Noe1

I absolutely love this game. I got it at a heavily discounted price when I bought a new computer (less than $10) and it has been a pleasant surprise **** that has provided me with hours of enjoyment. I have never played any of the SimCity games before and Societies was the perfect introduction to this kind of game. Sure, it may be a little easy with no real set goals, but that for me doesn’t detract from the game. The Sims, for instance, is also low difficulty and has no real end to work towards, but is surprisingly fun. I must praise Tilted Mill for their handling of social engineering into the city-building scheme. I loved watching the spiritual city come up with its pastiche of American frontier and Asian-inspired buildings. I liked how the music and building details changed to match the predominant social values of the city. After playing for several hours, the music became pleasantly ingrained in my mind. I particularly enjoyed building the authoritative city as well, which gave an Orwellian, warlike feel to the otherwise peaceful setting of the game. I found myself mixing-and-matching the societal values to create a multitude of cities for days. I think this game is underappreciated and doesn’t deserve the flack it has received from other reviewers. Sure, it is very different from the original SimCity, but that can be a good thing. The only other game from Maxis/EA I have played before was The Sims. For me, SimCity Societies is a game that is midway between The Sims and SimCity. It seems to have been created with another player in mind, someone who is less-concerned about strict rules and complexity, but intrigued with creativity and being able to go in different directions. I liked this game so much that I went on to buy the Destinations expansion and eventually; Spore, SimCity (2013), and the Cities of Tomorrow expansion. I have enjoyed playing all of these games in their own right. If Societies was created to broaden the appeal of the genre to other players, it has certainly done so. For me, it has unintendedly been a “gateway drug” into the other Sim-type games. I never thought that I would come to love simulation games so much, and Societies was an important and fun stepping stone in that direction. Thank you Tilted Mill!