Populous™: The Beginning

You build settlements of huts that you occupy with settlers with, simple defenses, but the key fun is how magic may be used to manipulate the world to access previously inaccessible areas or cut off enemies from resources/access or just unleash destruction. One of the funnest experiences is using magic to create land bridges so your enemies no longer prioritise you and start to invade each other whilst you build an army of fire shooting balloons or set off a volcano in one of their bases. The missions have varied objectives, threats and opportunities and enemy spellcasters are a real danger.

Finally found this gem. Used to play the demo version as a kid. Runs smooth with Porting Kit on my macbook. 5/5

Many years ago, as a child I remember playing a three level demo. Ever since then, its become ingrained in my memory. The musical score is chill, as is the game. And the sprite work on a three dimensional world is delightful as well. I love the stylistic presentation. Some controls are outdated still, but it is still quite delightful. Love it.

I played this Game when it came out, it is just as good as i remember, im pleased to find that it isnt just nostalgia or rose colored glasses, this game actually holds up.

This was the first PC game I bought for myself when I was in junior high (somewhere between '02 and '04). I got it from a local game store for about $2. I thought "Well, if it's a bad game, at least its only $2!" I can't tell you how many hours I have spent playing this. It's 2025, and I'm still playing.