If Anno had somehow managed to channel the narrative of Snowpiercer and the compulsive clicky crunch of Clash of Clans it would be this.

Depending on how you read it, that explains why FP1 did not have the staying power nor depth nor draw of Anno. 😛 Still enjoyed playing through it once, but as far as best-paced goes, I don't think the granted-much-newer Against The Storm can be beat in that regard, successfully managing to remove the rote nature of most long-tail city building from the genre - even FP1 sadly has that, more on account of how shallow its underlying systems are though, not that the campaign is done too long.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve promised mutually exclusive things to a bunch of council members and I have to somehow navigate a multi-party system without being forced to use the elderly for food.

This is kinda what I mean, actually. FP1 sells its narrative and atmosphere and story super well, even if once you try the waters, it becomes painfully obvious stuff like that is just a story-cover draped over a very rudementary core. These decisions are trivial in their nature and effect even as they sell themselves as being sweeping. The core directional decision sounds gruesome, but never truly amounts to much mechanically, so it peels off pretty quickly, too.
Either way it's just about maxing your tree depth so you essentially "beat" the game as people no longer become unhappy, and then optimize grid layout a bit (not even much) to survive the ending.

Don't get me wrong though, FP1 was fun to play. In hindsight it's a mediocre city builder polished to an absolute gleam, which makes it "good". I would not say it's more than that, tbh, but then again it kinda doesn't have to be, either.

Oh that's been my new favorite tactic. I said you'd get research and a vote. I didn't say it would be enacted or that we would build that...