Maxis has done it again
Hi my name is Janette, and I am about to be 37, and I really, really, really ardently love simulation games.
Let's see: it all started when my step brother showed me Sim Ant. In Sim Ant, you play a colony of ants trying to drive the humans out of the house. Then I moved on to Sim Life where I created a whale butterfly I couldn't keep alive. Then came Theme Park where I got to run an amusement park: a secret dream of my childhood. Next, there was Afterlife where I got to design Heaven and Hell. Then, Roller Coaster Tycoon hit the market. Oh my goodness. I got to design a park and roller coasters. These roller coaster could be designed in three dimensions going underground zigzag through mountains. I played this game exclusively for six years.
I went cold turkey when my son was born for about 3 years. Of course, when I finally got a moment alone a year after Hannah was born and I had help with nursing, I booted up Roller Coaster Tycoon, and it had been waiting like an old friend: a world I could control and modify. I then proceeded to Zoo Tycoon. I had the patience now to deal with the animals and their various demands.
Then it was Sim City, I know I was late to this one. I was gatewayed in by a used cartridge for the Nintendo DS. Civic planning: that is actually a hard one to feel in control of. But it is a great challenge. I try to make everything public transportation oriented, low on pollution, with good hospitals and good funding for schools. It's really hard and I still have not succeeded completely with a positive cash flow.
So when I bought my new computer, I saw a box labelled Spore. It was only ten dollars and it was a module to a game to come. I thought 'What the heck'. It was cute. The actual game has hit the market and, as a surprise, Robert bought it for me. Oh my goodness. I'm so hooked it is not even funny. So the premise is you start out as a single cell organism and work towards mutation and evolution to a become a sentient life form to create societies and I believe colonize other planets.
So my first creature is in the hunting-gathering stage.
--Mom
