When Will Wright pitched SimCity, a game where you watch a city grow under your guidance, game publishers saw it as an unmarketable product. How could you sell a game you couldn’t win? But Wright self-assured, or obsessed enough with his virtual simulation, built on the back of years of enjoying model train and semi-professional robotics. Wright understood that tinkering with systems was itself a game, and he brought that joy to life in SimCity in 1989. With it Wright ushered in a new era of more relaxed, freeform styles of play in counterbalance to the overwhelming arcade style adventures that dominated the landscape at the time. This week on Gameography we raise cities based on neo-conservative politics, talk about what SimCity chooses not to simulate and watch it all burn to the ground!
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