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Today I Played: SimCity

Chris Plante co-founded Polygon in 2012 and is now editor-in-chief. He co-hosts The Besties, is a board member of the Frida Cinema, and created NYU’s first games journalism course.

I always thought of SimCity as a peaceful game; I was wrong.

I experimented with SimCity games during grade school, but I would hardly call myself a simulation gamer. If you've watched previous Today I Playeds, you might have noticed my affinity for action and adventures games. Yeah, I like smart, thoughtful, slow games, but I also love blowing stuff up.

I'm a simple man. Squeezing a button and being rewarded with streams of visual mayhem plays to my id. Simulations, they were usually too slow. I could play a simulation game for hours, weeks even, and still lose. I was trained on cheap gratification, and these games expected so much from me.

SimCity is a simulation for mouth-breathers like myself. Every click is rewarded with a snappy sound effect or orchestral trill. Neighborhoods and skyscrapers grow, collapse and regrow in minutes. And when I've had enough, a click of the mouse will unleash asteroids, twisters and fire-breathing monsters on my empire.

If you consider the number of people slaughtered by the detonating of a couple city blocks for commercial real estate, SimCity outdoes even the most ruthless shooter.

So, even if you aren't one for simulations, join me as I build and destroy Frushtickville in SimCity.

View more episodes of Today I Played here.

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