5 Video Games to Play God
What does it feel like to have absolute power? Probably none of us will ever be able to build empires, defeat terrorist leaders from thousands of miles away, or make a population follow us blindly—but luckily, we have video games to give us a small taste of what that power feels like.
A lot has changed since Peter Molyneux first broke ground (the first of many times) with Populous. Here’s our personal selection of games where you can play God—without failing in the attempt.
Populous
It’s funny how Populous was born at Bullfrog, a studio whose first release was a pure, hardcore shoot-’em-up called Fusion, while the game they’d develop after our little god simulator was a classic old-school platformer: Flood. In any case, Populous was a true revolution—one that, on its own merits, defined Bullfrog’s excellence as a developer, with Peter Molyneux at the helm, who back then had no problem pulling long nights of programming and pixel-pushing. Even Eric Chahi and his still-warm From Dust can attest to the influence this absolute masterpiece had.
With clear inspiration from Utopia on the Intellivision (quite possibly the first "god simulator" in gaming history), the unforgettable Populous put us in the shoes of a deity who had to care for their followers while battling rival gods. We could manipulate the environment however we wanted—raising or flattening terrain to make life easier for our faithful—or, in extreme cases, impose harsh punishments in the form of natural disasters.
Its revolutionary gameplay surprised everyone, becoming an instant classic on Amiga, Atari ST, and early PCs. Beyond its many console ports, it was no surprise that critics loved it, awarding it titles like "Computer Game of the Year" from Video Games & Computer Entertainment between 1989 and 1990.
Black & White
Peter Molyneux makes the list again with an expanded and improved version of Populous. Black & White might not have been a critical darling at the time, but history has treated it kindly.
In Black & White, we played as a wild creature-shaped god with absolute freedom to do whatever we wanted with the villagers who worshipped us—and that was awesome. The controls could be frustrating at times, but Molyneux still managed to give the game a great sense of freedom (a recurring theme in most of his games) in this second take on the genre.
Like many of Molyneux’s later titles, the game wasn’t universally praised, but as we’ve said, the legacy it left behind does justice to the hype it once generated.
Spore
Spore, from Will Wright, released a few years back, could be seen as similar to Black & White: it built up massive hype, only to disappoint when it finally launched.
Designed as a mix between arcade and real-time strategy, Spore let us mess with evolution from the very first minute: take a microbe, turn it into an intelligent life form, and guide it all the way to space colonization and encounters with alien species.
The biggest problem with Spore was perhaps how compartmentalized it was—five distinct stages, from primitive arcade gameplay to space RTS—and how it saved the best for last, making many players quit before reaching the most interesting part.
Still, it’s a unique concept worth revisiting.
From Dust
The newest entry in the god-sim genre. From Eric Chahi, creator of the legendary Another World, From Dust drops us into a tribal, nature-filled world. We play as "The Breath", a being summoned by tribes to save them from the world’s dangers and help their communities thrive.
As The Breath, we can give orders to our tribes and reshape the land by controlling natural forces. It’s a simple, maybe a bit short, but highly replayable game. Our goals include building villages, securing safe paths for our worshippers, and helping them collect runes to protect against disasters.
We’re a god, a tribal guardian, with some Lemmings-like mechanics—like guiding our tribes indirectly, keeping them safe as they travel by diverting rivers, solidifying lava, and more. Some criticize it for being short and shallow, but it’s a fresh, different take on the genre, especially among downloadable titles. A 21st-century god simulator.
SimCity
Okay, we cheated a little to wrap this up. Yes, SimCity isn’t a god simulator—it’s a city-builder, or whatever you want to call it. But… remember the disasters? Since SimCity 2, they’ve been a thing. UFO invasions, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, giant robot attacks—all ordered by you. After spending dozens of hours managing a city, ever felt like burning it all down? Well, you could destroy it in a thousand ways and spread panic. A great way to end your game—or see your city in ruins, ready to be rebuilt from scratch. As much as we love building, sometimes we just love being evil.
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