BUILD ME UP

The joys of creation and destruction in SIMCITY 2000

- Chris Livingston

I don’t think city-building games, despite the perspective of looking down on all the tiny people and making decisions that can bring them happiness or ruin their lives, really make me feel that much like a god. I usually feel more like a Peeping Tom mixed with an exasperated parent. I delight in just spying on my citizens to see what they’re up to, and getting annoyed when they actually need something from me. “Fine, I’ll build you a hospital! Now stop bloody complaining all of the time so I can get back to blissfully squinting at all the little cars driving around.”

SimCity 2000 proved to be a revelation to me. I had played the original SimCity, of course, but SimCity 2000