[milesvp]

They really were at the center of simulation. They had so many offerings that many people have never even heard of, like Sim Earth. I ran into it at a point in my life when I was playing with a lot of ideas about sustainability and waste, and it ended up being very influential in how I think about the world. It was almost a throw away game, there just wasn't much to do, but setting up initial conditions and watching them play out was fascinating to me. It taught me a lot about critical mass, and resource utilization rates.

As a side note, Oxygen Not Included feels like a master's class in sustainability, especially if you don't over abuse some of the game's broken mechanics.

[mathgeek]

It’s funny to look back as someone who was seven when SimEarth came out. It was anything but a throwaway game for me, as I played it for months on a mostly daily basis. Same with SimAnt and whatever other similar games I could get my hands on.

[bavell]

SimAnt and SimEarth were also staples of my childhood gaming, barely knew how to play SimEarth but it was a blast! A lot of game design takeaways from SimAnt for me too.

[hansoolo]

For me it was SimFarm.

[mathgeek]

Oh I had forgotten about that one. Something was so satisfying about planting in that game. Thanks for the reminder!