Park Rating

Lore & Background

In the world of RollerCoaster Tycoon, a park is only as good as its rating. The fictional tycoons who run these amusement empires understand that a five-star coaster means nothing if the churros cost a fortune or the brakes are failing. The Park Rating is the public's verdict, a single number that summarizes whether your kingdom of steel and paint is worth the trip. It is the reputation that follows you from park to park, the metric that determines whether the next wave of visitors streams in with excitement or turns away at the gate.

The three pillars—Excitement, Safety, and Value—reflect a simple philosophy: a great park thrills you, keeps you alive, and doesn't rob you. Excitement is fed by the variety and intensity of your rides, the novelty of new attractions, and the sheer spectacle of your layout. Safety hinges on how well-maintained each ride is, whether staff are patrolling, and whether the thrill factor has crept into the danger zone. Value is the delicate balance between what guests pay and what they feel they get in return; overprice a modest log flume and the number tanks, but underprice a record-breaking hypercoaster and you leave money on the table.

Fans of the series often describe the Park Rating as the game's invisible boss fight. It is always there, always shifting, always punishing greed or rewarding generosity. The best tycoons in the community are those who learned to read the three sub-scores like a doctor reading a chart, tweaking one lever at a time until the overall number climbs and the crowds swell. It is, in the end, the purest expression of what makes RollerCoaster Tycoon tick: the eternal negotiation between thrill, trust, and fairness.

In Their Own Story

The rain had stopped, but the puddles still shimmered under the sodium lights of the empty park. Gerald stood at the entrance gate, his hand resting on the little digital sign that read 312. Three hundred and twelve. He had built the Dragon's Folly coaster himself, rivet by rivet, and it was a masterpiece. But the churros were three pounds a stick, the queue for the teacups stretched past the fence, and the maintenance crew had been on strike for a week. The sign ticked down one point at a time, like a slow heartbeat flatlining. He pulled out his phone, dialed the head of operations, and said the only thing that mattered: "Fix the value. Fix it tonight, or I'm selling the land." Behind him, a single guest—a kid in a yellow raincoat—peered through the glass of the gate, read the number, and kept walking.

Reader's Guide

The overall Park Rating is calculated as the simple average of three sub-scores, each ranging from 0 to 1000: Excitement, Safety, and Value. You can inspect all three in the Park window (pressing the park icon or the corresponding menu). Understanding how each is driven is the key to managing the whole system.

Excitement is primarily a function of your ride roster. Variety matters: a park with one brilliant coaster scores lower than one with a coaster, a water ride, a dark ride, and a few family attractions. Thrill ratings of individual rides contribute, as does the novelty of recently opened attractions. Stale parks lose Excitement over time, so adding new rides or refurbishing old ones is a constant necessity. The thrill level of each ride also feeds into Safety—rides pushed into the very high thrill range will drag Safety down unless you balance them with gentler attractions.

Safety is influenced by each ride's safety rating, which is affected by its age, maintenance state, and inherent design. Keeping maintenance staff on the rides and replacing aging attractions before they become hazards are the core strategies. A single catastrophic accident can crater Safety dramatically.

Value is the most player-controlled lever. It compares the prices you charge (rides, food, drinks, souvenirs) against the quality guests perceive. If your prices are too high relative to the park's overall quality, Value drops. If you undercharge on a spectacular park, you protect Value but sacrifice profit. The sweet spot is pricing slightly below what guests consider fair for the experience.

Practical strategy: keep all three sub-scores above 600 for a healthy guest flow. Use marketing (banners, flyers, TV campaigns) to give a temporary boost when a sub-score dips. Monitor the guest count and the average money spent per guest to calibrate prices. In late-game scenarios, a rating above 900 is achievable but requires a large, diverse, well-maintained park with carefully tuned pricing. Never let any single sub-score fall below 400, as the average will suffer disproportionately and guest entry will slow to a trickle.

Did You Know?

• The Park Rating is not just a passive display; it actively gates how many new guests spawn at the entrance each game tick, meaning a low rating can starve your park of revenue even if existing guests are still spending.
• In RollerCoaster Tycoon 2, a single ride accident or a prolonged maintenance neglect can cause the Safety sub-score to plummet by hundreds of points in a matter of minutes, dragging the overall rating down with it.
• Marketing campaigns such as 'Full House' or 'Local Press Stunt' provide a temporary boost to the Park Rating, giving players a short window to attract a larger crowd before the effect fades.
• The three sub-scores are visible in real time in the Park window, and experienced players often keep that window open as a 'dashboard' while making pricing or construction decisions.