I first came across Sim Earth in one of those book club pamphlets that they send you in grade school. I was ten or eleven at the time, and this game was a hot item on the edutainment front. Fascination of manipulating a whole world captivated me.
This game is really what you make of it. It's completely open-ended with only a few challenges, such as terraforming Mars or Venus. There are so many details to focus on that I found the game works best by setting your own goals and then trying to achieve them.
The user interface is incredibly well done, especially for the time period. All the menus are intuitive and clear as to what they are about. And creating your own world and watching it thrive is a pleasure comparable to few other gaming experiences in the long history of videogames. It is a shame more games have not taken such an original route. I think everyone should try this game at least once-- even if only to appreciate the complex forces that convene to make our world possible.
It's really not so easy to dissect a game such as this one into its parts without killing it. It really is a whole experience. The detail of the simulation is commendable. The wonder comes from the imagination
that it invokes as you play, tinker, and toil over countless little forgotten masterpiece planets. It is the kind of experience that one has as a six year old child assembling building blocks in wonder of what they can create.
You will certainly learn something from this game. Like other Sim games it is the zen-like private exploration of your own consciousness that this game often invokes that makes it wonderful. It is a rare gem if you can get passed the dated look and feel. Definitely one of the best Sim games ever to reach publication. But still there is always that nagging feeling that there could be more.
Ever since I've played this game, I've always wished that someone would come along and make a game like this all over again.
