Plethora of new games sure to please sims junkies

Oakland Tribune, Jan 9, 2004 by Sue Vorenberg - SCRIPPS-McCLACHY

BUILDERS and tinkerers, say goodbye to your social lives. The big, bizarre world of computer simulation games is growing wilder by the minute, and game addiction is just around the corner.

I thought things were getting strange when PC games like "Sim Ant" -- a build-your-own ant colony -- and "RollerCoaster Tycoon" -- a build-your-own theme park -- appeared on the heels of the first big sim game, "Sim City," in the 1990s.

I was wrong.

Things are much stranger now.

Game designers have come up with a vast cornucopia of weirdness to keep sim junkies glued to their monitors.

Check out these titles: "Monopoly Tycoon," in which you build a city out of monopoly lots; "Mall Tycoon 2," where you build your own mall and draw customers; "Big Biz Tycoon 2," in which you're a CEO and try to keep employees happy; and "Airport Tycoon 3," where you build and manage an airport.

Want to try your hand at lemonade stand management? Believe it or not, there are two games to help you out: "Lemonade Inc." and "Lemonade Tycoon."

Sad that all these tycoon games suck the money from your wallet rather than making you rich, but what can you do?

The "Tycoon" in many of the game names isn't even part of a tycoon franchise. Each game is made by a different company.

My new favorite in this choice-filled landscape is "Zoo Tycoon." It lets you build a simulated zoo with simulated animals, sea creatures and, just for the heck of it, dinosaurs.

It's even, dare I say, educational.

Building an exhibit is more than placing a fence and dropping a few critters inside. You have to build them a suitable habitat.

If you put grass in your rainforest dinosaur's cage, red angry faces start floating out of his head. Replace it with rain forest terrain, and yellow smiley faces float out instead.

As you build exhibits, you also have to build amenities for your guests and attractions that will bilk money from them and make them happy.

If that doesn't work, or you just get bored, you can always destroy a few sections of fence on your T-Rex cage and watch the carnage.

It's awfully satisfying to turn your unsatisfied guests into screaming dino food.

One for the adults -- and I stress, adults -- is "Casino Inc." It lets you explore the dark, seedy side of casino life. You can send cheats and hitmen to wreak havoc on your opponents as you build a gambling empire.

Out of all the sim games I've seen, this is the only one you should really keep the kids away from. The adult themes -- such as male and female, uh, companions -- are far too racy.

Another bit of family fun is "Space Colony." In this one, you get to build a space empire with the help of a group of space reject colonists -- most of whom don't like each other.

Of course, there are many more, and I suspect the list will keep growing as long as game designers keep coming up with new, screwy ideas.

Perhaps they'll even come up with a simulation game where you can make your own simulation games.

I think I'll go build a sim of myself and ask her what she thinks of that.