When I first saw Isometric City Builder's Metropolis 1998 in January, it jumped to the top of my wish list. It's fantastic. It also oozes pixel charm thanks to its retro graphics, and it has a nostalgic feel, but with modern features.

In great news for city builder fans, the demo for "Metropolis 1998" has been updated with five months worth of new features. Of particular interest is a development roadmap packed with features planned for the 1.0 launch and some really interesting "aspirations" that developer Yesbox Games hopes to include in 1.0 and beyond.

For example, bank robberies, police chases, and zombie outbreaks where tiny little cops try to stave off hordes of tiny little undead.

In the urban city builders I have played in the past, crime usually happens off-screen. For example, in Cities: for example, in Cities: Skylines, I remember seeing little crime icons on buildings and neighborhoods, and police cars flashing their lights at me until I removed the icons. But you never saw anything go down. In the "Post 1.0 Aspirations" section of the Metropolis 1998 Roadmap, "visible crime" is itemized, and you can "see bank robberies" and "police chases" where cops try to catch the bad guys. This is much more interesting than just watching icons come and go.

The 1.0 launch of Metropolis 1998 will also feature traditional disasters along the lines of other city builders, such as earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods. However, there are a few disasters that sound a bit superfluous to the roadmap, such as pandemics (the 2020 pandemic, not the zombie pandemic), recessions and depressions, and monopolies that "stifle competition in certain industries."

Another thing that caught my attention was the "Sims-style mode" where you can live in your own city. With bank robberies and zombie attacks, life in Metropolis 1998 seems a bit dangerous. However, the game looks gorgeous, and I would definitely build and decorate my own house and move in immediately.

As for the updated demo, it includes new animations, more color variations for vehicles, basic terrain changes, a "potato" graphics mode, and new activities for simulated small citizens (like taking lunch breaks at work). Below are the patch notes for the new demo, which we encourage you to download and try out.