You can now sign up for the PC beta of Kalypso's city builder Tropico 5.

Trying to wash the bad taste of SimCity (2013) out of your mouth? Kalypso's Tropico series might be just what you need, as it is actually a quite a fun little city builder, and the upcoming installment, Tropico 5, has just opened beta sign ups. While the final game will be released for PC and PS4, the beta will be exclusive to the PC, and only be available in English.

To be eligible, you'll have to make both a Kalypso Launcher account and a Kalypso Forum account, as well as fill in a list of information, including your PCs specs. Only a limited number of participants will be slected for the beta, and Kalypso neglected to offer any kind of timeframe. If you are selected you will be notified via email.

Just a quick heads-up, when signing up for the Kalypso forum account, the activation email went straight into my spam folder, so you may want to check there, especially if you use gmail.

Unlike Tropico 4, Tropico 5 will feature a full multiplayer suite, where players will be able to develop islands cooperatively, or fight against each other competitively in a kind of RTS-style fashion. The game will start in the 1800s and work its way all the way up to modern times.

Tropico 3 and Tropico 4 were surprisingly solid games for anyone interested in the city building genre, but 4 was basically just a refinement of 3, and didn't feel like a proper sequel. Tropico 5 looks to be a rather drastic departure from the traditional city builder, so I'm very interested to see how it will turn out.

Source: Kalypso