Ever since I first played Sim City back in the day when it consisted of just rectangles and very little in the way of animation of any sort, I have been a fan of construction / management simulation games. Tropico 5 was recommended by a friend and I am really happy he did because I probably would never have heard of it otherwise.
In this game you start out with pushcarts and lack of electricity, building farms and mines and eventually even nuclear power as the timeline proceeds. You are a dictator on a tropical island and can choose to rule with an iron fist or to have democracy. It is important no matter which path you take to keep your population either happy or in fear else you will lose the game.
It is important to manage where you put housing because if it is too close to factories, farms, or other undesirable places, people aren't going to want to live there for the most part... you know.... just like in real life. It's tricky actually, because you need to provide places to work and places to live but if you place them too far apart or too close together, it isn't going to work.
Trade with other nations is absolutely essential in order to raise money for new projects, this can be difficult at times and other times it seems as though the money is just flying in. Remember to build as many ports as you feel you can support because this, for the most part, is the only source of revenue other than taxation. Taxation, of course, makes a population upset and we don't want that!
You will need to either develop a strong military or cater to the demands of other nations as well as rebels that exist on your own island. Unfortunately the actual combat of this game is pretty crap and I suppose that is really the only thing I don't like about the game.
The game is extremely easy to pick up and there is a sandbox version of the game where there is no end to the game, it just carries on forever or until you get tired of it. One nice addition is also that the game features a multiplayer setting where you can play with up to 3 other people on the island. You can choose to work together or to go to war in an economic or actual war type sense. It's a lot of fun and can be as casual or as hardcore as you please.
I have intentionally not included pictures of the game because you need to see it in action to appreciate it.
this game is routinely as cheap as 10 or even 5 dollars on Steam and comes highly recommended by me.