Remember Zynga’sMafia Wars? Since the early 1800s (or, perhaps, the dawn of time itself) we’ve been fascinated by crime, especially organized crime; that topic has served as a form of entertainment ever since. In 1842,Punch, a British satire magazine, printed an article saying, “Murder is, doubtless, a very shocking offense; nevertheless, as what is done is not to be undone, let us make our money out of it.” This joke might have been sufficiently edgy at the time, but nowadays, it’s practically a given that murder makes money in the entertainment business.
What once was a morbid habit of crowds forming at executions soon gave way to newspaper cartoons portraying devilish serial killers skulking the streets. At the dawn of cinema, the crime film found its audience. Gone were the days of Jack the Ripper, the silent, lone killer, replaced with languid nights at speakeasies and the Omertà code. Films likeScarfaceandLittle Caesartitillated audiences with a world hidden behind the locked doors of our own cities: Women had perfectly finger-waved hair. Men carried Tommy Guns and drank Old Fashioneds in smoky, back-alley bars. Shootouts bubbled up outside of breweries crafting hooch right under the eyes of the crooked police force. Romero Games’Empire of Sinwouldn’t exist without this media, and it’s important context for understanding how the game works.
Somewhere betweenXCOMandMonopoly,Empire of Sinis a cross-genre, turn-based strategy, and resource management game. At the start, you pick one of over a dozen color-coded crime bosses and are thrown headfirst into a world of crime. You start with a rudimentary number of businesses and quickly take over a safehouse, claiming your stake in Chicago’s bloated mob industry.
The game throws a flurry of mechanics at you with rapid speed. Not only do you need to maintain your safehouse, the only building that maintains your hold on one of several neighborhoods, but you need to buy or forcibly take other buildings to construct breweries, speakeasies, hotels, casinos, and brothels. Breweries are the bread and butter of your empire and supply your speakeasies and brothels with booze to keep your income above water. Each neighborhood has its own shifting preferences, ranging from inexpensive but low-grade swill to high-dollar whiskey. Keeping up with your neighborhood’s preferences is a key part of establishing a customer base, of which you’ll be competing with other gangs for.
You also need to hire an accomplished entourage. The game has about 60 gangsters to choose from, all with their personal traits, stats, and classes that dictate how they behave in combat, what kind of weapons they’re able to use, and how they’ll handle any higher responsibilities if you later decide to promote them. A doctor might have less damage output than a hired gun, but they’re the only ones that learn the heal ability, making diversity an essential part of your squad.
All these systems belie a deceptively simple gameplay loop. Despite advertising itself as a freeform experience,Empire of Sinpromises a breezy 10 or so hours of playtime, sacrificing some complexity along the way. The biggest hump you’ll face on your lonely journey to the top will be conquering your first neighborhood. Each time you start a new game, you’re randomly dropped into one of several boroughs of Chicago and will most likely be pitted against a single gang for control. Your first war is grueling, and with only enough scratch for a few members, battles feel high-stakes—you’ll be ruined if you lose anyone off the jump. After invading a few speakeasies and taking them for your own, the game’s clear “right” path to victory emerges.
Empire of Sinlargely rewards expected choices. When you conquer a racket, you’ll have the option of controlling it in its current state, remodeling it to fit other purposes, or destroying it to take it off the map. Early on, you can’t really afford to lose precious real estate, and refitting a brothel into a brewery costs a lot of money. As such, you’ll probably end up taking rackets as they come. This was a casino to begin with? Why change what isn’t broken! Money is money! Soon, you’ll encroach your way into your enemy’s territory until the very last act finds you versus your rival at their safehouse, taking on their whole gang. After executing the boss, winner takes all—you acquire all their assets.
This is where things start to fall apart. You set your sights on another neighborhood. This one might not even have any established factions, so you’ll sweep your way through to your second neighborhood. A neighboring faction might ask you to help them with their war. You say sure, what do you have to lose? It instantly becomes your war; your ally is all but useless, but it’s only a minor roadblock. You raid your enemy’s safehouse with a new, refined squad. A couple people have sniper rifles by this point, while your demolitionist is chucking grenades and shrapnel and causing a big mess on the dancefloor. And, before you know it, you’re the czar of Chicago, uncontested and without peer. It does feel cool, but also a bit cheap.
This isn’t to say the battles aren’t engaging. In fact, battles are perhaps the most fun I had withEmpire of Sin. Though characters are roughly divided into classes, their individual skill trees vary slightly, meaning no two units are exactly the same; one of your con artists might end up a sniper, while the other chases mafiosos down with axes. My crime boss, Elvira, has a unique ability that allows her to control an enemy unit for a set number of turns. This wound up one of my most vital strategies. You can easily end encounters with Devil’s Breath, either by turning two allies against one another or simply using it when there’s only one person left on the map. Each boss has a special move and racket type they excel in, which does give a sense of identity beyond just “Miss Scarlett” or “Thimble” for your game token of choice.
Each character also has a discrete quest line as well. Elvira is an older woman, a Mexican immigrant who moved her family business to Chicago while avoiding the law. Her character is all about immigration and family, which is thematically sound with the “melting pot” narrative of early 20th century America. Seeing her struggle to be a good mom deeply humanized Elvira for me, and made my choice in playing her feel more personal than I expected. Though brief, each character’s storyline is well written enough to make you proud of the little crime family you make along the way. There’s a sort of underdog charm to it all—maybe that’s what people find so fascinating about crime stories in the first place?
Though it lacks the depth of fellow empire simulatorCrusader Kings III,Empire of Sinis more than entertaining in its brief playtime and could only benefit from expanding. The game strongly encourages playing through twice to see what’s different, but for now, one playthrough is sufficient enough to feel like I’ve seen all it has to offer. That doesn’t mean I’m not interested in what’s next forEmpire of Sin, and I can certainly see potential for a buzzing mod community. After all, nothing’s quite as interesting as crime.
