Two recently released video games are updating the SimCity model to better incorporate the complex relationship humans and cities have to nature and its precious resources.
The first, Islanders, has users generate a city on an island with a limited amount of resources. Users are given a set of building-type choices—lumber mills, farm plots, mansions, fisheries, and so on—that they then put down somewhere on the island. Ultimately a game about land use, points are generated based on how optimal the placement of each building is. For examples, homes generate the most points near city centers, while fisheries generate the most points near clusters of homes.
20 Minute Metropolis, on the other hand, is a game much more focused on speed. Users are given 20 minutes to try to build the best city they can. While players are given a finite amount of resources (stone, wood, metal and plastic) to build up their cities, points are gained from making parks.
Both games are about striking a balanced ecosystem and using resources wisely to make an effective city. However, by the end of each game, as described in The Verge, "the world around these cities [is] devoid of the nature that was there to start."
2 Comments
Fyre Fesitival?
Funny how what we call primitive cultures adapted to the environment, while "advanced" ones destroy it
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