Afterlife

I admit, as someone who is very new to city management games, I might not be the best person to give advice on which games are worth your time and money. But I've really grown to love Afterlife. It is the first city-type game I've ever played and it's what's made me become interested in trying out other entries in the genre. I also really think it stands out as a fun experience. Watching your afterlife grow over time is really satisfying, and is a great thing to do if you want something to relax to. Also the writing and music are really charming and help add to the experience.

I used to play this for HOURS way back when, so of course I'm going to play this again if I can.

Simcity old style. Heaven and Hell tematic. Here soul gives you money. Enjoy!!

The idea behind Afterlife is that it's supposed to be an afterlife for a simulated planet. I'm sure you readers could think of games to make distinct comparisons to. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to that, being hogtied to a single mechanic because the publisher wanted to sell strategy guides instead of games. It all lies in the soul rate, and expanding as quickly as you can. There's no real strategic zoning, and most ploppables can be placed arbitrarily. The thing is, the tutorials cover only the most basics, because anything more advanced was meant to sell a strategy guide.

This is a classic game and while the graphics are low-fi, that's to be expected given its age. Like other games of its era it did support the mouse so it's not too weird an experience for modern-day gamers. I took off a star because the game started stuttering and finally froze on me after an hour or so. I was playing on a Macbook Pro running MacOS Mojave. I was able to save before it froze solid. Also you can't "command-tab" out to your Mac desktop, so be prepared to save and quit if you need to do something else for a moment.