History YMMV / RailroadTycoon

** The East Africa map ("Rhodes Unfinished" scenario). It's a fun map, and it feels awesome to be connecting all these African countries, but then you realize this is the late 19th century, and you are a European empire connecting African ''colonies''. Puts an interesting twist on the usual ambiance of tycoon games.
** There are also several maps set in the pre-Civil War American South, which would mean that any agricultural enterprises the player purchases would likely be operated by slaves -- and later destroyed by the war.

** The last mission of ''Tycoon 2's'' standard campaign. For the gold, you have twelve years to build a railroad crossing Africa north-south from Cairo to Cape Town and carry eight loads of cargo between them, and the layout of Africa is quite politically unfriendly. The map ''is'' quite difficult ... ''if'' you only [[FailedASpotCheck start where the map spawns you]], where Cape Town is a small town at the foot of a mountain range with scarce resources nearby. However, you ''also'' begin with access to Cairo, which is typically a sizable metropolis that can supply multiple trains of passengers to nearby cities in Egypt and beyond, not to mention the potential to run industrial lines to it as well. And as much of a [[ValuesDissonance colonial mess as the map is]], you only need to buy access to one of two non-British territories to connect to Cape Town, and the rights to the German territory (i.e. {{UsefulNotes/Tanzania}}) are, for whatever reason, dirt-cheap. Coupled with a manager to reduce track-laying costs and/or increase passenger profits, you can connect the two cities within just a couple of years and start spamming trains of passengers down to Cape Town to win -- it's a long trip, certainly, but it won't take them until the time limit is up.

* AccidentalAesop: Electric trains are a considerable investment, because electrified track is much more expensive than normal track and thus expanding the network is extremely cost-intensive. Thus, you may be inclined to ignore electric trains and stick to diesel, which can run on normal tracks and have superior stats. However, in scenarios that run for a long time, those diesel trains will eat up your bank account every year because of their huge maintenance costs. On the other hand, as the mission wears on and electric engines improve, they'll catch up to and surpass the diesel trains in performance in most every area, including maintenance and fuel costs. The result is a GreenAesop where diesel trains can seem the preferable option at first glance but will become extremely expensive over time, while electric trains need more money for electrified track but will prove themselves worth the initial investment in the long term.

*** While you need to be the only surviving company, LoopholeAbuse is a valid strategy as it ''doesn't'' have to be the one that you ''started'' with. Aggressively buying back your original company's stock with its funds and then selling the shares yourself will net your PlayerCharacter enough money to be able to take control of one of the two AI companies (preferably the one where the AI already owns 40% to start). This takes out one opponent outright and lets you start absolutely anywhere on the map, as that company already has all of the available construction and running rights by default.

*** While you need to be the only surviving company, [[LoopholeAbuse there's no rule]] saying it needs to be the one you started with. Buying back stock and then selling it nets you enough to be able to take control of one of the other AI companies (preferably the one where the AI already has 40%). This takes out one opponent outright and lets you start anywhere, as that company already has all the required construction and running rights.

** The nasty flip-side of all the QuestToTheWest maps set in the central and western USA is that Indigenous North American peoples were largely decimated by epidemics of diseases, and also systematically displaced and often massacred by white Americans, and their lands were taken over and practically given away for free to the railway companies and settlers to speed development.[[note]]This being a game, however, it's possible that there's an AlternateHistory going on where they were treated better, or the costs of making fairer deals with them might be "baked into" the expenses of building and maintaining track and other infrastructure in such regions.[[/note]]

** The last mission in ''Tycoon 2's'' ''Second Century'' campaign is amazingly easy, particularly against the rest of the expansion which can be quite NintendoHard when it wants to be. The objectives are to get $15 million in book value, have the highest net worth of all four players (actual worth doesn't matter, just outrank them), and be the only railroad in operation. What makes it so simple is that you're given thirty years and some fairly flat terrain to work on, so making a profitable company is easy. With a bit of luck in the layout of resources you can easily buy out your competitors, and with the stock holdings you'll need to do so being liquidated into cash, you'll probably hit that superior net worth objective. With all three rival companies out of business, you have the rest of the time limit to get your company to $15 million book value, and if you're profitable enough to buy out three rivals and add their track systems to your own, you're liable to have that by the time you're alone anyway, and if not will be able to get it easily.
* EvenBetterSequel: The original Railroad Tycoon was the groundbreaking Trope Maker for the entire "Tycoon" genre. Along came Tycoon 2, which mostly retained the Wide-Open Sandbox gameplay of the original but added a campaign mode and was light-years better in terms of graphics and user-friendliness. Tycoon 3 and Railroads are both newer and more advanced, but neither one comes close to the giant step forward from the original game to Tycoon 2.

** The last mission of ''Tycoon 2's'' standard campaign. For the gold, you have twelve years to build a railroad crossing Africa north-south from Cairo to Cape Town and carry eight loads of cargo between them, and the layout of Africa is quite politically unfriendly. The map ''is'' quite difficult, ''if'' you only [[FailedASpotCheck start where the map spawns you]], where Cape Town is a small town at the foot of a mountain range with scarce resources nearby. However, you ''also'' begin with access to Cairo, which is typically a sizable metropolis that can supply multiple trains of passengers to nearby cities in Egypt and beyond, not to mention the potential to run industrial lines to it as well. And as much of a [[ValuesDissonance colonial mess as the map is]], you only need to buy access to one of two non-British territories to connect to Cape Town, and the rights to the German territory (i.e. {{UsefulNotes/Tanzania}}) are dirt cheap. Coupled with a manager to reduce track-laying costs and/or increase passenger profits, you can connect the two cities within just a couple of years and start ending trains of passengers down to Cape Town -- it's a long trip, certainly, but it won't take them until the time limit is up.

** The last mission of ''Tycoon 2's'' standard campaign. For the gold, you have twelve years to build a railroad crossing Africa north-south from Cairo to Cape Town and carry eight loads of cargo between them, and the layout of Africa is quite politically unfriendly. The map ''is'' quite difficult, if you [[FailedASpotCheck start where the map spawns you]], where Cape Town is a small town at the foot of a mountain range with scarce resources nearby. However, you also begin with access to Cairo, which is typically a massive city that can supply multiple trains of passengers to nearby cities, not to mention the potential to run industry lines to it. And as politically unfriendly the map is, you only need to buy access to one of two territories to connect to Cape Town, and the access rights to the German territory (i.e. {{UsefulNotes/Tanzania}}) are dirt cheap. Coupled with a manager to reduce track-laying costs and/or increase passenger profits, you can connect the two cities within just a couple of years and start ending trains of passengers down to Cape Town -- it's a long trip, but it won't take them until the time limit is up.

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: Tends to happen in plentiful scenarios. The original game could slide into this at times, as certain areas of the map, like New England to Pennsylvania in the Eastern USA scenario, or northern Germany/France/Belgium/the Netherlands in the Europe scenario, are habitually just too dense and too prosperous after the procedural generation that starts up a scenario to pass up as a starting railroad location. If the player doesn't pick these areas, it's basically a substantial SelfImposedChallenge, as some AI competitor(s) ''will'' do it instead and will be that much harder to beat as a result.

** Any level that involves personal wealth. The only reliable way to make money for yourself is to run a successful company and get paid through dividends, buying back public stock when you can to increase your stock price. Unfortunately otherwise, the stock market of the games is very much like the real-life stock market, in that it can crash at any time and if you want to earn serious cash you have to make no choice but to make risky investments. Simply buying only as much stock as you can actually afford will not be enough, you'll have to buy stock on margin, and the more stock you buy on margin, the more reliant you become on its price staying high so your purchasing power doesn't go down below zero. If that happens, you'll have to sell some of your stock earnings to get your purchasing power back in the positive. The problem is that selling stock lowers the market price on the other shares you own, in turn lowering your purchasing power again so you have to sell more stock, creating a ViciousCycle that only ends when you've sold all your stock and are millions in debt. Oh yes, and rival owners can short sell stock, lowering its price to start this descent into bankruptcy, and you can't stop them. This ''will'' happen. The only escape from the loop is to buy out other companies so your stock with them is liquidated into cash, but that only works for other companies, takes a lot of money to do, and isn't so much an escape as a safety net that ensures you won't be left ''completely'' bankrupt when the market collapses and you lose all your holdings.

** There are also several maps set in the pre-Civil War American South, which would mean that any agricultural enterprises the player purchases would likely be operated by slaves -- and later destroyed by the war.

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: The original game could slide into this at times, as certain areas of the map, like New England to Pennsylvania in the Eastern USA scenario, or northern Germany/France/Belgium/the Netherlands in the Europe scenario, are habitually just too dense and too prosperous after the procedural generation that starts up a scenario to pass up as a starting railroad location. If the player doesn't pick these areas, it's basically a substantial SelfImposedChallenge, as some AI competitor(s) ''will'' do it instead and will be that much harder to beat as a result.

** The last mission of ''Tycoon 2's'' standard campaign. For the gold, you have twelve years to build a railroad crossing Africa north-south from Cairo to Cape Town and carry eight loads of cargo between them, and the layout of Africa is quite politically unfriendly. The map ''is'' quite difficult, if you [[FailedASpotCheck start where the map spawns you]], where Cape Town is a small town at the foot of a mountain range with scarce resources nearby. However, you also begin with access to Cairo, with is a massive city that can supply multiple trains of passengers to nearby cities, not to mention the potential to run industry lines to it. And as politically unfriendly the map is, you only need to buy access to one of two territories to connect to Cape Town, and the access rights to the German territory (i.e. {{UsefulNotes/Tanzania}}) are dirt cheap. Coupled with a manager to reduce track-laying costs and/or increase passenger profits, you can connect the two cities within just a couple of years and start ending trains of passengers down to Cape Town -- it's a long trip, but it won't take them until the time limit is up.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The original ''Railroad Tycoon'' was the groundbreaking TropeMaker for the entire "Tycoon" genre. Along came ''Tycoon 2'', which mostly retained the WideOpenSandbox gameplay of the original but added a campaign mode and was light-years better in terms of graphics and user-friendliness. ''Tycoon 3'' and ''Railroads'' are both newer and more advanced, but neither one comes close to the giant step forward from the original game to ''Tycoon 2''.

*** While you need to be the only surviving company, [[LoopholeAbuse there's no rule]] saying it needs to be the one you started with, however. Buying back stock and then selling it nets you enough to be able to take control of one of the other AI companies (preferably the one where the AI already has 40%). This takes out one opponent outright and lets you start anywhere, as that company already has all the required construction and running rights.

*** [[LoopholeAbuse There's no rule]] saying it needs to be the one you started with, however. Buying back stock and then selling it nets you enough to be able to take control of one of the other AI companies (preferably the one where the AI already has 40%). This takes out one opponent outright and lets you start anywhere, as that company already has all the required construction and running rights.

** "When the Walls Come Down" is one of the hardest levels in the original campaign. First, it's the only level taking place in the modern era, with very high costs and low passenger generation rate. Second, the goals combine personal wealth and connecting far-off cities.

*** There is a LoopholeAbuse possible here though. While you need to be the only surviving railroad, there's no rule saying it needs to be the one you started with. Buying back stock and then selling it nets you enough to be able to take control on one of the other AI companies.. which let you start anywhere, as they already have all the construction and running rights.