One island, forty years, one sitting of about forty-five minutes. Here's how a game of Lantara works.
Five meters make First World. Two more decide how you get there.
Pipes, dams, tanks and, one day, the sea itself. The mainland holds the tap at first.
Safe, dry flats for a crowded island, and later homes people own.
Four communities on one small island, getting along, or not.
Factories, docks, banks and the port that pays for everything else.
A coast to guard and no army to start with.
Faith in the government. It pays for hard laws, and it wins elections.
How free people are. Keep it above its tick, or the opposition marches.
Fill the First World meter to win. Water, Homes, Harmony, Jobs and Defence all count, and each must reach its green tick. Plans raise each meter's grey cap so it can grow. Early on, Collapse fights back: if it fills, the state fails. After the Parting, Drift takes its place. The game ends with Year 40, and the fuse under the logo shows how long you have.
Green pins are money: tap them. Orange pins are unrest: tap them to calm a district before the trouble spreads and pushes Collapse up. Later, suitcase pins are families thinking of leaving.
Build adds homes, water, jobs and the port. Unite holds people together and guards the coast. Govern runs the state; its fast tools cost Liberty. Every price shows before you buy.
Laws work at once. Buildings take months, and you watch them rise on the map. Their benefit grows as they go up. Rush a site to halve its time left for half its price. Some plans are places, like Westmoor, the port, the Skyport and new land in the lagoon: you choose where they go, and every site has its own trade-off.
Big moments call the council and the clock stops. Each minister backs one option. Every option shows its cost, and one is always free. You can put a decision off for a little Trust, but it comes back months later, dearer, with the cheapest answer gone. Crises cannot wait.
Typhoons flood the low kampongs: tap each family on the roofs to move them to high ground. Lantern Night can turn to riot. After Year 12 the world tests you every few years with an oil shock, a slump, a shipping line leaving, a currency crisis, a fever, a crash. Reserves, clinics and the Finance Hub unlock better answers.
Every five years the island votes. Lose an election with no Trust and you're out. Keep Liberty above its tick, or the opposition fills the streets.
Across the strait, Halvard's terminal grows every few years. Build up your port: cranes, the Container Port, berths, then the deep-water terminal. Ahead, ships queue for you and trade pays more. Behind, they sail past and Drift rises.
Four households live through your choices. The Residents button counts new moments in their lives. Open it to see their homes, how the people feel, and to hear each story told. The clock waits while you look.
Finish early, keep Collapse or Drift low and Liberty high for a big score. 100,000 points earns five orchids. Prosperity and Liberty decide which of four endings you get.
Gentle: the state can't fall before the Parting.
The game as it was meant to be played.
Once, without warning, Sundara cuts your water.
Crises hit 50% harder, and elections come every four years.
Win to unlock new leaders. Reach the Federation or the Parting to unlock short scenarios. The weekly Speed Run gives every player the same island, with a Game Center leaderboard. Or follow one minister's advice all game in an advisor run.
Aren Tolan as history knew him. No special edge.
Growth comes fast. But you lose a bit of Liberty each month.
The streets stay calm and Harmony grows fast. Investors are wary, so income is lower.
After the Parting, the water deal runs 3 years longer. Defence grows slower.
Year 5. Rival parades have set three districts burning. Calm the island and finish the job.
Year 7. You have left the Federation with no water deal. The pipe closes within weeks.
Year 5. The vote never passes. Make the Federation work while Harmony drains each year.
Year 12. The storms come twice a year now. Build a city that bends and does not break.
