That evil Car Park Capital tycoon game is only getting more evil with MicroProse as publisher, but it still looks gorgeous

Developer Hilko Janssen of Hilkojj Interactive has signed with publisher MicroProse for Car Park Capital, a management simulation centered around eradicating green space and enforcing total societal dependency on automobiles.

Despite partnering with MicroProse, Janssen's core vision for the game remains firmly intact. The title asks players to take green maps and replace their natural landscapes and urban infrastructure with highways, parking lots, and car-centric developments.

Expanding the Automotive Apocalypse

Recent development updates reveal a suite of new satirical systems and mechanics designed to keep citizens inside their vehicles at all costs. Players can deploy oil derricks, manage leaking fuel trucks, and place giant plastic trees to replace destroyed natural vegetation.

To prevent drivers from ever needing to step outside, players can construct drive-thru infrastructure ranging from fast-food stands and perfume dispensers to giant drive-thru toilets and Ferris wheels. Supporting this fast-food ecosystem requires managing a beef industry complete with open-air meat grinders. Should livestock escape the facilities, players can use flying saucers to abduct the runaway cattle.

Urban planning mechanics actively reward tearing down inner-city apartment blocks in favor of sprawling suburban housing, forcing residents into daily vehicular commutes. To manage the consequences of these policies, players can deploy riot police to suppress protesters decrying habitat destruction. On an individual level, non-player characters will exhibit specific driving behaviors, such as blocking major roadways with "nuisance parking" or endlessly circling occupied lots.

"I might also add other little annoyances, like someone parking in a place that blocks an important road, or someone endlessly circling a full parking lot and complaining," Janssen said regarding NPC behavior. "I think these little details help capture the absurdity of car dependency, making the game more relatable and humorous."

Influences and Urban Planning History

Janssen, who is based in the Netherlands, draws design inspiration from both historical car propaganda—such as the 1950s American film Give Yourself The Green Light—and Dutch post-war urban planning trends.

"Car dependency is a lot lesser here in the Netherlands than in the United States but it wasn't always like this," Janssen explained. "In the 60s and 70s car dependency was in fact on the rise here too. Where I live there were plans to fill in Amsterdam's canals with concrete to make roads and highways."

While those specific plans for Amsterdam were aborted, similar projects went forward elsewhere in the country before being reversed decades later.

"That never happened here thankfully but it did in a nearby city only to turn it back into a canal decades later, so it went from water to highway and back to water," Janssen noted. "Living in a place where you can see both what was lost and what was recovered definitely plays into the way I think about making this game."

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• Rock Paper Shotgun Hero image: https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/Car-Park-Capital.jpg?width=690&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp