"Island Tycoon 6" review: a cup of tea a pack of cigarettes, a piece of island to make a day

Whenever a friend asks me to recommend a game that kills time, I always give him a list of business simulation games. Although there are many different categories of video games, business simulation games are always the best choice for players to kill time.

The best business simulation games have one thing in common -- they're extremely immersive. Players unknowingly play for a long time without knowing it, and each game with a different theme can also give players a completely different game experience from different angles.

Big to "civilization", in the game overview of the development of human civilization change, small to the "ranch story", there is always a piece of the peaceful village waiting for you to return home. Business simulation games often present a completely different theme of expression, and players are often immersed in it and enjoy it.

The gameplay of such games is generally limited within the rules of business development, but the atmosphere experienced by players is always very different according to the different business themes. Among the many simulation business games, "Island Tycoon" is undoubtedly a very unique work, which is unique because it has a "dangerous" game element - politics.

Of course, the "politics" here exists only in the game, but with a large number of metaphors and innuendo, we can always find people, things, and things in the history of the world that are enough to generate associations.

In Tropican 6, players will play as an island ruler, through a large number of easy to learn and difficult to master the game system, run their own island, so that it successfully through the colonial era and transition to the modern day, participating in the world War and the Cold War, two important historical events.

The political elements mentioned earlier, in addition to playing the meme, are also important gameplay systems in the game, which can mainly be summarized as internal affairs and diplomacy. Internal affairs require players to maintain a high satisfaction rate of the island's parties and people in order to maintain their dominance through the next election; Diplomacy requires the player to be friendly with the worldwide faction to prevent the island from being engulfed by war.

The importance of continuous elections in domestic affairs is obvious; in reality, it is a symbol of a kind of "freedom", but in the game, it is designed for a more explicit purpose -- to create tension and give the player a more visible goal.

The way to succeed in reelection is not difficult, players can achieve the goal through a variety of paths. The best way, of course, is to raise the living standards of all islanders. Satisfaction in the game is averaged according to a variety of values such as food, medical care and entertainment, which should be said that improving the quality of life of all people can be relaxed, but the game is not only so, the division of parties and forces makes players unable to "long arms dance".

There are a number of different factions in the island, which are independent of each other, and have similar conflicts between "capitalism" and "Communism". These conflicts are mainly manifested in the increase and decrease of satisfaction of different buildings for different factions.

Buildings like "free" hospitals, for example, make the capitalist camp less satisfied, the communist camp more favorable, and the most important thing in domestic affairs is to get along with the domestic party as much as possible. In the face of this irreconcilable class conflict, games offer a more "game" solution - brainwashing.

Buildings such as newspaper offices and radio stations have special working modes that transform islanders into factions desired by the player. To achieve a similar goal, in addition to the need for time, but also the most important support - money.

In addition to the "diplomatic" system, obtaining financial assistance from dependent forces, more often than not, players need to be self-sufficient in economic matters.

The currency in the game is only divided into the Treasury and the special presidential private vault, the private vault is an important way to exchange important resources, but more often, the filling of the Treasury is the foundation of all activities of the player. The way to make money is nothing more than "through the construction of the production of resources and export through the port", which sounds very simple, but it is very difficult to play.

The first is the transport process, where the truck is driven from the office to the production site, to the processing site, and finally to the port. The time required to consume is not a lot, which requires players to reasonably plan traffic lines, otherwise it is easy to appear similar to the rum factory without sugar input and lead to "empty", reduce the cost, not to mention may lead to the Treasury deficit too big bad file.

The difference between "Island Tycoon 6" and its predecessors is that it has an "archipelago", and players need to transport resources through the sea bridge or the truck dock, so how to reasonably plan the traffic line and the coordination of the building location is extremely important. After completing this level, there is still the problem of how to properly use the "trade" system to maximize revenue, waiting for the player to deal with.

The main purpose of the "trade" system is revenue, but it also has a "diplomatic" role. When the island transition from the colonial period to the world war, the player declared war on the royal family, was announced to block, the import and export prices on the "trade" menu will become extremely unfair, and this injustice is very realistic logic, so how to complete the transition of a smooth period, maintain sufficient resources, has become another problem designed by the producer to the player.

Once the island is active or passive and some forces outside the island, war will roll in, but because the theme of this game is to simulate business rather than simulate war, so only the player in a special period to have a certain military building, you can ensure safety, of course, different periods of existence of "war" is completely different.

The four major periods in the game are "colonial, World War, Cold War, and Modern", and the transition of the period opens up more architectural and policy research permits, while the player's operational focus in each period is significantly different.

The success of this design keeps players fresh with the game system for a long time, but it is not that special, after all, the design of the period as the big stage of the game has been seen in many other simulation games.

But in "Island Tycoon 6", once the player does not adapt to the changes of The Times to change the focus of production, policies and decrees, the impact is almost irreversible.

Without certain military buildings, the island will be slaughtered in the time of war, and the pace of development will be stagnant without advance preparation for modernization. These designs successfully keep the player tense and engaged, but also make the game a little difficult, even after the beginner has completed the tutorial in a step-by-step manner.

Tropico 6's beginner tutorial, in addition to the straightforward five chapters of instruction, is also hidden in the game's mission mode. Players need to complete the first task mode to unlock the second, third, and fourth, gradually unlocked mode successfully let the novice can also gradually understand the gameplay, but as for the importance of work mode and traffic planning design, it depends on the player in the game after a "hit" after "long memory".

There are also more intuitive tutorial options

Tropican 6 is a game that allows the player to become the ruler of a similar "island president". It's obviously not easy for beginners, but the firm control of the player's immersion, the excellent background music that accompanies the game throughout, and, most importantly, the large number of memes that are present, have certainly succeeded in attracting a large number of players.

What's more, this game has simplified and full Chinese dubbing, and added Chinese elements like "red lanterns" during the Lunar New Year to decorate the buildings, which is indeed worth players to explore their understanding of "light customs and easy roads, trade and agriculture" in the game, and enjoy the happiness of becoming a dictator on a beautiful island.