Tlatoani: Aztec Cities news & patch notes

Hello everyone! We thought this would be a good time to give the player-base a preview of what's provisionally intended for Tlatoani in the coming weeks and months, and also to solicit ideas and feedback for what you'd like to see in future updates, as we move toward wrapping up the game's development. There are some features and content that are already mostly settled on as priorities, but some other items here are more flexible, so... thoughts are welcome.

High-level priorities include:

• Rotate-able sprites for temples, shrines, and other symmetry-sensitive structures, along with some other general art revisions and adjustments to how symmetry works (e.g, choice of axis being more important, mid-city bonuses, etc.)

• Some expansions to God-effects (extra disasters and some added nuance to earning divine favour with particular Gods), along with general balance adjustments

• More art for citizen-sprites/animations

• Assorted UI adjustments (food/farming summary in advisors, royal household display, decor revisions, etc.)

• Tying up loose ends in terms of citizen simulation (marriages, funerals, succession of heirs, pre-specced nobles during campaign, etc.)

• General under-the-hood code-cleanup and optimisation work

All of the above is likely to break saves, so this will most likely go into a 1.7 release branch on steam, with some degree of legacy support for 1.6 on a separate branch. There should also be a public playtesting period before the updates see general release.

Please remember that everything listed here are possibilities only. We’ll be listening closely to player feedback as we decide what to prioritize, but development time and resources will be the final constraint on what goes in.

With that said... other features/content could include:

• More "Crusader Kings Lite" features, in the sense of high-level empire map interactions, elite politics and role-play events

• Temples to more Gods (Tonatiuh, the Toci, Ometeotl, etc.?), 1x1 statues to an assortment of minor Gods, and/or Temple-Complexes for the Big 6

• Expanded range of economic and civil structures (more crops & food options, beehives, reed cutters, gold mines, jade quarries, sculptors, ball trainers, tribute posts, the Calpulli, etc.)

• Extra monument projects- the Great Temple Version 3, Monastery of Tlaloc, Pyramid of Cholollan, Palace of Ahuizotl, Royal Zoo, etc.

• Expanded Random Map options- coastal biome, island and peninsula landforms, empire vs. anahuac-valley world-maps, more foreign and enemy cities, etc. (Possibly also deep-desert and deep-jungle biomes?)

• More plant and animal species (huizache bushes, moctezuma cypress, wild agave, jacaranda, caiman, armadillos, peccaries, rabbit, etc.), plus updates to flora sprites

• Possibly supernatural creatures like the Chaneque, Xelhua, Ahuitzotl, etc.?

• Expanded range of musical tracks

• More art for loading and menu screens, chapter-headings, event-messages, etc.

• More art, portraits and dialog for the history campaign

• Expanding the length of the game year to alleviate time-pressure constraints during campaign missions

• Spanish and Nahuatl localisations (plus other languages, in theory?)

• Any other suggestions you may have

So- again, bearing in mind that none of the above is guaranteed- please let us know what you would like to see in the comments.

Thanks and regards, PG

For all new players: An FAQ covering common issues should be here. The current patch should have some adjustments to in-game reminders, tutorial-text and mission-options to reduce risk of confusion going forward. https://steamcommunity.com/app/3161270/discussions/0/802344362587508915/ Also, just to summarise the various post-V1 tweaks and fixes that might warrant mentioning: * Minor adjustments to Tepetzinco and Cuauhmixtitlan mission-maps * Made docks and war-canoe wharfs only placeable next to the map's main body of water * Made text-hyperlinks less finicky * Disabled posture and levy-terms in negotiations to avoid confusion/abuse for now * Suppressed advisor-warnings about tribute and levies early in the year * Some re-balancing of factors influencing city mood * Added building-priority tool to build-options UI * Made raze, delay and urgent-build flags mutually exclusive * Slight adjustments to wording of tutorials and other missions to improve clarity * Disabled festivals during empty days * Assorted fixes for captives-and-sacrifices-related behaviours and temple UI * Adjustments for related goal-checks in Coatitlan mission * Fix for buildings with space-margins leaving footprints after removal * Modified starter-city layout for 3rd tutorial * Adjusted trade and resource parameters for Cuauhmixtitlan missions * Disabled victory music playing after continuing missions * Added user-setting for whether to display hover-info for terrain-elements * Added blood-FX for temple monuments, slight cleanup to palace of texcotzinco * Other minor tweaks and fixes Thanks for your patience, and hope to see you in-game

Rise, and become Tlatoani

When we first opened the gates of Early Access back in October 2024, we asked you to take a chance on a city builder unlike any other - one rooted in the grandeur, complexity, and spiritual life of the Aztec civilization. You answered that call, and today, we get to honor it.

Tlatoani: Aztec Cities 1.0 is out now!

For those just arriving:

Tlatoani is a historical city builder set in Mesoamerica, where every citizen’s life is simulated individually. You'll manage the rhythms of an Aztec city-state, its economy, relationship with fickle gods, festivals, symmetrical architecture -  and ultimately expand your reach across the region through diplomacy, trade, and conquest. Your goal? To rise as Tlatoani. Emperor.

The 1.0 release brings everything we promised and then some: a fully realized historical campaign, a map and scenario editor, expanded sandbox options, mod support, improved visuals, and richer music and sound. This is the complete vision - the city the gods always intended.

But none of this would exist without you.

To everyone who played during Early Access, left a review, reported a bug, suggested features we hadn't thought of, or simply told a friend - thank you. The community around Tlatoani has been thoughtful, and genuinely invested in what we were building. Knowing you were there helped a lot during development.

If you've been waiting for 1.0 to jump in - now's your moment. And if you've been here since the beginning, welcome to the empire you helped build.

💬 Join Discord

Rise and become Tlatoani

The full release will include:

• 21 fully crafted campaign missions
• 6 freestyle scenarios
• A sandbox mode for unrestricted city-building
• 6 monumental construction projects
• A redesigned, comprehensive tutorial
• A map and scenario editor.

Prepare to rise, and become Tlatoani!

Hello to all our players-

Just as a heads-up, as part of moving toward the V1 release the public testing branch of Tlatoani (available from the betas tab) will be taken down by the end of the current week. A private testing branch will still exist and will include updates to the Chapter 3 historical missions and other patches and updates, but will only be accessible to approved playtesters.

Any necessary hotfixes to the main release will continue if and when bugs are found, but no major content updates are planned before V1.

Thanks and regards, PG

Hey everyone! The latest update for Tlatoani is live, bringing a major expansion to the History Campaign along with new systems, monuments, and quality-of-life improvements. New things in Chapter 2: • History Campaign Chapter 2 with 6 missions • 3 new monuments (Grand Aqueduct of Chapultepec, Templo Mayor Phase 1 and 2) • Water-based trade, transport, migration, and military • Many bug fixes and new map editor options We are now working on on Chapter 3 of the historical campaign. These missions will also involve the last 3 monuments to be constructed. Here are the concepts of the monuments:

Also Tlatoani is 30% off during the Steam Winter Sale, making now the perfect time to pick it up or gift it to a friend who loves city builders, history, or strategy games! Thank you all for the continued feedback and support. ːsteamthumbsupːWe can’t wait to hear what you think as you dive into Chapter 2! Cheers!

Hey there folks-

Been a while since the last update, so just wanted to let you know that work on the monument projects and chapter-2 history missions are proceeding on-schedule. You can check out the public_testing_branch under 'betas' on steam if you want to take a look at the upcoming content. The Chapultepec Aqueduct should be working now, and the Templo Mayor (Versions 1 and 2) will be added soon.

Regards, PG

Hey there folks- just wanted to give you some idea of the work we're doing on monuments for the remaining historical campaign missions, one or two of which should be going into the public testing branch relatively soon. (From top-left, going clockwise, we have the Huizachtepetl, Chapultepec aqueduct shrine, the Great Market of Tlatelolco, and the Templo Mayor phase 2.)

The plan is to have a greyboxed version of the Templo Mayor working on the Cuauhmixtitlan map within the next couple of weeks, and water-based trade and invasions are also in the works, so stay tuned.

Hello everyone! We have some updates on the development progress of Tlatoani!

First of all, we’re progressing steadily towards our 1.0 goals! We’re currently aiming for the 1.0 release of Tlatoani to include:

• At least 20 historic missions, divided into 3 chapters.

• At least 6 Monument buildings

• Remaining animations

• Improvements to UI and tutorial experience

• Additional voiceover and SFX 

• Map editor to help with custom map design

A look at in-development custom scenario editor

What is next?

In the past few months we’ve made good progress with all these features, and are on track to meet the goals we set out to achieve during our Early Access. At this point, we want to ask you for a bit more patience. To make sure Tlatoani is the game we promised you, and an adventure in the Aztec civilization that we can be proud of, we’ll need a little more time.

For that reason we’re moving the release window for Tlatoani 1.0 to Q1 2026. We’ll keep sharing updates as the development progresses, and we hope you’ll keep sharing your feedback and impressions as we go along! Thank you for your continuous support so far!

This update introduces version one of the Map Editor, allowing you to create and customise scenarios along with their terrain and mission events!

Feel free to play around and share your creations on our discord!