LogFAQs > #951019350

#14 SimCity 2000 (Microsoft Windows, 1995)

I'm kind of a creative person, but I also don't really have much artistic talent. I did like to play with LEGOs as a kid though. I liked to build things. SimCity lets you build things.



SimCity 2000 was a wonderful improvement over the first game and I think really delivered on the vision of making a city. All the changes to city-building provide flexibility and opportunities for creativity that were just not possible before. But it's also a game; it would not be nearly the same without the game elements, just like Minecraft is rather boring in the free-form creative mode (not sure if that made it to the finished game?). You have to play by the rules and make your city right or you'll run out of money. Unfortunately, the easiest way to do that is to make your city super homogeneous and boring, which sucks. It's important to find the right balance between playing the game and also being creative about it.



I was thinking about SimCity 2000 during the weekend when looking at the games I had left on my list, and on a whim decided to install it again to see if it still was magical for me in 2021. I think I ended up putting in around 10 hours between then and now, and it is still as addicting now as it was back then. Maybe even more so with what I know about real urban planning concepts as an adult. In those hours I was able to grow a somewhat realistic-looking city, as opposed to just mindlessly plopping down a grid trying to "win" the game. It's really neat that there are both sides to the game, depending on what interests you more.



Of course, it is very old now and I'm told that more recent games like Cities: Skylines have really changed things. I haven't given any a try, because no real reason. I guess maybe I'm intimidated? I don't know. SimCity 2000 is rather simple and it suits me.

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At least your mother tipped well