Kalypso Media, the publisher of the long-running Tropico series, has announced its new game, a “city ruler” sim called Urban Empire. It will feature elements of city building games, but instead of working as an overblown urban planner, you'll take control of one of four unique families, each with its own interests and priorities, and lead your city and its citizens through 200 years of progress.
Large-scale city management, like planning city districts and infrastructure, is naturally part of the job, but it sounds like the real meat will be in the political operations, both above-board and behind the scenes. There will be up to 800 dynamic events, ranging from child labor laws to women's rights, that “represent the twists and turns of public life.” In some instances, diplomacy and debate will get the job done; in others, a firmer (or, perhaps, cash-filled) hand may be required.
The teaser doesn't say too much about how the game will actually be played, but it looks promising. And it's the sort of thing that should be right up Kalypso's alley, too: The banana republic strongman series Tropico is fairly niche stuff, but quite good at what it does. Urban Empire is currently expected to be ready for released in the fall.
Update: The post originally referred to Kalypso as the studio behind Tropico, but it's actually the publisher. Haemimont Games is the developer of the Tropico series, while Urban Empire is being developed by Finnish studio Fragment Productions.
