I was four years old when the first SimCity was released on the 2nd of February, 1989. It was another ten years before our family owned a PC and I began playing the open-ended city-building video game. Along with Theme Park Tycoon and Theme Hospital, I spent much of my free time creating ever expanding empires.
It was only when the game Red Alert came along that I lost interest in these games and became captivated by online multiplayer games. Over 20 years later, while browsing the App store looking for a new game to enjoy, I stumbled upon an app version of SimCity. I downloaded it immediately, and felt 14 years old all over again.
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This is part of a regular series of articles exploring the apps that we couldn’t live without. Read them all here.
I was eager to learn how they managed to translate the game play into a smaller format and whether it would be equally immersive on such a small device. It didn’t take long to get up and running with no requirement to create an online account or pay a subscription. I loved being thrown straight into a city without lengthy forms or processes. In a few minutes I was building my first neighborhood and beginning to welcome my first residents.
(Image credit: Future)
The interface is incredibly easy to navigate with a pop-up guide to help you navigate the steps of building your city. I was familiar with the original game but still benefited from having a virtual human walk me through it. At times I would have liked to turn the help feature off, but I couldn’t find a way to do that.
