RollerCoaster Tycoon is a 1999 construction and management simulation video game developed by Chris Sawyer and published by Hasbro Interactive.

The player also has the option of building their own roller coaster designs as well as other rides by laying out individual track pieces, choosing the direction, height, and steepness, and adding such elements as zero-g rolls, corkscrews, vertical loops, and even on-ride photos, using a tile-based construction system.

For example, 'Katie's Dreamland' (Katie's World in the US Version) is based on Lightwater Valley, complete with that park's signature The Ultimate roller coaster (The Storm).

Alton Towers was included with the Loopy Landscapes expansion with Heide Park and Blackpool Pleasure Beach and was updated to take advantage of the new game components.

The UK edition of RollerCoaster Tycoon Deluxe contained Blackpool Pleasure Beach in place of Fort Anachronism.

Some of the revenue he earned from Transport Tycoon he used towards travelling in Europe and the United States, which included visits to theme parks with roller coasters.

[3] Initially, Sawyer used family and friends to help playtest the game, and then turned to Hasbro, the publisher, to help complete more extensive bug-testing and feedback.

In September 2001, Infogrames Europe released a compilation called Totally RollerCoaster, which included the base game and the Loopy Landscapes pack on separate discs.

[8] In 2002, a compilation of the base game and both expansions in a single box, RollerCoaster Tycoon Gold was released by Infogrames in North America.

He wrote that making custom rides could take a very long time and be very frustrating at first, and players would have to pay too much cash to tasks such as changing land levels, re-positioning trees and build walkways, while they design their rollercoaster.

However, once players mastered doing so, "You'll get a lot of pride out of designing some crazy, twisting corkscrew that winds in and out of lakes and hot dog stands, painting it bright neon pink and orange, and giving it a name like the Vominator.

[15] Gary Eng Walk of Entertainment Weekly, who graded the game an A, called it "Quite literally, the thrill ride of the summer",[20] and in 2003, the magazine ranked RollerCoaster Tycoon number 68 on their list of the "100 greatest videogames".

[21] Aaron Curtis of Los Angeles Times praised the game, saying that it is "simple enough to enjoy right out of the box but sophisticated enough to keep even the most obsessive park planner happy for weeks.

[24][25] The former publication's editors wrote that RollerCoaster Tycoon "revived the theme park subgenre with its rock-solid design and addicting play.

"[36] RollerCoaster Tycoon also received a "Gold" award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) by the end of August 1999,[37] for sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

GameSpot's Trey Walker noted in late 2001 that it had "appeared in the top 10 [weekly sales] lists almost continuously" during its first two years of release.