Others approached the problem of making interesting mechanics out of this genre by getting narrower in their scope, such as Maxis’s SimFarm and SimAnt. Some of these games had vast aspirational subjects: Maxis’s SimCity series, Microsoft’s Age of Empires series, Sierra’s Empire Earth, and so forth.

Pharaoh was released in 1999, toward the end of a boom period for simulation games, in which it was necessary to make each new simulation game somehow distinct from all the others. This time, I want to do neither in this post, I will examine how specificity strengthens Sierra’s Pharaoh in terms of both historical representation and gameplay. Note that Little Cities is only available for the Quest line of virtual reality headsets.It’s easy to criticize games with historical settings based on their inaccuracies, and equally easy to defend them on the basis of gameplay. It's a breath of fresh air in a genre that loves to throw challenging scenarios and resource balancing acts at you.

This makes the world feel far more alive and capitalizes on the strengths of virtual reality really well, and the delightful soundtrack accentuates the cosy, calming direction the game takes. You can wave at them and watch them as they go about their daily lives, whether they're indulging in some exciting skiing or hot air ballooning, or simply taking a breather to eat their lunch. With the Little Citizens update, this immersion is increased tenfold, as you'll actually get to interact with the people who live in your city.

It has all the usual trappings of a city builder - laying roads, deciding which buildings go where, etcetera, but brings it to a whole new level of immersion. Little Cities takes that compelling gameplay and takes you right into the city you build thanks to the wonders of virtual reality, allowing you to see close-up the inner workings of your metropolis. One of the most satisfying things about city builders is that they allow you to create sprawling settlements that you'd love to live in.

Games like pharaoh for mac