The Strange Reality of Roller Coaster Tycoon

Summary by Krater

This video explores the design, cultural meaning, and sheer physical presence of RollerCoaster Tycoon through the lens of Julijonas Urbonas's Euthanasia Coaster. It concludes that despite its primitive graphics, the game's uncompromising mechanical realism and assembly-based architecture make its parks feel uniquely vivid and grounded.

From the video

Answers: Why is RollerCoaster Tycoon such a brilliantly designed and optimised game?

• RollerCoaster Tycoon
• Euthanasia Coaster
• Chris Sawyer
• Assembly programming
• Theme park design
• Physics in video games

What it concludes

• The Euthanasia Coaster is not a tool for execution, but an engineered falling trajectory designed as a meaningful death ritual for contemporary society.
• RollerCoaster Tycoon's use of assembly language means there is almost no abstraction between code and execution, resulting in an uncompromising mechanical realism.
• Despite its 20-year age and primitive graphics, RollerCoaster Tycoon achieves a spatial reality and physical presence that surpasses many modern games.