Tropico 3 Guide: Economy Hints and Tips

Written by: Simon Hill • Edited by: Bill Fulks
Updated Sep 1, 2010 • Related Guides: High School | Tropico 3

Tropico 3 is a unique blend of politics, city building and economics. If you don’t juggle the various aspects carefully then you’ll soon run into trouble. Check out this economics guide for some useful hints and tips.

Tropico 3 Economy

The gameplay in Tropico 3 is typical of a building and management simulation but the political angle adds an extra edge to proceedings and it can prove difficult to run a successful economy. In the campaign there are multiple routes to success but each island is suited to a specific approach. In the sandbox mode you can decide for yourself how to build a rich tropical paradise. You can find out more about the game in our Tropico 3 review. In this article we are going to offer up a few hints and tips which should help you get the most from the economic side of your game. This will be a two part guide so in the second article we’ll look at politics and keeping your citizens happy.

Choose your Leader

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Before each game you are offered a list of leaders to choose from or you can create your own leader. All of them have various skills derived from their background and their rise to power. They also each have two specific qualities and two specific flaws. Try creating your own leader so you can examine the affect of each of the categories.

The best approach is to create a leader uniquely suited for each individual level. The brief for each mission should give you an idea of what type of leader would be best. For example if your aim is to create a popular tourist destination then you want to select Well Traveled (see screenshot). Sometimes you’ll need to play the level to discover what qualities would serve you best but since many of them are tricky it is often a good idea to start one simply to check out the island and then restart with a tailored leader once you know what to expect.

Spend Wisely

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You’ll start each game with limited cash and there are penalties for going into the red so you have to spend carefully and cleverly to get your economy going. To begin with you want some industry that will bring in the cash. You need to see what your island would be best suited for, so select a farm and then check the map for green spots (see screenshot). The best cash crops are coffee, sugar and tobacco. Start by placing a couple of farms and making sure they are served by roads. Now let the game run on until the farms are producing exports.

Stay in the Black

It is very important not to go into the red because it will affect your foreign relations and if you go more than $10,000 into debt you will be slapped with a spending ban. Your country costs money to run and it will trickle away month after month. The more people you employ and services you offer the higher your costs go, so don’t spend every last dollar, keep an eye on the rate at which your money decreases.

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