Your government invests in a chain of Pacific islands, each with its own strengths and shortages. Each team governs one and builds its economy. It soon becomes clear that no island has everything. To get ahead you have to go to your neighbours: trade, negotiate, strike agreements and sometimes reopen them when circumstances shift.
That is where it starts to bite, because the pull towards optimising your own island alone is strong. The game lets you feel what that costs. Teams that keep the whole in view end up gaining more than those playing only for themselves. At the end, the balance sheet shows how well you governed the archipelago together, and that number covers the whole room, not one island.
