Tropico 6

Your actions as President have an impact on the behaviour and productivity of the citizens. They can even stage a protest and revolt against your rule if you are deemed to be that bad a ruler!

As well as being able to customise the look of your El Presidente – including making her female if you so desire, you can also customise the presential palace.

You have to balance economic needs against military might and also factor in happiness and prosperity for the people. It is a delicate balance that makes the game absorbing – and so satisfying when you get it just right!

Sandbox or Campaign?

You can play both ways in this game, keeping an eye on the citizenry and trying to work out solutions to problems or you can explore widely, doing your own thing and just keeping enough of an eye on the demands of the game to stop full-scale revolution from bringing you down.

There is a total of fifteen story missions to play through, but you will have fun whichever way you decide to play: why not mix it up a bit and do both, playing the sandbox in between missions?

Free Will of the Citizenry

The game has a good balance between opposing desires and needs: each town needs a military base of some kind to keep the nation safe from external threats, but this reduces the individual liberty of each citizen nearby.

The absorbing interest in the game comes from finding just the right balance between military might and personal freedom, between communism and industry, between, in short, all the black and white decisions that would tip the balance of power over into unrest or rebellion.

Bridges Over the Water

In other games in the series, the play has been limited to just one island – in this one, it is possible to build bridges (but only in the right time frame, see below for more) to connect small archipelagos together.

Four Eras to Play Through

The game requires players to lead the nation through several decades, from being a colonial base right through to modern times. Here is a brief run-down of each period of time:

The Colonial Era: this is the only timed era – you need to be independent before your governorship end, but you can extend your time by completing missions from the crown. While in this era, it is good to plan for the future by starting off businesses that will grow in time to provide you with a handsome income once you have become independent. Try not to open too many mines now: their resources are finite and will run out if started too soon

The Wars Era: while wars rage all around you, this is the time to grow and educate your population, starting up new industries getting a college and high school going. Tunnels and bridges give you access to new lands, and you can expand and industrialise to ensure economic prosperity. Your fledgling nation will grow well: but be wary. It is easy to get overstretched and cause a financial collapse

The Cold War Era: ally yourself with either East or West, becoming a friend of either the Axis or the Allies. Whichever one you befriend will install an Embassy on your island, giving you missions and information. You must choose from three options: nuclear, tourism or political as a direction for your nation

The Modern Era: in a world populated by five superpowers, your previously chosen path becomes highly important, with hotels springing up for tourists, nuclear power plants for the nuclear option and so on