I've played Transport Tycoon Deluxe since I was 12 and I've played OpenTTD since it came out. I'll probably play OpenTTD for years more. As the original game said in its tagline: "This game will bring out the megalomaniac in everyone". Where other games are pretty and complex, OpenTTD is just about micromanaging a massive transport network. It's really consuming. I've lost evenings to the game for years. Sometimes I don't play it for up to a year, then go back to it and lose a month.
I second this. In addition to what you said it is also worth mentioning it is open source, runs on multiple platforms and has multiplayer support so you can play with other tycoons. Build giant transport networks and buy companies and factories. Crisp graphics. There are two things I miss though, and I dont expect it to change anytime soon. 1) There are no "goals". Sure, you can set some up yourself, like who reaches a certain company value first wins, but it is not the same thing as the game really "ending" and someone wins. 2) The game settings are divided into one section with "settings" and one with "advanced settings". Understanding them takes a long time and is difficult. And different players can have different settings in a multiplayer game (like auto-renew old trucks), which makes it unfair. I think the defaults could be more sane also. Great game though, highly recommended.
"Well, it don't make the sun shine, but at least it don't deepen the shit." -- Straiter Empy, in _Riddley_Walker_ by Russell Hoban
