In the mid-1980s, game designer Will Wright had a unique idea to create a game where players could build their own digital city and tweak it as needed to keep it healthy. When no publishers were willing to fund his idea, he founded his own company, Maxis, and released SimCity in 1989. The game became a huge success and inspired a generation of urban designers.
However, a closer look at SimCity reveals that it may not be as realistic as it seems. The game was inspired by urban planning models created by engineer Jay Forrester, who had libertarian political leanings. His models suggested that most regulations have negative effects on cities and advocated for free market solutions. While some cities embraced these ideas, most real-world experiments based on Forrester’s models were failures.
SimCity, despite its playful design, was taken seriously by some as a scientific program. It even influenced real-world events, such as a mayoral race in Providence, Rhode Island, where a SimCity competition was held between candidates. Business consultants also approached Wright to create industry-specific games for training purposes.
SimCity’s influence extended to the healthcare sector, with the creation of SimHealth, a hospital-management simulator. The game had a clear ideological bias towards libertarianism and often led players to adopt extreme policies that left virtual citizens without health coverage. The game was criticized for containing misinformation and failing to provide a realistic portrayal of the complex healthcare system.
While simulations like SimCity can offer new perspectives and insights, they are ultimately limited by the assumptions of their creators. Games can be useful for reimagining society and experimenting with social structures, but they should not be mistaken for accurate representations of reality. The illusion of control in games like SimCity serves as a reminder that true agency and governance are more complex and nuanced than they appear in a virtual world.
