The games see the player taking the role of "El Presidente", who rules a fictional Caribbean island country named Tropico during the Cold War era and beyond.

[citation needed] Tropico features Latin-styled Caribbean music, largely performed by Daniel Indart.

If "El Presidente" manages to stay in positive view of the Soviet Union and the United States they will supply him with foreign aid money.

If an army base is established in the country, it may ask for specific tasks, and low satisfaction will lead them to overthrow "El Presidente".

Edicts are used to achieve various game effects, from appeasing one of the superpowers by openly praising them, to instating martial law or giving a tax break to the populace.

[7] Before starting a custom game, the player may either design their own "El Presidente" character or select one from a list of pre-made leaders.

These include real-life figures such as Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and Augusto Pinochet, fictional rulers such as Hernando Blanco and Sancho Baraega.

These choices affect the attitudes of factions and superpowers towards the player, and can also alter the costs or consequences of in-game actions.

While "El Presidente" has absolute rule over the lives of the Tropican people, politics play an important role in gameplay.

If pushed enough the Tropican people may choose to rebel against "El Presidente", conducting guerrilla attacks against various buildings on the island; if the rebellion grows strong enough this will result in the overthrow of the player.

The island's media outlets can be directed to distribute propaganda for a particular faction, and schools can be either parochial or military in nature.

Building a prosperous country in and of itself is not enough – you’ve got to bribe your generals and repress your dissidents to avoid a coup-de-tat or a mass uprising.

[12] Tropico was a commercial success; Geoff Keighley of Computer Gaming World declared it one of Gathering of Developers' few "certified hits".

[13] In the United States, it claimed fifth place on NPD Intelect's computer game sales chart for the week of April 22.

[22] John Lee of Next Generation summarized, "Tropico tends to be slow, with no tedium-breaking clash of arms like other city builders, but there's enough innovation to give it charm.

[35][36][37] Computer Gaming World's staff called the score "brilliant" and summarized it as "easily the year's most evocative soundtrack".

[35][38] The Paradise Island expansion pack adds new in-game music, more edicts, and new buildings, especially factories and tourism-related facilities.

[49] Tropico 6, developed by Limbic Entertainment and published again by Kalypso Media, was announced in June 2017 and released on March 29, 2019.