I love all the different ways you can run the island. What's yours?

I'm fond of the Booze Baron background, you make ridiculous amounts of money once you get a couple of sugar plantations and a rum distillery going. I also try to keep everyone as happy as possible so I'm guaranteed to win the elections. I always have the Diplomatic quality so I can get the free building that allows you to get Russian Aid. Cheap Apartments? Hell yes!

Administrator, Professor, and Hardworking is a great combination.

Lower building costs, MUCH SHORTER job training, MUCH FASTER education (for those factory workers), and productivity boost will pretty much guarantee an easier beginning and an extremely productive AND profitable industry once you start it up.

Police Chief, Hotel Corporate Buyout, Green Thumb, Diplomatic, Coward, Compulsive Gambler.

I have low crime, low pollution, access to diplo edicts, and a good tourist trade all at the start.

I have been only playing with Che, etc. I finally won as "Doc" on a fairly easy level with a wide island and no mountians.

My normal way to play Tropico is to make everyone as happy as possible and have "Free Elections" turned on. I usually have Diplomatic, Educated, and Compulsive Gambler chosen.

But I've played it quite a number of times, so I've started really mixing up my traits and playstyles. I've tried favoring the US or USSR regardless of how the other acted, which led to interesting efforts to protect the island from retaliation. I've made it a point to repress my political opponents, even though that harms happiness. Basically I throw a bit of roleplaying into the mix and see what happens.

I remember playing the scenario "Yes, We Have No Bananas" and focusing so much on getting enough bananas that my people got angry. I shut down elections, spruced up the military, and imposed a rigid dictatorship on the island. Those rebels were no match for my crack teams of soldiers! And cutting wages from the farmers and giving it to the army kept them loyal. The US actually came to invade me, but fortunately I was close enough with the USSR to head that off.

Good times.

That's why I love this game. I usually play as a liberating capitalist who tries to make everyone as happy as possible, but then I can turn the tables and become a cruel dictator, and it's just as fun! Maybe too fun...

[offtopic] (somewhat)
Well, that's just my luck... I decided to give Booze Baron a shot, and now a minimal amount of the island is available for growing sugar.
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