God game

Though there is no formal definition, God games are said to be generally large-scale strategic fantastic simulations, sometimes of entire worlds and populations, that cast you in the position of an entity with divine or supernatural powers (See references). God games are characterized by that: more...

Home
Accessories
Adventure
Adventure Game
Arcade Games
Arcade styled
City building games
Computer role playing games
Economic simulation games
Educational Games
Fighting Game
First Person Shooter
First person shooter
Flight simulation
General strategy games
God game
Black and White (computer...
Populous
SimAnt
SimEarth
SimLife
Simutrans
The Sims
Utopia (video game)
Virtual U
Will Wright
Hybrid strategy
Mech
Online browser based games
Online role playing games
Online shooter games
Platform Games
Player Controlled
Programming game
Puzzle games
Racing games
Real-time strategy
Real-time tactics
Rhythm video game
Roguelike
Shoot up
Shooters
Space simulation
Sports game
Survival Horror
Third person games
Turn-based game
Turn-based strategy
Turn-based tactics
Vehicle-based

Actions taken by the player tend to be optional interventions into the system of the game world, for instance in the form of miracles or invoking calamities, rather than being a necessity for its continual progression.; The game world is relatively self-sustaining and persistent.; As a God, the player can affect the world and influence his subjects but not directly control them: i.e. there is a minimum of \"click-select-order\" gameplay, unlike other strategy games.;

Categories of God games

God games fall into two categories:

Games in which the user plays a godlike entity that controls entire continents or worlds. The first God game of this kind on a console was Utopia by Don Daglow on Intellivision (1982), while the first such game on a personal computer was Populous by Peter Molyneux of Bullfrog Productions (1989). Both titles have been named to the GameSpy Video Game Hall of Fame.;

Games in which the player controls simulated individuals or groups of individuals, directing and managing their lives. The first such title was Little Computer People by David Crane, published by Activision for Apple II and Commodore 64 (1985). By far the best known such game of all time is The Sims by Will Wright, which was published by Electronic Arts in 2000 and is the best-selling PC game series of all time.;

God games, by their nature, come in a wide variety, from abstract or mathematic simulators to creative or conventional games. In most God games the game is observed from an aloft, elevated perspective, however Little Computer People was viewed from the side. Many popular God games, like Bullfrog's Populous and Lionhead's Black & White are games of territorial domination while others, like SimEarth, are not. In some notable games, like Little Computer People and The Sims you are the controller of only one or some very few simulated individuals, providing for and guiding their lives, while in Black & White you guide a nation of up to thousands.

A possible source for the name \"God game\" is the novel The Magus by John Fowles (\"The God Game\" is the subtitle of that text), though it can also simply be a derivative of that in these games you play a God.

In many God Games, the player does not win or lose per se, but is challenged to attain and maintain a level of success and with the absence of goals or objectives the player often experiences a greater deal of freedom in such games than other genres. At the same time, there have been assertions that any \"game\" without win and loss conditions should not be considered a game by definition. Possibly the most famous of these was made by Will Wright, who prefers to call his creations software toys rather than games. Good examples of such God games are, again, Little Computer People and The Sims.

Read more at Wikipedia.org