SimCity Societies

SimCity Societies is a spinoff of the famous PC series that significantly departed from the traditional emphasis on traffic, zoning, and detailed city economics. Instead of simulating dozens of interconnected variables, the player assembles a city by constructing buildings according to six social values - authority, creativity, prosperity, piety, knowledge, and vice - and the resulting character of each neighborhood and of the whole city arises from the combination of these influences. Instead of graphs of water or electricity supply, the game works more with the mood and appearance of the settlement, which makes it a much more accessible but also shallower experience.

Development was not handled by the traditional studio Maxis but by Tilted Mill Entertainment, known more for gentler city-building games like Caesar or Zeus, which led to a mixed reception among fans. Many reviews criticized the simplified simulation of traffic and economy and the lack of depth compared to SimCity 4, which was still considered the pinnacle of the genre on PC at the time. On the other hand, the game offered a faster pace, an easier entry point for new players, and the ability to build both fantastical and historically themed settings without having to study a complex manual.

EA also followed up with a standalone expansion pack adding more buildings and themes, showing that the publisher was betting on Societies as a longer-term offshoot of the series aimed at a broader, less simulation-focused audience than the classic SimCity entries.

For fans of the series at the time, this was a noticeable break from the established philosophy - instead of tuning traffic jams and budgets, the player focused on how the city looked and what mood it radiated, which put off quite a few of them, while others were drawn in precisely by this more relaxed, more creative approach to building.

Why play: A good choice for players who want to build and experiment with a city's look and atmosphere without having to deal with economic graphs and traffic models - a lighter alternative to classic SimCity, not a replacement for it.