Science Fiction Video Games

395

Chapter 15

God Games

G

    form of videogame in which the player has the

powers of an actual or metaphorical god, as well as some of the

limitations attributed to such entities by deist religions. The term itself

appears to have been coined by Bob Wade of ACE magazine to describe

Peter Molyneux’s seminal Populous (1989 Bullfrog Productions [BP]).

A god game will typically contain a simulation of a world, a nation,

or (more prosaically) a business, inhabited by mortals (or employ-

ees) conducting their own independent lives. The player is given spe-

cific powers—for example, the ability to cause divine earthquakes or

to increase salaries—with which they can manipulate the scenario,

and goals to achieve. In contrast to the similar 4X game form, the

player’s abilities will generally not include the power to order their

mortals to do whatever is necessary; instead, success must be achieved

indirectly, by influencing the behavior of the simulated population.

Another related form is that of the social simulation in which no goals

are specified, making it more of a toy than a game; these works are

considered in the section on toy games. Many members of the god

game school can also be categorized as “construction and management

simulations,” ageneric term used to denote games dealing with the

396 ◾ Science Fiction Video Games

simulation of business activities in the modern world. The god game

proper, however, has historically been dominated by works created by

developers associated with the UK designer Peter Molyneux, many of

which are fantasy.

Several early videogames could be regarded as precursors of the god

game form, including e Sumer Game (1968; 1973 revised as Hamurabi)

designed by Doug Dyment, a text-based simulation of life in ancient

Mesopotamia, and Utopia (1981 Mattel Electronics) designed by Don

Daglow, in which two players compete to build a better society on their

own island than their opponent can on theirs. Science-ctional descen-

dants of e Sumer Game include Lost Colony (1981 Acorn Soware)

designed by David Feitelberg, in which the player must ensure the sur-

vival of a newly abandoned extraterrestrial colony. e rst clear exam-

ple of the god game form, however, is Populous, in which the player is

a literal god, whose goal is to cause their worshippers to go forth and

multiply faster than those of their computer-controlled opponent. As is

conventional for games of this type, the player views events from a dis-

tant, elevated perspective. Other signicant examples include eme Park

(1994 BP) designed by Peter Molyneux and DemisHassabis, in which

participants must manage an amusement park; Dungeon Keeper (1997

BP) designed by Peter Molyneux, where the player is the Dark Lord of

a fantasy dungeon closely resembling those seen in early tabletop role-

playing games (RPGs); and Black & White (2001 Lionhead) designed by

Peter Molyneux. Black & White is one of the more impressive games in

the form to date; the player, inthe role of a god, must attempt to convert

ordinary villagers into worshippers, but can choose to be good, evil, or

somewhere in between. Arguably, however, the sequel—Black & White 2

(2005 Lionhead) designed by Peter Molyneux and Ronald Millar—oers

a more playable approach to the same concept. Among the rare science

ction (sf) examples are the UK-created Startopia (2001 Mucky Foot

Productions) and Evil Genius (2004 Elixir Studios) designed by Demis

Hassabis and Sandro Sammarco, as well as the less-well-received US game

Outpost (1994 Sierra On-Line) designed by Bruce Balfour, in which the

player must manage the colonization of a new world aer the destruction

of Earth. While god games are relatively uncommon, the form remains

commercially and artistically signicant, a point amply demonstrated

by both Will Wright’s recent Spore (2008 Maxis) and Molyneux’s own

upcoming Godus.