Freight Tycoon Inc.

The game is is definitely not as rich or rewarding as the venerable Transport Tycoon, however it does scratch a similar itch for me. Because the scope is limited, it is very easy to pick up, controls are mostly intuitive. I like that I don't have to "think" as much here, it makes the gameplay more relaxing. The biggest joy comes from running a fleet of 20 or so trucks and watching them complete one contract after another like a well oiled machine, resulting in an endless stream of the familiar cha-ching (somehow the sound of the cash register opening never gets old). The biggest frustration comes from the inevitable bottleneck that happens around the entrance of a busy factory. For some reason, the developers thought it would be fun to make trucks move incredibly slow during entering/exiting plants. This results in a stalemate at the entrance, where all your trucks suddenly start failing contracts. This is almost unavoidable when a competitor AI is present, as they tend to send ludicrous amounts of truck there (presumably to annoy you). The only remedy is to ignore the factory and focus your attention elsewhere (which is hard, as that factory is busy for a reason - it directly or indirectly serves almost all other industries on the map). A few tips: - always pause when making decisions, otherwise everything comes and goes too fast - truck selection: tankers are the cheapest, meaning the return on investment is the shortest for them = always start with a fleet of tankers (if map allows) - contract selection: initially grab those that complete quickly (one or two trips max) as you want quick cash and rating bonus for completion and gain bronze level with industries asap; later in the game grab the longest ones so the truck stays automated for a long time, and you can focus on expansion without being interrupted by trucks completing contracts every 20 seconds...