RollerCoaster Tycoon is a theme park management game designed and programmed by Chris Sawyer and published by Hasbro Interactive under the MicroProse label. It came out for Windows in North America on 22 March 1999 and in Europe on 12 April 1999. Sawyer wrote about 99% of the code in x86 assembly language and the rest in C. Development took about two years in a village near Dunblane, Scotland, and for most of that time the game was called White Knuckle. Simon Foster created the art and Allister Brimble composed the music.
Two expansions followed: Added Attractions (Corkscrew Follies in North America) in November 1999 and Loopy Landscapes in September 2000. Sawyer reportedly earned about $30 million in royalties. In Japan the game was released as ローラーコースタータイクーン on 25 October 2001. In 2017 RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic combined features of this game and its sequel.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | RollerCoaster TycoonMicroProse label. | Windows | Mar 22, 1999 | Hasbro Interactive | 1 |
| NA | RollerCoaster Tycoon Gold | Windows | 2002 | Infogrames | 1 |
| NA | RollerCoaster TycoonDeveloped by Frontier Developments; same date in Europe. | Xbox | Mar 25, 2003 | Infogrames Interactive | 1 |
| EU | RollerCoaster TycoonMicroProse label. | Windows | Apr 12, 1999 | Hasbro Interactive | 1 |
| EU | Totally RollerCoasterCompilation. | Windows | September 2001 | Infogrames Europe | 1 |
| JP | ローラーコースタータイクーンPer Japanese Wikipedia; CyberFront later sold a budget Japanese version around 2003. | Windows | Oct 25, 2001 | Kids Station (Media Quest), Electronic Arts | 2 |
| WW | RollerCoaster Tycoon DeluxeSteam; includes Corkscrew Follies and Loopy Landscapes. | Windows | May 21, 2014 | — | 3 |
Also known as: White Knuckle1RollerCoaster Tycoon Deluxe WW1RollerCoaster Tycoon Gold NA1Totally RollerCoaster EU1ローラーコースタータイクーン JP2
Box art by region
NA RollerCoaster Tycoon
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: Wikipedia.
Version differences
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TitleExpansion (North America)
The first expansion, Added Attractions, was sold in North America as Corkscrew Follies.1
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ContentDeluxe
The base game has 21 scenarios; Corkscrew Follies and Loopy Landscapes add 30 each for 81 in total, and Mega Park unlocks after all 21 base scenarios are completed.1
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ContentXbox
The 2003 Xbox version was developed by Frontier Developments and published by Infogrames.1
Translations
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Spanish Official
—2014WindowsReleased
RollerCoaster Tycoon Deluxe on Steam lists English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.3
Where to play legally today
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GOG Purchase
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Steam Purchase
RollerCoaster Tycoon Deluxe
Base game with Corkscrew Follies and Loopy Landscapes
Checked: 2026-10-133store.steampowered.com
How to run it today
RollerCoaster Tycoon Deluxe, with both expansions, is sold on Steam and GOG for Windows; the GOG version is DRM-free and lists Windows 10 as the minimum.4
Reception
It was the best-selling PC game of 1999 in the US with 719,535 units, and more than 4 million copies were sold worldwide by July 2002. The PC version has an 88% GameRankings score, while the Xbox port scores 62/100 on Metacritic.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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