SimCity Societies

Title
Developer
Publisher
Genre
ESRB Rating
Demo Release Date
Full Release Date
Platforms
Official Website
Demo Download Size
Review Date

SimCity Societies
Tilted Mill Entertainment
Electronic Arts
Building Sim
Everybody 10+
12th June 2008
13th November 2007 Buy Now
PC (Reviewed)
http://simcitysocieties.ea.com
791MB
8th July 2008

What did I think before playing?
I knew this game was developed by a third party rather than Maxis and thought this was a casual version of SimCity, perhaps with more focus on the Sims themselves more than the building aspects.

What is included?
A tutorial level that then leaves you to carry on playing. I think the catalog of items you can build is slimmed down, but I can't be sure.

What did I think afterwards?
My guess at what this title would be sounds pretty accurate, but it came across in a slightly different way to what I had imagined. The game plays roughly like the previous versions of SimCity, but with certain aspects simplified such as not needing to connect power stations to your buildings, or even build them nearby. But then other things are complicated, such as having to satisfy your residents' Creativity, Spirituality and similar stats. The buildings you have to choose from have more of a cost or payback for each of these stats and you unlock more choices by hitting certain levels in those categories. You have to keep your population entertained and make sure they have jobs. All of this goes round in a cycle as you grow your society.
Not much more to say other than that. You are made to play through the tutorial which then leaves you to carry on building your city, seemingly until you get bored. You cannot save your progress either.

Would I buy the full game?
Probably not. I would rather play a more technical version of SimCity, such as 4. The game is trying to appeal to casual players and existing SimCity fans. I think it leans more to the casual side but may not satisfy either completely. But that is down to my taste, while this demo itself is pretty good.

Demo Pros
Walked through the main points in playing the game then left to try it.

Demo Cons
Large download, late release, (I assume there must have been an earlier demo though, in which case it is a plus that they brought out a new demo to show off new content.)

Demo Rating 7 / 10

Thoughts after playing the full game?
If I play the full game I will put comments here about whether I feel the demo was representative of the final product and if I am happy with the purchase.

Sales Figures
If I can find sales information about a game after it has been released I'll add that here. It may be useful to track demos to sales performance.