A god game is a computer simulation game that casts the player in the position of controlling the game often on a large scale, as a entity with divine or supernatural powers or simply as a great leader, and places them in charge of a game setting containing autonomous mortals to guard and influence.

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.

The genre has drawn the interest of some of the best-known game designers in the world, including Sid Meier, Brian Reynolds, Bruce Shelley, Don Daglow, Peter Molyneux and Will Wright. Often this category provided the game that launched the designer's career.

Nature of god games

God games are characterized by gameplay in which the player makes optional interventions in the game world, for instance in the form of miracles or calamities, instead of being necessary for its continual progression. Unlike normal strategy games, the user does not directly control the simulated inhabitants ("sims") of the game world; as a god, the player can affect the world and influence its subjects but not directly control them: i.e. there is a minimum of "click-select-order" gameplay. With some exceptions, god games tend toward large scales, where the player controls or affects entire realms, continents or worlds, which are viewed from an elevated, aloft ("deity-like") perspective.

In Black & White, renowned for its innovative and experimental user interface, the user interacts with the world through the "Hand of God", that can move or form the world, or even grab villagers (typically a frightening experience for them). By performing physical miracles, the user earns worship in early stages of the game; mana that is earned from worship can in turn be used to perform miracles by gesturing arcane signs. The Sims, on the other hand has a more conventional interface where the user directs their sims' desires through HUD icons. In Populous the sims were directed by placing "papal magnets", which attracted them, as well as by offering revelations to selected subjects making them prophets and instruments of the user's will.

In god games, the game world is often comparatively self-sustaining and persistent. There have been assertions that any "game" without win and loss conditions should not be thought of a game by definition. Possibly the most famous of these was made by Will Wright, who prefers to call his creations software toys instead of games. Instances of such god games are Little Computer People, The Sims, and the upcoming Spore.

History

The first god game of the above described kind (large-scale, aloft-perspective) 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 placed in GameSpy's Video Game Hall of Fame.

Scope of god games

God games 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 the player controls only one or some very few simulated individuals, providing for and guiding their lives, while in some god games the user plays a godlike entity that controls entire continents or worlds. In Black & White, the player guides a nation of up to thousands.

City, nation, and world level god games, where the player manipulates tens to thousands of followers, include:

Utopia by Don Daglow, published by Mattel for Intellivision (1982)

Populous by Peter Molyneux at Bullfrog for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST (and later for other systems) (1989)

ActRaiser by Tomoyashi Miyazaki, published by Enix for SNES (1990)

SimEarth by Will Wright, published by Maxis for many systems (1990)

SimAnt, where the player controls an ant colony in a suburban backyard (1991)

SimLife, where the player controls the evolution of creatures (1992)

Black & White and Black & White 2 by Peter Molyneux, Ron Millar et al at Lionhead Studios and distributed by Electronic Arts (2001)

Evolution by Crossover Technologies, a simulation of species evolution

Viva Piñata by Rare, a simulation where players manage a garden to attract and mate piñata animals (2006)

Individual level god games, where the player manipulates one to a handful of creatures, include:

Little Computer People by David Crane, published by Activision for Apple II and Commodore 64 (1985)

Alter Ego by Peter J. Favaro, published by Activision for Apple II, PC and Commodore 64 (1986)

Dungeon Keeper and Dungeon Keeper 2

Doshin the Giant series (1999)

Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim (2000)

Spore by Will Wright (yet to be released) has been advertised as providing elements of both these variations.

Related genres

Sibling genres to and sometimes mutually mixed up with god games include city-building games, like SimCity, and economic simulations, like Railroad Tycoon and other Tycoon games. The chief difference is that in such games the player normally has no supernatural abilities to influence the world or its inhabitants. 4X games like the Civilization series might be thought of akin to god games in that they oversee and declare the development of a nation or species over the course of a few millennia.