Tropico is a world building, simulation game where one plays as the dictator of their own world generated archipelago. The game has multiple modes, Campaign mode and Sandbox mode. For campaign mode, you go through different ages (similar to other games played in class). Your main goal is to maintain high standing with the people of your archipelago as well as other nations. To do this you must build your city as well as complete requests given to you throughout the game.
In terms of the pros of the game, it’s good to start with the beginning of one’s playthrough. When starting, you are given the option of creating your very own dictator. This includes what race (or ethnic type as it’s called in game) you want, gender, hair, and all the things one would normally see in a create your own character screen. The options are surprisingly diverse, having you able to choose a race and the features you want like beard type, hair color, etc. Another good part of the character creation is that there are also some fun extra outfits such as spacesuits (seen in Tropico 5), tropical clothing, pirate outfits (Tropico 6) and clown noses. Once you’re done with creating your dictator, you are able to start actually playing.
Mechanics wise, Tropico 6 is very polished. Having a good time management system as well as having how you place your buildings and structures actually affect your gameplay gives the game a bit more challenge rather than just being a “place anywhere and gain results” type of city building game. When I say that where you place your structures affects your gain, I mean it. If you place a structure and your workers are unable to actually reach the building, they will be unable to produce anything, so you need to be very specific on where you want to place things.
Having played through a few campaigns, I will say that the game has a well balanced learning curve. Each time I started a new file I felt like I actually knew what I was doing and progressively got better. I will also say that the sandbox mode is S-Tier. It allows me to do the things I want without worry of the cost, and allowing me to set up things the way I want to play (Including Map size, starting era, and start money).
To me it was kind of like when you play the sims, you could either do campaign mode or play it with in game cheats sandbox mode for fun.
One of the best parts of the games to me was the character designs. One such favorite character for me was Penultimo, who would alert us of the different events. He also had a habit of changing his outfits sometimes such as this outfit of the main character of Pirates of The Caribbean (Credit to Chris J Capel for the screenshot).
When it comes to cons, there’s surprisingly not as many as I thought there would be. After playing awhile, I will say that sometimes things can feel a bit on the repetitive side. Missions or requests repeating. Sometimes another nation could request that you build something you already have on your archipelago. Another thing is that it’s very easy to go broke in campaign mode. This is due to the fact that every time you start a new era in game, your economy drops. This drop in economy made me contemplate every time whether or not I want to go into the next Era, though I will admit that it is rather true to the real world. When it comes to mechanics not tied into the game plot necessarily, it seems that the map generation is a bit lacking. Other than those minor things, the game is overall good.
In terms of historical accuracy, I’d say there’s minimal in a literal sense. It’s historical in the way that it puts you in the shoes of a dictator and has you go through the different actions and missions a dictator would have to do (though a bit exaggerated). However, in terms of actual history, it has some information on the different structures you can steal (such as Stonehenge, or the Eiffel Tower) and a few other country leaders, but that’s where the realism ends.
In terms of Rating this game, I would personally have to give it an 8/10. It’s a great game that you can binge play when you’re in the mood to sit down for a while and focus on your time management skills. I’d relate it to games like Animal Crossing, or The Sims, or Civilization where you have to really be in the mood to play it but once you start playing it you can’t stop for a while to where you end up staying up all night without even realizing it just playing the game. Overall, I’d definitely recommend it to someone who enjoys simulation games.
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