God game
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A god game is an artificial life game[1] that casts the player in the position of controlling the game on a large scale, as an entity with divine and supernatural powers, as a great leader, or with no specified character (as in Spore), and places them in charge of a game setting containing autonomous characters to guard and influence.
Definition
God games are a subgenre of
Game design
God games allow players to take on the role of a god with limited powers, similar to the gods from the
God games are classified as a subgenre of artificial life game because players tend to a population of simulated people that they control only indirectly. Although god games share qualities with both
History
Although there are many influences on the god game genre, the first god game is widely considered to be Populous from 1989.[3][4][5] Developed by Peter Molyneux of Bullfrog Productions,[4] the game established the gameplay template where the player's godlike powers would grow in proportion to the population of their worshippers.[5] The game gives players supernatural powers over land and nature that could be used for good or evil,[4] and some of this gameplay was emulated by other real-time strategy games with more direct control.[5] Notable hybrids of the genre include ActRaiser for the Super NES in 1990.[6] It was also an influence on the real-time strategy hybrid Dungeon Keeper,[5] developed by Molyneux in 1997.[7]
Both Molyneux's Black & White and Godus were heavily influenced by the Populous series.[8][9]
References
- ^ a b c d Rollings, Andrew; Ernest Adams (2006). Fundamentals of Game Design. Prentice Hall. Archived from the original on 2017-12-31. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
- ^ "The Next Generation 1996 Lexicon A to Z: God game". Next Generation. No. 15. March 1996. p. 34.
- ^ Edge Staff (2007-11-01). "50 Greatest Game Design Innovations". Edge. Archived from the original on 2010-09-24. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ a b c "IGN Hall of Fame: Populous". IGN. 2008. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04.
- ^ a b c d Ernest Adams (2008). "What's Next for God Games". Designer's Notebook.
- ^ Lucas M Thomas (2007-05-30). "ActRaiser VC Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2009-02-14. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
- ^ "Dungeon Keeper on PC". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
- ^ "Top 25 PC Games of All Time". IGN. 2000-07-24. Archived from the original on April 21, 2002.
- ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (2013-08-31). "Populous to Godus: The rubbish-filled road of Peter Molyneux". Polygon. Retrieved 2014-12-03.