I remember a time in elementary school – somewhere around fourth grade – when the students in my class suddenly started attacking their school work with a new vigor and determination. But they weren’t gunning for an “A,” they were working hard just for the chance to jump on the class computer and play a new game: SimCity 2000.

Despite the name, this was in 1993. Although the kids clearly wanted to play because it was fun, looking back I can see why the teachers encouraged our obsession. In SimCity 2000 you’re asked to meet the demands of citizens, solve financial and infrastructure problems and take on a leadership role, however fictional it may be. The game’s lessons had a lot in common with our classroom lessons, only these were in bright shiny colors and had cool animation.

Over the last 14 odd years, the Sim vehicle has yielded several highly successful gaming titles. Perhaps the only game series that has surpassed SimCity in popularity is The Sims, which in Tamagotchi-esque fashion allows players to nurture and build a virtual life for their digital avatar.

Courtesy of SimCity Societies

Waterside haven for the rich and famous or industrial powerhouse? Design and manage your own city in SimCity Societies.

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But some of SimCity’s developments have led the series astray. With SimCity 4 the game’s developer, Maxis, created a very detailed SimCity update. It would seem like a step forward, but in this case too much detail detracted from the overall enjoyment of the game.

SimCity Societies changes that.

Since it launched this past November, SimCity Societies has been taking virtual city building and digital development to a new level. You’re still responsible for solving urban problems like providing power to your city and attracting citizens, but you’re greeted with a much smoother process of ironing out the kinks.

Starting a city from scratch, you can choose from many types of terrain. Do you want a Vegas-like desert metropolis or a city nestled in lush green hills? The map sizes are all the same, but the opportunities for customization are endless.

One thing I lacking in this new version is the true grid system for placing buildings. Having the grid system enabled players in previous editions to know precisely how each building would sit once built and to calculate the exact distances between different landmarks. This was handy when trying to balance the right amount of commercial businesses with residential communities.

In SimCity Societies gamers are asked to perform the inexact science of just spacing buildings out as best as they can, sometimes making city blocks different lengths, and making a pain out of reconciling one edge of your city with the other once you begin developing the guts of your town.

In the long run, that's really not such a big deal, though. What the game lacks in convenience it makes up for in customization.

Courtesy of SimCity Societies

Can a video game by educational and entertaining? The SimCity folks sure think so.

Gamers can create cities that pay homage to romantic Victorian style, sprawl with gloomy pollution and industry or spring up as a glitzy capitalist playground. Shaping your own city for a similar affect starts with choosing the individual buildings and deciding which angle and direction they face.

One cool new feature of SimCity Societies is the role that pollution plays in developing your city. Taking a page from Al Gore’s book, this Sim version requires players to consider how pollution will result in climate change further down the road, rather than just framing it as a deterrent from people moving into and staying in your city.

SimCity Societies has kept the exciting, highly customizable aspects of prior games and dropped some of the more complicated, clunky aspects. It's comparable to SimCity 4 in terms of the overall quality, but allows gamers to have a lot more fun and do less technical thinking.

Overall, the game is a good time without big guns or fast cars, and it gives gaming junkies a chance to explore a bit of sociology, urban and environmental planning and politics without ever leaving the couch. Highbrow analysis aside, SimCity Societies is fully capable of sucking as many hours out of faithful Sim players as any previous incarnation. And ultimately, that’s the point.

Happy Gaming!