POLIS is a single-player simulation game that places players in the role of mayor in small Greek towns. The experience centers on month-by-month governance across up to 17 years, where decisions on building, taxing, and policy shape the community while citizens track every action.
Gameplay
Players manage a town through monthly turns that accumulate into four-year election cycles. Core systems revolve around council negotiations, where members vote, sulk, or bargain over proposals. Campaign promises stay recorded, and outcomes affect future trust levels. Citizens function as named individuals rather than abstract numbers, sending letters that reference past choices and passing judgments across generations as families age and children mature. A rival opposition leader persists across terms, capitalizing on any missteps. Over 300 events introduce trade-offs that influence daily operations and longer arcs. A hand-illustrated hex map updates with weather, seasons, and visual details such as chimney smoke to reflect ongoing changes.
Game Modes
The game includes a tutorial for new players along with standard, endless, sandbox, and dark path modes. Standard mode follows typical election cycles and governance goals. Endless and sandbox options extend play without fixed term limits or with greater freedom in setup. Dark path mode shifts focus to corrupt practices including envelopes, offshore accounts, and shell companies, where short-term gains carry risks of later consequences like trials. Twelve distinct scenario towns provide starting conditions drawn from specific local challenges.
Scenarios and Long-Term Planning
Each of the twelve towns begins with distinct pressures, such as port-related issues in one location, debt in another, tourism strain elsewhere, population decline in a smaller settlement, or environmental concerns near the coast. Players pursue extended visions that span decades, including infrastructure shifts toward sustainability, development of educational hubs, improvements in public safety, affordable housing initiatives, or bids for cultural recognition that involve external reviews. These projects require sustained investment and may reach completion under a successor. A local newspaper generates headlines from daily events, radio chatter provides background commentary, and project presentations highlight optimistic framing typical of certain funding sources. The contractor's models consistently feature miniature trees as a recurring detail.
Is It Worth Playing?
POLIS suits players who enjoy simulation experiences built around political decision-making, memory of past actions, and extended consequence chains rather than rapid action or combat. The emphasis on named citizens, recorded promises, and generational feedback creates a distinctive loop where early choices resurface years later. With release scheduled for September 2026 and no reviews available yet, the game targets those interested in single-player governance sims that incorporate satire through Greek cultural elements like kafeneio gatherings and EU project presentations. Availability in both English and Greek supports broader accessibility for the target audience.