That’s the fail state you’re constantly working to avoid: having power taken from you, either by vote or through the direct intervention of a meddling country you failed to appease. It is they who have the ability to end your career in looming elections.
But in the background a political simulator runs, tracking your relationships with local factions, superpowers, and most importantly the people. The most visible part of the game is a city builder imagine Cities: Skylines with palm trees. You play as a symptom of a sick world: a leader using your people for financial gain, and in turn allowing yourself to be used by foreign nations, each looking to exploit your gold deposits or strategic placement in the Caribbean. But Tropico’s Cuban missile nostalgia prevents it from saying anything truly new, and sees it stand still where other great powers in the management genre are racing ahead. It’s a simulator that teaches you to be wary of populists and political profiteers by placing you in the boots of one.
Tropico 6’s announcement trailer, which doubles as its opening cutscene, suggests that El Presidente belongs in our time of perpetual crisis, and the game attached to it halfway proves the point. Stubbing out his cigar in an ashtray, the ageless dictator pulls on his peaked cap and heads for the balcony to deliver a speech. “Time to get back in the game…” he tweets. El Presidente twists the knob to silence, sighs, and picks up his iPhone.
