Rubric “Straight Text” the authors express only their own opinion, which may not coincide with the opinion of the editors (or may coincide). They are free to do it as they please and in any format convenient for themselves. Everything is possible here.

Before the start of the passage Capital: Sparks of Revolution I turned my attention to history, remembering the most important European revolutions, and, of course, the Revolution of 1917 and the Great French Revolution came to my mind. And then, even if it was not a political, but an economic process, which took place not only in Europe, but also an industrial revolution.

Well, inspark of revolutionThere is a little of that, a little of that, and a lot of that. Internal confrontation, a bit of diplomacy and imperial ambitions, as well as a very acute socio-economic issue. And it is on the latter that the result of the country’s political development and the result of the survival of the current regime depend.

The drawings here are good. As is the music.

After the last war, a significant part of the continent was in ruins. Our town was no exception, which can become one of the key settlements in the now collapsed (with which the local nobles will not agree) the Empire. Speaking of local residents: in addition to the nobles, there are entrepreneurs and the working class. And we, as the mayor of the city, will have to deal with both these social groups in general, and with their representatives in particular.

On the one hand, aboutwaltzes by Schubert and the crunch of French bread”Sir Stanton will sing to you, whom you don’t feed with bread, but only give the opportunity to restore its former greatness. He is accompanied by a representative of the bourgeoisie, Mr. Rockwell, who is concerned about economic prosperity and freedom. And Jack Dawn argues with all of them, who despises luxury and is ready to sacrifice a part of freedom – if only the workers were fed, everyone had houses and work. In general, the most typical representatives of their classes with the most typical requests.

When I started Sparks of Revolution, it was not difficult to understand what was happening: there is nothing around, except for the dilapidated palace (it only takes up space!) And the train station (but it is vital!), And the ruins – if you dig, you can get the desired resources. At first, you will need to keep track of five of them: money, grain, food and drink, and wood.

Eternal debaters: one dreams of the past, and the other of the future.

Without of money enterprises for the production of resources will not work, and revenues to the treasury are provided primarily by taxes on business with shops and shops – separately for workers, separately for the bourgeoisie and nobles.

Corn brings the train (and at first this is the only way to get this resource), and it is required to provide “bread and circuses”, without which even the wealth of Scrooge McDuck will not allow you to sit in your chair.

Well wood will allow sending trains for grain and building (as well as subsequently bricks co steel) all new houses, repairing and improving old ones. At the same time, the game reminds: the homeless can easily get sick and die, and the unfortunate will not be loyal, which will result in all kinds of riots.

The palace is now and then partially destroyed. And without it, in any way – you have to constantly repair it.

So, everything sounds as clear and simple as possible: the initial resources should be spent on the development of the housing stock – this will help to avoid an epidemic (after all, it is better to think about this in advance, right?), The sawmill will provide people with some kind of work, after which you should only establish food production and drinking, build a couple of establishments for different classes – and then we will definitely have stable growth … But no.

The game was not lying when it said that there were not enough resources for everything. Money is not endless. Sometimes you have to close enterprises right in the middle of the day, so that finances do not go negative. The tree ends. More and more new residents arrive in the city endlessly, and it is simply impossible to provide everyone with housing – after all, the territory is by no means infinite! In addition, providing housing does not protect against death, at least as a result of fights. And where there are deaths, there must be a funeral service with a cemetery…

Pretty fair description of the game. And the road to “happiness” will be quite bloody.

“Capital“greets players with words that it is impossible to make everyone happy at once. It is ironic to write about happiness in a game where a person’s life itself has no special value.

One way or another, I played on the “normal” difficulty level, overplayed, started over … A sort of city-planning “Edge of Tomorrow”, which will require the most effective management from you and will not forgive inattention. New game – bankruptcy – new game – all the same dialogues and tasks – failure – new game … Not everyone will like this. Rather, very few will like it.

When a game that is supposed to slowly immerse you in what is happening suddenly seems to let you go in the middle of the sea in a leaky boat with a limited supply of fresh water. And there are three of you, not counting the dog…

The developers immediately after the release faced criticism and began to improve the game, making it more friendly and less traumatic for local residents. And personally, this could not but rejoice me: I finally went beyond the conditional 20th day and was able to find out the continuation of the history of Capital.

Situations are often unambiguous, but sometimes decision-making requires taking into account the political environment.

Sparks of Revolution sometimes offers small intermittent conflict situations that can be resolved in favor of one of the parties (and very rarely – by pleasing everyone by taking the brunt of it), that is, you can, for example, please the nobles by causing discontent among the bourgeois. Or vice versa.

Moreover, to resolve disputes fairly is a very expensive pleasure. Most often, you will simply try not to swear at those who are not loyal to you, and sacrifice the interests of those who already love you. Like almost the entire game, everything here is based on mathematics, planning and accurate calculation. If you forget about the needs of your inhabitants, well, prepare for riots: the disaffected will gather and express their intention to take a walk to your palace with weapons in their hands.

Sometimes you have to go to extreme measures and start shooting.

Until it comes to a fight, they can be pacified by buying off resources and promising to fulfill the demands, or by calling on the police to speak with the protesters in the language of force.

In addition, there are small detective stories in the game: sometimes the inhabitants of the city will turn to the police, and your law enforcement officers will try to investigate crimes and find the culprits, delighting the citizens. At the same time, sometimes you will meet entire gangs that will require both the search for specific criminals (if desired, they can be eliminated or interrogated), and the “assault” by the police of their lair.

And the police here, of course, are true gentlemen. If a team of 30 servants of the law is opposed by only 2 bandits, they will be fought … only 2 police officers, while others will carefully watch and, like real bourgeois, apparently, make bets.

Separate stories are also connected with the hospital: sometimes “plot” epidemics will arise in the city, requiring the search for drugs and the cure of patients. Sometimes – very noble. A couple of times you have to decide what to do with the “outside world”. Help those who need help? Deal with this or that? The choice here is small, but sooner or later you will have to make it.

It’s nice to be supported – and it brings real benefits.

But the main storyline in Sparks of Revolution is way too straightforward. You are doing this to survive. You do what you do to survive. You do this to survive. And then here it is to survive. And in parallel with this, new “laws” will have to be discovered, gaining access to new buildings or bonuses, studying new technologies and introducing extremely useful innovations.

But by surviving, calming down civil unrest, repairing equipment and coping with epidemics, sooner or later you will realize that you can relax a little. The system functions almost autonomously. People are more or less happy, and you can just enjoy the green numbers next to the resources you get, forgetting that you have a bunch of homeless and sick people – the death rate is not growing, and it’s already good. This is where the game will offer you to make the most important decision that will determine the fate of your city (and the whole region).

And who will you support?

Rubbing my hands, I hoped that now the game would offer the main test, but the next fork offers only three bonus paths. And the choice of road depends either on your current needs or on political preferences: the future democratic (or pseudo-democratic) state may be one or the other, and you may have one or another main opponent.

I really regret that I went through Sparks of Revolution after the update – the game became easier, so in the end I was not satisfied with the fact that I supported those I wanted and who made me happy the whole game, but the question: “And it’s all?“. After all, the revolution may not have a happy ending. And the experience of 1917 shows that end game can be really long and especially bloody.

And yet, “Capital” can not but rejoice. At least its music and sound design. And, it would seem, as in the good old “Gorodok”, everything is simple and familiar here. Familiar? Maybe. But simplicity is only an appearance. Not only can tickle your nerves Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Building a successful city and not doing it at the minimum level of difficulty is what I would like to achieve if I had a little more time and nerves.

Rejoicing in every new day, every whistle of the train arriving at the station, every start of the work shift and every discovery that makes people’s lives a little better.