Atari and Springloaded have announced RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks, a brand-new entry in the long-running theme park simulation series.
Revealed during gamescom Opening Night Live, RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks will enter PC Early Access via Steam this winter for $24.99 / €24.99.
The new game aims to keep the deep management and familiar isometric perspective that helped define RollerCoaster Tycoon. However, Springloaded is also adding more customisation, streamlined management tools and plenty of opportunities for everything to go spectacularly wrong.
In other words, you can carefully build the theme park of your dreams, then watch it descend into complete chaos. Very RollerCoaster Tycoon.
RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks mixes classic management with new chaos
As per the press release, every decision in RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks affects a living park filled with guests, rides, employees and interconnected operational systems.
Players will need to balance finances, guest satisfaction and the day-to-day running of their park. Naturally, there are also corporate bosses to keep happy. Because apparently managing a theme park filled with potentially disastrous rollercoasters wasn’t stressful enough.
Springloaded founder and lead developer James Barnard said the studio wanted to imagine what RollerCoaster Tycoon would look like if it were designed today, while still preserving the systems that made players fall in love with the originals.
That means building thriving parks, designing increasingly elaborate coasters and dealing with management problems as they appear. Sometimes things will run perfectly. Other times, the wheels may quite literally come off.
Springloaded, which also developed Let’s Build a Zoo, is giving Wonderworks a distinctive visual style. Buildings and decorations resemble highly detailed miniature plastic models, creating the look of a tabletop theme park brought to life.
Build coasters, manage guests and embrace disaster
RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks introduces an overhauled coaster builder designed to make creating, adjusting, testing and deploying rides more intuitive.
You should probably finish the track before opening the ride, though. Just a thought.
The game’s physics engine also affects how rides behave, meaning designs, upgrades and maintenance choices can all have consequences.
Meanwhile, players can customise rides, scenery, decorations and entire park layouts. Every guest, employee and operational system works together, creating unexpected situations as the park grows.
Those situations can include ride breakdowns, operational mishaps and full-blown coaster catastrophes. So even the most meticulously organised park can quickly produce a story worth remembering.
Atari says the game has been designed to work for both longtime RollerCoaster Tycoon fans and newcomers. Veteran players can expect the layered management, humour and park-building depth associated with the series, while more approachable systems should help new players get started quickly.
Atari chairman and CEO Wade Rosen also confirmed that Early Access will give fans an opportunity to provide reactions and feedback during development.
Once Early Access concludes, Atari plans to release the completed version of RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks on both PC and consoles.
For now, RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks is heading to Steam Early Access this winter for $24.99 / €24.99. Prepare your finest coaster designs, your best management skills and, presumably, a very understanding insurance provider.