Others say...

"A great game"
Maybe it's the wonderful music and bright graphics as much as the gameplay per se, but I find it impossible not to enjoy myself while playing Tropico. I see many before me have already written rather extensive reviews, so I'll just say, "I agree."

This is somewhat of an odd game, in that some people find it excruciatingly difficult to balance all of the factors, while others find it easy to build a fat treasury and a happy island. I don't find it very difficult, except on very high difficulty levels like 200% and such.

"Great Game of Political Strategy in the Caribbean!"
This is a quite intelligent and entertaining game, consistent with notions of political economy in tropical nations with a focus on tourism and political intrigue!

As a politician with dictatorial inclinations ("El Presidente"), your goal is to remain in power for over 40 years, while developing the social, economic, political and environmental dimensions of an underdeveloped tropical nation-island. The personality traits of El Presidente will affect the development of the game. You get points by developing the island and also by stashing away money in your Swiss bank account.

Social indicators define the level of "happiness" of your population. You have to develop housing, hospitals and colleges. You also have to develop entertainment and religion facilites, but your population factions will argue over your decisions, and your budget is limited. You have to oversee food production as the population grows, choosing export crops or subsistence food.

You manage the economy of the island, by developing its infrastructure, factories and managing wage levels and labor conditions - in agriculture, manufacture, services, and state bureacracy. These decisions will affect the happiness and migration flows (to be influenced by your own INS agency!). It is fun to see how your country develops comparatively to other Caribbean countries.

The most challenging industry is tourism. You manage hotels, restaurants, bars, archaeological parks, pubs, etc. In addition to foreign tourists, citizens also want to enjoy these facilities, so you need to define prices and entry policies. Depending on natural beauties, infrastructure, and criminality, tourism will stand somewhere between cheap and upscale.

At the political level, you have to consider internal and foreign policies. By keeping your people happy, you remain popular and win elections. Otherwise, you may want to become a dictator - or lose the game. Unloyal generals may try a coup against you! In the meanwhile, you may want to bribe leaders of social groups: capitalists, socialists, religious, intellectuals, and environmentalists.

Your strategic decisions are being watched over by the US and Russia (this is a 1950s scenario). Thus, you need a well-staffed Foreign Affairs Department, to strike good deals for your island and improve its economy and tourism!

Some minor negative aspects: 1) the total population is too small (a few hundred only), and your army is limited to a handful of soldiers and generals. Some immigrants come from rich countries and work as poor peasants (unlikely...). 2) the map is out of scale: the area is way too small for buildings you create. 3) in installation: it did not install in my laptop and old desktop, and online support was not helpful.

But Tropico has other attractive features. Your "gabinet advisor" is a funny guy with Latino accent and indirect jokes on your administration. The musical soundtrack is very good (with Salsa, Merengue, Bolero...). It is fun to see your citizens reacting emotionally to you, hailing you as a true leader or waving fists in rage fit.

In sum, Tropico is awesome and challenging. Buy it. Mucho Macho edition is a bit more diverse and interesting that the original version. Thanks for reading.

"Pleasantly Addicting"
I can't stop playing this game. It's a lot like playing Sim City, but with a tropical twist. I enjoy the political spin, as well. I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys simulation games.

"An excellent sim strategy game with a political twist"
Fans of sim strategy games like SimCity and the Tycoon games will find much to love about Tropico. This game takes the whole SimCity concept and adds a political, Carribean twist. You play the role of "el presidente" of a small tropical island nation. Your goals include keeping your people happy, building a strong economy, and establishing good relations with the U.S. and Russia. You can build your economy around farming, mining, logging, fishing, industry, and tourism...you choose the resources that will be the most profitable for you. You also have to build churches, health care facilities, and provide adequate entertainment and housing to keep your citizens happy, and build schools and universities to keep them educated. If you don't keep your citizens happy they will likely to vote against you in the elections, but you can always choose not to have them. Be careful though, your citizens may rise up against you...better build up your military! There are also a number of edicts you can issue which can affect your success.

There are a number of different scenarios you can play, but if you've played them all or just want to try something different, the "build your own game" mode lets you create your own. You choose the conditions on your island, level of difficulty, game length and victory conditions. Then comes the fun part: building your dictator! You can choose from a variety of personalities, rise-to-power methods, character traits, and flaws to build the type of ruler you choose to be. All of these will affect your gameplay and overall strategy. You can be a benevelent ruler who strives to make his people happy or a ruthless dictator who oppresses those who oppose him. The possibilities are endless! With all these choices, it's hard to play the same game twice. This replayability makes Tropico a game you're sure to enjoy for a long time.

If you decide to get this game, get the Mucho Macho edition. It includes the Paradise Island expansion pack which provides you with a number of new scenarios, buildings, and more. Most of the additions focus on your tourism industry, but there are other nice additions as well. It also has twice as much music on its soundtrack than the original. (Did I mention the soundtrack is excellent?) There are also a few extra goodies included, like a strategy guide and a few behind-the-scenes videos on the making of Tropico. It's a good deal. Two thumbs up.

"controling the underdogs"
very ingrossing an involving game with lots of dicissions to make. control a whole island of hard working under paid people build homes for them, make them pick crops, get tourists to visit.ect...