REVIEW / Tropico 6 “The Llama of Wall Street” DLC (PC)

I have been enjoying Tropico 6 immensely since its release in 2019 and I know I am not the only one. The Tropico series has been going strong for many years, and the latest iteration only build upon its success. If you are interested in reading my review of the sixth installment of beloved island sim, click through here.

Earlier this month, Kalypso and developer Limbic Entertainment released the first Tropico 6 DLC entitled “The Llama of Wall Street”, as well as the “Seguridad Social” update. The major focus of this DLC is a new mechanic that allows you to play and manipulate the stock market, which in turn affects the value of imports and exports. Most Tropicans know that this is how you generate the money to build your island. These mechanics can be used as a huge advantage to banking money in both your treasury and Swiss bank account, but only if you’re able to diversify your early exports. The DLC also includes new buildings and missions to help build your tropical empire, which you can tackle on a new map. The update also includes a new map, a new Warehouse building, and some new customization options.

I spent most of my time playing though the new “Llama of Wall Street” map since I had gone through most of the maps available in Tropico 6. It’s a large map with abundant natural resources, so I was able to tap into numerous assets early in the game to put away a large chunk of cash before the events started getting out of hand. Plopping down the Trade Institute building gives you the ability to change the course of the stock market, which is basically a means to either increase or decrease the value of several resources of your choosing, which players will need to strategically consider based on the maps resources. Since the map had tons of resources, I was able to flood the market with whichever goods were selling high and held onto items that weren’t as valuable via the new Warehouse building. The Warehouse allows you to store up to 3 different resources/processed goods at 10K units. So when you build toys via the new Toy Workshop and they aren’t selling that well, you can store them for future trade so you aren’t losing out on the potential profit.

The missions on this map were particularly entertaining and there is a twist that I had no idea was coming. I won’t spoil it, but I was happy to have spent some Swiss bank money stockpiling certain options that helped me get through those dark times.

In addition to the new buildings, maps, and missions, there are some new edicts to issue and customization options thanks to the “Seguridad Social” update. Interestingly, the Social Security edict was a community-driven addition that helps your elderly citizens (if you so choose). The customization options can give El Presidente new traits or allow you to add some new stuff to your palace. If you are feeling extra confident from your market manipulations, why not spice up your palace to show off your bank account? These are all fine additions and were completely free since Kalypso and Limbic don’t charge for updates for Tropico 6.

All in all, this is a fine first DLC for Tropico 6. While I would be interested in going back and replaying some of those maps that were particularly challenging based on available resources, this DLC alone won’t pull me back there. I’d wait for another DLC to entice me to revisit past scenarios. But if you haven’t played the game before or just started, this will add an extra enjoyable wrinkle to your playthrough as you navigate those murky financial Tropican waters.