this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2024
79 points (96.5% liked)

Patient Gamers

8839 readers
5 users here now

A gaming sub free from the hype and oversaturation of current releases, catering to gamers who wait at least 12 months after release to play a game. Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
79
Populus (1998) & "god games" (en.m.wikipedia.org)
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

Happened on this 1998 game by sheer chance and I'm really digging it! As far as I can tell it was never popular. It's a mixture of an RTS and a "god game" where one unit (your shaman) is very powerful & special (chess analogy: sort of like mixing the central role of the king & with the power of the queen).

Strong "tribal" vibes that were popular in the '90s (think Deep Forest music, the game Riven, etc). Very nostalgic for me as I was a kid at the time. I'm playing the PSX version, looks like the PC version was even better!

Has anyone ever heard of this "Populous" series? I'm curious to try other titles, and to try more in the "god game" genre (a genre I never even knew existed!). Any other "god games" worth checking out?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] [email protected] 24 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The obvious answer would be Black & White and its sequel, which for many is the definitive god game. You're an untouchable god interacting with your world and physically manipulating it with your hand, but you also have a giant animal familiar that you raise to also interact with the people. You create miracles and either help or terrorize the population into following you. Not much combat if that's what you're looking for, but it's a unique game that unfortunately has not seen a worthy successor in 20+ years.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

Agreed. Still waiting on a Black and White 2 spiritual sucessor, that game is still unmatched in its weird little genre. It definitely scratches a unique itch.