Arrakis.
2Victoria 3
Grand Strategy Galore
Victoria 3
Victoria 3is an economics simulator with a grand strategy mini-game. The game gives you control of a country during the Industrial Revolution, where you need to keep up the pace as the world changes forever.
The economy inVictoria 3has near-infinite possibilities to execute your plan, and equal opportunity to screw things up.
Take a simple, cheap resource like coal. If you import too much, prices will go up. Suddenly, the price of iron also rises, which cascades onto tools and building materials and might crash your economy.
Victoria 3hada rough launch, and some players still have qualms about the changes from Victoria 2, but the economic simulation is indisputably better.
1Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
A Republic Is Born
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
Playing a few hours ofWorkers & Resourcesgives you a newfound appreciation for every bit of work that keeps a modern city ticking.The game lets you transform a barren republic into a model of socialist living.
Although your citizens do not need to use currency, building up your republic requires foreign machinery and materials.
Trading with neighboring countries, be they the USSR or a NATO member, is up to you. Natural resources, agriculture, orhigh-end electronics, everything can bring foreign currency to reinvest.
Workers & Resources has inflation, deflation, global market events, and a lot of internal factors that
Managing the production, storage, and transport of export goods is an art in Workers & Resources, and failing at any one point can bring about the collapse of your republic.
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