Unlike Theme Park World, Theme Park Inc. had a plot to it. Essentially, Mr. Maybury, the president of the company (named either Theme Park INC. or SimCoaster depending on what version you're playing), has hired you, the player, wanting you to take his dream, it being to build three unique theme parks in three separate zones, to become an assistant manager and help make that dream become realized before he retires. Like the previous game, you have to not only build three theme parks in three different zones, them being the Land of Invention, Polar Zone and Arabian Nights, but also do challenges from the Board of Directorslist , which can give you Golden Tickets, which you'll need for some of the objectives. Just make sure you don't fail their challenges repeatedly (well, five times, although being promoted resets it back to five)... If so, you could easily get fired, which is an instant Game Over.note
Theme Park Inc. adds more to its predecessor in that, as mentioned above, you're building three theme parks in three different zones - The Land of Invention, Polar Zone, and Arabian Nights - from scratch (with the exception being the the former, starting out with a few decorations and a ride already placed for you), and unlike Theme Park World, where you can move at your own pace, this game is strictly objective driven, as you'll be given various objectives you need to do in order to open a new zone of the park. Each park is separated into 5 zones, all but the starting zones having their own special ride, which are initially in very ill fated and dilapidated states, but can be repaired and reopened for a price (usually Golden Tickets). Each objective you complete will open a new part of the park or gets you promoted, which allows you to proceed onto the next park. You'll visit each of the three theme parks at least twice; once to open them up and opening a few zones, and twice with opening the remaining zones, as well as getting a promotion in both scenarios.
Asides from those, there's also a few additional features. Extreme Weather (also called Freak Weather) is one of them, which you'll be warned about in-game, and each come with their own advantages and disadvantages, generally causing specific rides and shops to become more or less popular during them. Generally, during them, your happiness ratings will typically plummet if you aren't careful, but your park will rake in more profits if you know what to do. Another addition is Gardeners, a new type of staff that, as the name suggests, take care of plants by watering them, as of the foliage in this game can now wilt and die if they don't get watered frequently. You can also train staff for specific jobs, some of which can be used around the park while others are mostly just for objectives and opening special rides.
Like Theme Park World's PC version, it's currently unavailable.
Tropes in Theme Park Inc. include:
- Abandoned Area: There is a special ride per zone in every park (excluding the zone you start with by the park entrance). When you first get to the park, they're all in pretty sad states, but when you get access to their zones and with a little repairing, they can be restored and used as rides, and they also come with their own challenges.
- "Arabian Nights" Days: Arabian Nights in a nutshell, along with some Egypt inspirations.
- A Storm Is Coming: You'll be forewarned about any Extreme Weather that happens to be coming by to your parks.
- Caring Gardener: Gardeners can be hired to take care of your plants by watering them and can be trained with a variety of special jobs for objectives.
- Digitized Sprites: As mentioned below in Sprite/Polygon Mix, the games both use 3D rides and scenery, while the visitors and guests are all 2D sprites, made from 3D models and digitalized into sprites.
- Exposition Advisor: The advisor (a female one as apposed to the male one in World), who advises you on how your guests feel about your prices, if one of your rides is broken down, etc. If you have the advisor disabled, you just get notifications about them instead.
- Genie in a Lamp: The Spin Djinn special ride in Arabian Nights is this trope, although you'll have to repair it first before the genie actually gets out of the lamp.
- Hostile Weather: Then four types of Extreme Weather, Heat waves, rain, storms and snowstorms, are this, and they all happen for the duration of 3 months.
- It Is Beyond Saving: Your rides can only last for so long before they eventually end up being condemned, in which they can't be repaired (unless you just replace the ride entirely). In addition to that, they get fenced up with a skull and crossbones motif.
- Ill-Fated Flowerbed: If you don't hire Gardeners to water your plants (and if they don't water them), they will eventually wilt and die.
- Killed Off for Real: All rides have a remaining life status, starting at 100% when it's first built and it gradually goes down as the years pass by. If a ride breaks down, its remaining life will be reduced by a considerable amount, and when it reaches zero, your ride enters a condemned state (literally called "Condemned"), in which the ride is permanently broken and no amount of repairing will do any good. Basically, you're forced to destroy the ride.note
- Lumber Mill Mayhem: The Thrill Mill special ride over in the Land of Invention is this trope, being a log flume with a Lumber Mill station... well, as soon as it's repaired, at least.
- Pyromaniac: Some hooligans can set fire to your garbage bins or plants. Thankfully, Cleaners / Janitors can be trained to extinguish them.
- Operation: [Blank]: Literally every objective in the game uses this naming scheme.
- Heat Wave: This is one out of the four Extreme Weather conditions the game has. Any indoor rides or rides that involve screens aren't going to be very popular during them, but drinks and ice creams are going to sell like hotcakes and high rides or water rides will be a lot more popular.
- Perpetual Storm: This is one of the four Extreme Weather conditions the game has, and, like the name suggests, it pretty much lasts for in-game weeks on end, lasting for 3 months! Any roller coasters, flumes or rides that go really high will be closed due to lightning risks, although at the very least, umbrellas and hot food will be bought more often.
- Pictorial Speech-Bubble: The visitors have this kind of bubbles hovering over their heads to show how they feel about your park or what is bothering them.
- Punny Name: This game and its predecessor use this trope very frequently. For an example, the Land of Invention has a ride called "InvenTiVe World". It's a motion simulator ride with a screen.
- Santa Claus: Good old Saint Nick makes a cameo appearance in one of the special rides at the Polar Zone.
- Schizophrenic Difficulty: The objectives and challenges vary in difficulty, so you can have an absurdly difficult objective or challenge being preceded by something really easy and vice versa.
- Sprite/Polygon Mix: While this game has 3D rides and scenery, Bullfrog used sprites for the visitors and staff in an attempt to maintain a playable framerate.
- Steampunk: The Land of Invention definitely has this feeling going on.
- The Theme Park Version: As the title suggests, the game employ very distilled variants of what they're theme parks of, with Land of Invention being mostly Steampunk and invention based, Polar Zone being based on arctic regions and the festive seasons, and Arabian Nights having Middle East inspirations, mostly both Arabia and Egypt.
- Variable Mix: The music is actually dynamic, and uses different loops depending on how many guests are on your park at once.
