The main idea behind Monopoly Tycoon is simply an integration of basic boardgame Monopoly rules coupled with the added challenge of building a business from the ground up and watching it (and everything related to it) grow. 'Money makes the world go round' or so they say, and the world of Monopoly Tycoon is no exception. The game allows you to build a city block, trade and auction with other players, and you can use 'Polls' to gather information about what goods and services are needed in a certain area of the city. You can even get down to the real 'nitty gritty' of what developing a City would be like and Infogrames have made sure that you have all the information you could ever need to build an Empire by giving each player access to research certain features that could play an important part in the expansion of your city.

One major similarity to the boardgame version of Monopoly comes with the city map, which is divided into various blocks (colour-coded) which can be renamed to anything you prefer (so you can actually base your city in New Zealand with familiar place names). Some of the blocks are already taken up by public utilities (hospitals, transport terminals etc), but those that are blank can be easily occupied by apartments, restaurants, dairies, clothing stores, bars, salons, and many more buildings with the express purpose of making you money.

Keeping a watchful eye over your evolving empire has never been easier for instance if you were wanting to take a closer look at a particular block of shops, a doubleclick of the mouse on a square from the main map will bring you zooming in on the block amongst a full 3D cityscape. The effect of this is very impressive and after awhile you will feel proud to be able to look upon your city in all its 3D glory. While the overall resolution of the game is fairly low (640x480) the buildings themselves are nicely detailed and the ability to revolve around your city block makes construction so much easier. There are also lots of little automobiles and people wandering through the streets which makes your city appear "alive".