Real Ski Resort Tycoon

Turning our resort numbers into a living, breathing, playable mountain, and having an absolute blast making the business fun to explore.

Images: Kyle Sawatzke / edited demo screenshots. Figures and labels are fictional; camera previews removed.

I’ve got some pretty off-the-wall ideas, and this one has been way too much fun.

Let me introduce Real Ski Resort Tycoon.

I’ve been turning our resort numbers into a living, breathing, playable mountain with that RollerCoaster Tycoon feel, because I wanted to make it fun for people to dig into the numbers and understand how all the different parts of the business fit together.

Somewhere along the way I ended up with simulated guests skiing around, lifts running, live snowmaking information and lift cameras tied into the experience, and I keep catching myself just watching it all happen. There’s something pretty cool about seeing the numbers you work with every day come to life like that, then changing something and watching how it plays out across the mountain.

Mountain view of the playable resort simulator with fictional demo figures.

There’s so much that goes into running a resort, and I love the idea of making people curious about all of it, giving them something they actually want to spend time exploring and figuring out.

Planning and lift panels showing fictional financial and operating figures, with camera preview removed.

The tools we have available are changing so quickly, and getting to take an idea like this and actually build it has been incredible. Every time I get something working I think of three more things I want to try, so it’s become a pretty great rabbit hole.

Lift activity view with fictional operating figures and camera preview removed.

I love my job, I love figuring this stuff out, and I’m really proud of how this is coming together. Had to share a little peek because I’ve had an absolute blast making it.

Images show fictional demo figures and labels, with camera previews removed.