The idea is simple: the game map is your real city. The cafés, bakeries, bars and museums around you become buildings to buy, upgrade and defend. Think of it as a life-size Monopoly, with your neighbourhood as the board.
Retropolis keeps that base, the real map, real buildings and multiplayer, then pushes every system further. Above all, those systems fit together.
The base: your city, your buildings
- Every building is a real place, at its real address.
- You buy it with Coins, start works to level it up and collect its income.
- Three trait slots let you shape its income and its defence.
- The marketplace and auctions let you sell a property or an item to other players.
What we pushed further
Player against player
A Hold-up is a card you play on a rival's building: you instantly bank a share of its hourly income. The owner can fight back. Surveillance blocks the attack, Honey Pot makes the attacker lose Coins and Insurance refunds part of the theft. Sabotage compromises an enemy building: if its owner does not repair it in time, it can be forced to auction.
A deck and a loadout
Cards are picked up on the city map and used once: Hold-up, income boosts, loot boosts, Radar, Teleportation and more. Forty item models, each with a fixed rarity, go into three equipment slots and change what you find on the map. A Specialisation tree of 360 ranks lets you shape your play style with up to 150 points a season.
Mini-games on the map
Some places hide more than a building. Lino runs a shell game: follow the right cup and decide when to stop. Arcade cabinets keep the city's records, reset every week, and the player just above you on the board becomes your rival. At Kora's counter, you sell her the cards she is asking for.
A map that keeps moving
Resources respawn every game turn. Rex and Cipher, two of the city's fixers, hand you contracts to complete on the map. Limited-time events change the rules for a few days, flagged by a badge and a countdown.
Gangs
A gang brings players together around a shared chat, and its ranking adds up its members' Reputation. The City chat is open to every player.
Seasons of about a month
When a season ends, buildings, Coins, cards, items and Reputation start again from zero. Your final rank, league and Reputation are archived in your record. Your achievements, titles, cosmetics and gang stay. Someone who starts today is never more than one season behind everyone else.
A coherent whole
Every system feeds the others. The map gives you cards. Cards attack and protect buildings. Buildings pay for the works. Gear changes what the map gives you. And everything adds up to one number, Reputation, which sets your level, your league and your place in the ranking.
The world follows the same logic. Retropolis is set in a retro-cyberpunk world, in a city rebuilt after a global financial collapse. Buildings are worth something there because money no longer is, and gangs fight over neighbourhoods because nobody else holds them anymore.
A ranking you win by playing
- Reputation comes from what you do: buying and upgrading buildings, pulling off Hold-ups, finishing contracts, picking up resources, playing mini-games.
- The shop sells no Reputation boosts.
- Cash, the premium currency, can also be earned by playing: on the map, from the daily Clock-In and by reaching leagues.
- Being held up costs Coins, never Reputation: getting robbed does not cost you your place.
- There are no ads.
Purchases save time: cards, equipment crates, temporary boosts. They do not replace playing.
Play without crossing town
You see what happens about 300 metres around you and can act about 150 metres away, more with gear. The Teleportation card moves your in-game position, so you can play another neighbourhood without going there.
FAQ
Is Retropolis free?
Yes. The download is free on iOS and Android, there are no ads, and purchases are optional.
Do you have to walk to play?
No. You can act within about 150 metres of where you are, and the Teleportation card lets you play somewhere else without moving.
Can you play solo?
Yes. Everything can be played solo, and a gang adds a team ranking and a shared chat for those who want one.
What do you keep when a season ends?
Your achievements, titles, cosmetics and gang. Your final rank, league and Reputation are archived in your record. Everything else starts from zero so everyone starts level again.
Which languages is the game in?
English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.