The revolution has begun; Tropico is now on iPad

Front Page Discussion
#1

Originally published at: https://statelyplay.com/2018/12/18/the-revolution-has-begun-tropico-is-now-on-ipad/

iPad •

We’ve known about Feral‘s iPad port of the beloved banana republic-builder, Tropico for some time now, first learning of its existence back in June. It’s been six months, but Tropico arrived today for our trusty tablets and, if you want some details, head past the jump.

Tropico is a tongue-in-cheek nation-builder that sticks you in the corrupt boots of a small island dictator. While it has all the trappings of city-builders, it also has ways to imprison your political enemies and quash revolutions before they begin. I’ve always enjoyed playing Tropico, but I’ll admit it never grabbed me the same way the SimCity or Cities: Skylines builders did.

All hail El Presidente! The proud nation of Tropico is now in your hands and badly in need of modernisation!

As the freshly elected leader of an underdeveloped Caribbean island with untapped resources and enormous potential, hopes are high that you will deliver Tropico into the glorious future its people deserve. The opportunities are boundless in this humorous city-builder with a political twist.

  • YOU RULE!: Develop and manage every aspect of Tropico, from its roads, buildings and people, to its military, trade and foreign policies.
  • BE A VISIONARY LEADER: Transform Tropico into the country you want it to be: a booming tourist paradise, an industrial powerhouse, a police state, or all three!
  • PLAY POLITICS: Recount elections, calm unruly elements, manage public opinion and reward your loyal followers…
  • BUILT FOR iPAD: Exercise complete control with an intuitive touch interface and gameplay mechanics designed and refined for mobile gaming.
  • BUY ONCE, RULE FOREVER: Get the keys to power with one simple payment and no in-app purchases.

Tropico is a premium game, coming in at $12 but with no IAP in sight. The iPad version of Tropico uses the Tropico 3 core, but has been heavily modified for the iPad including a revamped UI and more. If you’re wondering, PC users will see Tropico 6 arrive next year. Thus, if you’re used to playing the latest and greatest on your desktop, there may be a sense of moving backwards when you decide to take your island on the go. Also, the iPad version has some hefty specs, requiring an iPad Pro or one of the two models released after the iPad Air 2. That’s the iPad 5th and 6th generation, if you’re keeping score at home. If your iPad is on the older side, Feral has announced an iPhone version is also in the works and should be released in 2019. Of course, you’ll probably need a pretty recent iPhone model as well.

 

#2

I hope the iPhone version is a universal update (like what Rome: Total War did) rather then a separate app.

Tropico isn’t one of my all-time favorites, but it is good nonetheless. What I like about it is that it bridges the gap a bit between a simulation game and an RTS. What I mean by that is that there is a bit of tech tree progression within the game. My all-time favorite series in the genre is the Anno series.

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#3

Wait–is this actually like the Anno series? I totally did not get that for some reason. That is on my longtime favorite list as well.

#4

The reason I compared in to Anno is because, unlike a more pure economic sim like Sim City or Rollercoaster Tycoon, you have a couple systems at work; first, there is a resource collection system where, in order to build something, you need certain resources, which you get by setting up production. Second, there is a tech tree where you must have certain buildings and/or technologies before you can build more.

I don’t want to say it is like Anno and lead you astray; I was pointing out that it tends more towards that series/genre than a sandbox-style economic sim.

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#5

First game I’ve seen that declares my Air 2 too antiquated to handle it. Is this the beginning of the end? (It only seems a short while ago that it was the New Shiny…)