The New Brutally Honest City Simulator

Most city-building games let players draw roads, place buildings, and watch a convincing skyline appear. Cristian Gonzalez kept noticing what was missing: homelessness, discrimination, parking, disconnected jobs, and the people who bear the cost when the economy turns. By leaving those things out, the games teach players to see cities as collections of buildings rather than places shaped by transportation, inequality, public services, and human behavior. His indie game Microlandia reverses the usual formula with cartoonish graphics and a demanding simulation that challenges the simplified logic of traditional city-builders, where growth often arrives without transportation constraints or social consequences. Microlandia gives players a place to test what happens when those tradeoffs enter the model and see how one decision reshapes the rest of the city.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Microlandia (Site)
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
• Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here.

 

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