City management games are empowering things, letting players become urban tyrants as they demolish tiny homes and replace them with gleaming commercial skyscrapers or fiddle with the budget, draining tax money out of helpless residents.
Not so in the awkwardly named Cityconomy, a management game from Nano Games. Instead of running the city, players will be serving it, slaving away to make it perfect for its demanding populous.
“Let’s clean up!” It’s hardly an exciting call to arms, is it? What next? “Let’s visit the dentist and undergo a painful wisdom tooth removal!”
Here’s the thing, though – I’m intrigued. I can’t help it. Worrying about cutting grass and disposing of rubbish sounds dreadfully dull, but so does farming, yet Farming Simulator is surprisingly compelling.
There’s a multiplayer mode, as well. It’s not clear how that will work, if it’s competitive or cooperative, but I have always dreamed of opening up a service company with a group of friends. No, wait, that was a heavy metal-themed burger joint.
Cityconomy is due out on December 2nd.