Working as a bus driver doesn't sound like an exciting job to me; at least not exciting enough to be part of a game, where you usually play as soldier, detective, mafia member and the likes. But someone must disagree with me as now you can also pretend to be a bus driver in Bus Simulator 2008.

This game puts you behind the steering wheel of a traditional urban bus and challenges you to complete "missions", that is, complete any of the city routes that bus must follow. But the game is not only a driving simulator, meaning you'll have to take care of the business by deciding the price of tickets or renting the vehicle's ad spaces to make them more profitable.

Driving a bus is not as easy as it seems at first sight: not only you have to find your way in an unknown city (note you can open the map with the M key) but you also have to stop at every single bus stop in your route, open and close the doors and follow your way to the next one. Also, don't forget to respect road signs: I didn't stop for any red light (too much GTA IV is seriously affecting my driving style, luckily only the virtual one) and got fired in about 5 minutes.

Graphics in Bus Simulator 2008 are just fine; quite realistic, but certainly not the best ones I've seen. Physics is not very elaborate, especially when it comes to crashing against objects or other cars (hey, don't laugh at me: I'm not that bad at driving, I just have to test everything!). Other than that, it's just an original game that seems as exciting as driving a bus in real life.

The main feature in Bus Simulator 2008 is undoubtedly its originality; apart from that, it's just a standard driving simulator with some business management tools that may entertain you for a short while.

Download Bus Simulator 2008 Demo in Softonic

Breed beautiful and exotic fish in this unique aquarium-sim puzzler. These are your fish and like real fish, you need to care for them. You can feed them, cure them if they get sick and make lots of babies! The game runs in true real time: new surprises every time you check back into your game. Buy supplies, ornaments and special chemicals for your virtual tank. Over 400 different species of fish to discover! Can you find the 7 Magic Fish?

Download Fish Tycoon 1.0.1 in Softonic

When I downloaded Airport Mania: First Flight I thought I would get a tycoon-style game where I could manage an airport by myself. Well, you do get the opportunity to work as airport manager but in quite a different way.

The difference is that this game is mainly addressed towards children, as you can easily tell from the characters on it and its general design. Planes are colorful machinery with friendly, smiling faces, and the airports are designed in a very cartoonish style. Don't get me wrong here: I'm not saying that this is a negative point, but I'm just warning you in case you expected a more serious game.

As for the game in itself, Aiport Mania: First Flight is quite fun. Children follow an easy tutorial on how to control the four basic steps in managing their airport (I never thought it was that easy) and can then start going through the game's several stages. Each stage includes a few increasingly difficult levels that will demand more attention and speed as more planes arrive to your airport. As you progress along the game, you'll also be able to upgrade facilities thus making gameplay easier for you.

Aiport Mania: First Flight is an easy and cute tycoon-style game that's mainly addressed towards young players.

Download Airport Mania: First Flight Demo 1.05 in Softonic

Launched in 1995 Transport Tycoon Deluxe is a classic economic simulation, where you aim to make it big by building and developing your own transport company. Grow your own transportation network and sell off goods to beat your main rivals and become the leader on the market.

Nostalgic fans of the game will be glad to discover OpenTTD, effectively a completely free version of the game. What's more it has been completely revamped. Graphics have been slightly improved, adding more color, and many new features are now included. The Euro is now part of currencies, you can bribe town authorities and set up international and metropolitan airports among others. Usability is also better, with new features like the autorail build tool or being able to get a cost estimation. You can even play online with up to 8 other players.

The only real drawback to the game is that you' ll the original version of Transport Tycoon Deluxe data files in order to make it work.

In all, anybody who's even the least bit interested in games should get their hands on this free version of an excellent classic simulation title.

Download OpenTTD 0.6 in Softonic

Chocolatier 2 is much more than just a game about making sweets. Following up on the success of the first iteration of Chocolatier, this game lets you build your own chocolate empire.

You'll have to be an expert manager if you want to take control of Baumeister Confections. From haggling prices on ingredients at the market to controlling the production of sweets or negotiating sales, Chocolatier is a thrilling tycoon game. You'll have to travel around the world in your quest to make the company grow and even fight off competitors and deception in your very own company.

Once the company grows you'll be able to acquire new recipes and create more elaborate sweets, such as truffles or infusions. You'll even get to create your own brand and enter your company name and logo. Chocolatier involves managerial skils and strategy as success will come down to controlling well your budget and negotiating sales.

Chocolatier 2 brings more features to what is already an exciting game in the tycoon genre.

Download Chocolatier 2: Secret Ingredients in Softonic

Buying and selling property has become one of the most popular ways to make a lot of money in a relatively short space of time. The closest I've got to getting onto the property ladder was selling my garden shed to a local tramp, but unfortunately he couldn't keep up the repayments. So I decided to try and make some money from the housing market in a virtual environment as it seems a lot safer.

Real E$tate Empire is a strategy game, where, starting with just a caravan, you must wheel and deal your way around the property market. You can haggle over the price of property and make money from rentals before selling on the real estate for a profit. As you build up your portfolio you can buy increasingly grand properties.

The game is simple to understand and to handle but I soon got bored of it as the process of buying and selling becomes quite tedious. Graphically, the game is very simplistic and the sound in the game is pretty annoying. If you're a power-hungry wannabe property tycoon then you should enjoy Real E$tate Empire. If not, you're likely to get bored within a few minutes.

Download Real E$tate Empire in Softonic

I must admit I had some prejudices about this game before testing it. It looked like the typical teenager game set in a pink, Barbie-like world, but the truth is very different. In fact Beauty Factory is more similar to those typical tycoon games where you have to build your own empire.

Beauty Factory follows that line, only that this time it's a beauty products company. After creating and customizing your avatar, you'll have to do research for different products (perfume, mascara, eyeshadow, lipstick...), design their packaging, plan a marketing campaign and start the production. Then you'll have to check sales reports and adjust your production according to benefits and market demand.

You take control of every single aspect in the game from a overhead perspective, not actually moving characters from one place to the other, but checking the different areas in your company and making sure they're going the right way. The games features a nice 3D design and a good background music as well.

Although it may sound a bit complicated, I can assure you it's not. Actually, it's fun to be in charge of a fictional company and play your role as boss. Plus, Beauty Factory is easy to learn to play and it even includes a useful tip collection at the beginning of the game -which, on the other hand, would be nice to have at hand during the game. Of course, mastering the whole cosmetic business is a different story!

Download Beauty Factory Demo in Softonic

Do you want to be a Rock Star? Then this new game is just for you! The game is part RPG, part life-sim, part Tycoon game. You are a struggling rock singer who puts together their own band, and tries to achieve fame and fortune, from humble beginnings as a starving garage-band. Pick your band-members, choose the band name, write the songs, play the gigs...

Rock Legend is a turn-based game. Each turn of the game represents a single day, and it's up to you to decide how the band spends their time. Some of the activities you will need to spend time on include songwriting, rehearsals, auditions, publicity events, practicing individual instruments, and of course, recording your latest album.

The game has sophisticated AI that controls your band members (you are the singer, they are your backing band) and decides how motivated, energetic and happy they are. If you work the band too hard, arrange poorly-attended gigs, and don't provide your band with the lifestyle they expect, you will have resignations on your hands. Running a successful band is part financial management, part people-management, and part creative struggle. Would you survive the music business?

Download Rock Legend Demo in Softonic

Build your potion empire on your way to making a fortune! Buy supplies and upgrades to create and sell magic potions in many different enchanted lands. Use your earnings to try different marketing techniques, like junk mail, brainwashing and the ever-popular endless infomercial, to help increase sales.

Defeat your competitors through superior store management and overall customer satisfaction! It's supply and demand, fairytale style, with Fairy Godmother Tycoon!

Download Fairy Godmother Tycoon in Softonic

Join Flo as she returns from Nirvana to help four fellow restaurant owners defeat the greedy tycoon, Mr. Big. Seat customers, take orders, serve drinks, deliver food, and collect tips - expert scores earn you more decor upgrades!

• 5 new restaurants
• 4 new customer types
• New power-ups & seating challenges

Download Diner Dash 2: Restaurant Rescue in Softonic

In Ice Cream Tycoon, you own and operate an ice cream business and attempt to become a millionaire mogul! Starting out with just a pushcart and a bell, you'll select your ice cream and try to mazimize your profits.

You'll need to make the right decisions about which ice cream to stock and which neighborhoods to work in, while watching for the health department and local bandits that all want a big piece of your ice cream pie!

Live the tasty life with Ice Cream Tycoon!

Download Ice Cream Tycoon in Softonic

To coincide with the release of Sid Meier’s Railroads, the original Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon (SMRT), straight from 1990, has now been made freely available in full. The game takes you back to the 19th century where you create your own transportation empire by building railroads, buying new trains and setting up connections between cities.

Those of you who are worried about compatibility: fear not. You won’t have to access DOS to play the game because it features its very own DOS Box. Original gamers of SMRT, will fondly appreciate the minimalistic graphics, midi country music, pixelized area maps, but most of all, the crux of the whole series, managing your money and assets. You start off with a million dollars (of which you’ll have to pay back $500,000) and must first choose a good location, build a station and then start laying tracks. You’ll soon become familiar with all the varieties of locomotives, like the Norris, Crocodile or Ten-Wheeler. The game really starts to get addictive when you see your network of railroads reach more and more cities and your income start to rise. Depending on the level of difficulty you choose, you’ll also come across rough competition and you’ll have to protect your assets from truly aggressive entrepreneurs.

Even though the graphics don’t compare to what you’ll find in the latest release, Sid Meier’s Railroads, the simulation aspect of Railroad Tycoon is as much thrilling now as it was 10 year ago. All aboard!

Download Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon Deluxe in Softonic

Sid Meier's Railroads! marks the return of the watershed title in simulation/strategy gaming that launched the popular “tycoon” genre, and inspired a new generation of games. Sid Meier's Railroads! comes home to its original creator, the legendary Sid Meier, who, together with his team at Firaxis Games, will take this game to a whole new level of fun!

The greatest railroad building game of all time is back in a vibrant 3D world delivering exciting multiplayer options, in-game customization tools, streamlined interface and unmatched gameplay, that's easy to learn yet challenging to master.

Combining the best of real-world and model railroads, Sid Meier’s Railroads! puts you in charge of building the greatest rail empire in the nation - managing trains, cargo and your bottom line - while engaging in all-out corporate warfare against rival tycoons, slick entrepreneurs, and robber barons!

Real-time action

Lay track, route the trains, and the world comes to life. Cities and industries grow up around you as you service them, hauling raw materials to market and carrying manufactured goods away; Cargos are loaded onto train cars and passengers shuffle between cities.

Easy to get started

Laying track is as easy as clicking and dragging. Bridges, tunnels, railroad stations and switches sprout up automatically where they're needed.

Challenging to master

With a new market system that tracks supply and demand and complex random events that can cause a boom or bust at any time, players must stay on their toes at all times or risk obsolescence, financial collapse, or hostile takeover.

It's all about the trains!

Over 30 trains to use, from the primitive 0-4-0 Planet to the Super powerful 4-6-6-4 Challenger, from the classic diesels to ultra-modern bullet trains.

LocoBuilder

Customize your train liveries, from color schemes to custom logos.

We've got the goods

Over 20 different goods to harvest, produce, and sell, and 30 unique industries, from lumber mills to war factories, each with detailed, unique animations.

Scenario and map editor support

Enables user-created maps and scenarios. Want to create a race to complete a transcontinental railroad in 30 years using only steam engines? No problem!

Something for everyone

Build your dream train layout in train table mode, or challenge historical giants like Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, and others in single-player scenarios.

Multiplayer

Ruthless real-time LAN and Internet play. Engage in economic warfare and buy out your rivals!

Download Sid Meier's Railroads 1.10 in Softonic

Wheel and deal your way to business success in City Magnate! Compete against up to 3 other would-be tycoons to be the last one standing. Roll the dice and drive across the 3D game board to a five-star restaurant or a cool fashion outlet. If you have enough money, purchase the business. You can also swap stores with other players and upgrade your properties once you corner a particular market! Can you surpass your rivals and top the Fortune 500? Start your empire today!

Download City Magnate in Softonic

Create and control lions, elephants, zebras, and more in this unique and deceptively deep strategy game. To succeed you'll have to discover the unique behaviors of each species and build food and water sources to suit them. Plan your ecosystem well so that you can help both predator and prey achieve balance in the wild.

Here's how the game works: You trade flowers to place a new animal in the world. As you build populations of various species, you will be rewarded with jewels. Spend those jewels to build improvements for your animals, such as trees, grasses, or watering holes. Eventually, fulfill your overarching goal to move on to the next level.

You can also select any animal and teach it about far away food sources, or select a predator in order to cull a herd of disruptive herbivores. The strategy is deep, and the replayability endless!

Features:

• Deeply strategic gameplay
• Endless replayability
• Take control over any animal, including crocodiles, vultures, and baboons
• Build your own oasis and earn rewards for balanced ecosystems
• Unlock new animals in Story Mode
• Compete for trophies and hidden content in Sandbox Mode
• Story is told through animal-themed limericks
• A great game for kids and adults - educational and challenging

Download Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa 1.0.4 in Softonic

Lemonade Tycoon 2 juices up business simulation and takes to the streets of NYC! It's jam-packed with awesome graphics, tons of customer types, lots of equipment upgrades, and 19 different locations. Buy supplies for the day, tweak your recipe and keep an eye out for the weather to expand and dominate the lemonade biz in New York City. Adjust prices and recipes, move stands to take advantage of changing crowds and conditions and review sales daily. Post your game results on the Lemonade Stock Exchange (LSX) and compare your performance with others. The challenge of selling lemonade has never been so sweet.

Download Lemonade Tycoon 2 in Softonic

Starring mobster Toni Cipriani, GTA Liberty City Stories is the first game in the Rockstar series to be launched on the PSP format. The handheld adventure sees Toni take on, and in some cases, befriend, a series of badass hitmen, depraved tycoons and all-round nutters as he cruises the streets looking for fast cars, fast women and fast money.

Download GTA Liberty City Stories Wallpaper in Softonic

Endangered Species brings some of the world's rarest animals home to your zoo! This expansion pack for Zoo Tycoon 2 adds a slew of exotic new content for a zookeeper just like you! Treat yourself and your guests to breathtaking overhead views from the new sky trams.

Or drive through your exhibits in the new Jeep® vehicle tours. Build bridges and observation decks for a refreshing new view of your animals. And that’s not all! There are also erupting volcanoes, new endangered-species-themed buildings and scenery, and a whole new set of challenges and campaigns!

Download Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species in Softonic

You're in charge of the largest and most famous shopping center in the world! 4.2 million square feet of retail madness is at your fingertips, including Camp Snoopy! This is big business. Are you up for the challenge? The action is fast-paced and your decisions will determine if you create a "goldmine" or a "wasteland"!

Build and manage the ultimate shopping and entertainment paradise! Introducing Mall of America Tycoon where you can design a 4.2 million square foot mega-complex with everything from major department stores to boutiques, the tastiest selections in the food court, and even Camp Snoopy. This interactive game promises endless hours of fun for the entire family!

Download Mall of America Tycoon Trial in Softonic

Run your school the way you want to in School Tycoon. Build your school complete with classrooms, administration, offices, and sports facilities. Populate the school with teachers and attract students. Upgrade the cafeteria, improve the landscaping, and add entertainment options to increase your popularity with the students. Keep an eye on pupils and make sure they're learning otherwise it's time for detention.

Download School Tycoon Demo in Softonic