I tend to find tycoons very lacking and bland for the most part, but the ones I end up liking are always the ones that have vibrant visuals and immersive gameplay.
Usually the most boring part of tycoons tends to be waiting for your money to increase for the upgrade you want, so try giving the player something to do (that isn’t just fighting) while they wait for the grind to be over.
One of the coolest concepts i’ve seen in a tycoon game is rebirths that entirely change the look of your tycoon, with different upgrades so it feels like a whole new experience.
Noticing you mentioned you wanted your tycoon to feel inviting, being able to spawn in and start your tycoon without immediately being killed will encourage players to stay. Things like having an infinite forcefield until you reach a certain point in the tycoon can help support this.
Thats all I can really think about, I hope these help and I wish you good luck!
Tycoons that add gameplay outside of the tycoon themselves are always fun. For example, Clone Factory was a tycoon where you made a factory that made clones of yourselves that would go out and attack other’s clones. The original and current versions of Mideval Warfare were kingdom-building tycoons that encouraged players to team up and fight are also great examples.
Making your gameplay go beyond the tycoon itself, as well as how you do it, is what will ultimately set your game apart from others. What this will look like ultimately depends on what the tycoon is already based upon, and the type of gameplay you want to encourage beyond the tycoon.
Tycoons like Miner’s Haven, Food Empire (nobody plays that), and other placement-based tycoons like that I always found fun. Thousands of Robux went out of my account to games like those when I was younger. They’re really fun!