I really want to like this game, because it feels like the underlying systems are solid and the setting is really interesting... but the presentation is just awful.

Why are all the UI assets tiny and blurry or jaggy? It looks like this game was made in 2005 and I'm supposed to be playing in 480p or something. But then the icons are also really complicated, so it's hard to tell what they're even supposed to be, even with the UI scaled up I keep having to lean close to my monitor and squint.

The whole game feels like it lacks solid UX design. Opening the Settings menu reinforces this, it really felt like the game just said "yeah, we couldn't decide what our game should be like, so why don't you choose?" The fact you can just change color correction or sprite coloration and scales, and entirely change the look of the game is WILD; I appreciate settings that give you freedom, but this seems like too much...

The tutorial is, somehow, both too restrictive and doesn't explain things well enough. It goes over step by step what you need to do, but only briefly; and then it tells you to read an encyclopedia to learn more, which is not ideal. But then the actual tutorial steps are sometimes oddly restrictive: "Yes, we told you you can use porters to move resources around, but you HAVE to put your kilns next to your clay pits, and no you are not allowed to progress unless you do!" But on the flip side I feel like a lot of players will just do exactly as the game instructs, blindly plopping buildings down where the arrows are pointed, and not learn much about how things actually work.

Frankly this should still be in Early Access. It feels like they just released a beta that has all the systems in place, but still needs like 6 months work to get polished up.

I'd give this a solid 8/10.

Overall, a great game, plenty of minor bugs and tweaks to work on, but plenty to applaud. I'd really like to see more buildings released, especially more of a variety in terms of building styles, such as alternate pyramid and housing designs/styles/colors, perhaps a deeper focus on the ballcourt and ballgame, maybe even embedding a mini-game to simulate matches which could for example, grant temporary farm production boosts if a victory, or incur some form of penalty like temporarily lower combat strength.

This brings me back to the deep min maxing zen city building games like Caesar, Pharoh, and other impression games. It scratches a specific itch for those who stayed up way too late building and refining grid cities when they were kids 30+ years ago.

While this game visually looks like it could have come out 20+ years ago that is a major part of it's appeal to me. It feels vintage. I don't need a 3d animated world with warriors clubbing each other with ray tracing dlss frame gen'd modern interpretations of graphics along with an 100g install size and 60 dollar price point. I'm here to put squares into an isometric grid of squares while balancing efficiency and aesthetics and the evolving needs of the citizens to make the most majestic city I can in one of the most interesting historical eras and this game delivers exactly what I wanted.

The best way I can sum up Tlatoani is this.....

Never before have a played a game where I've spend 15 minutes comparing the best possible placement for a poop collecting building but yet loved every single minute of it knowing I assigned a common citizen to just clean up noble/royal palace poop in the most efficient way possible.