| The older generation always had railroad simulators, for the nerdier grandpas out there who really wanted to replicate the railroad signaling systems from the late 1800s or whatever age they were simulating. It just cost real $$$ 50 years ago, since each toy-train and toy-track would have had to have been actually made out of plastic. OpenTTD is easier than that, but harder than most games. Its a better balance (less to learn) than hobby-railroad hobby... cheaper... but still with the complex paths and simulated traffic needed to build a game off of. Its a toy. Plenty of old folks have toys, and IMO it seems like the healthier retired folks I know of are those who continue to play with toys into old age. It could be a selection bias thing, but you have to keep the mind active in the retirement years. ----------- It could be a weird generational gap thing, wherein older folks play with expensive toy sets (ex: lots and lots of rails) in their basements. But younger folk today would have a toy-like video game (like OpenTTD, Minecraft, etc. etc.) instead. I don't think its appropriate to ever "grow out" of toys. I think that... maybe... you run out of time to play with toys during the busier stages of your life. Unlike a "game" where there's a set purpose and therefore a set limit to the complexity... a "toy" game (Rollercoaster Tycoon, OpenTTD, Factorio, etc. etc.) are designed to instead have the players reach complexity levels above-and-beyond what the designers dreamed of. |
Some time after 1.0 it exploded in popularity, especially with younger kids, and it's now almost universally seen as a kids' game. But it's still the same game; if anything it's become more complex.