The SimCity franchise is a truly ancient video game series. Ever since 1989, this series has been offering fans the opportunity to build and manage their very own metropolis. While the SimCity games have been prominent in their own right, they’ve left a truly indelible mark on the gaming industry due to the proliferation of the “Sim” title. The original Sims game started as a spinoff of SimCity, and with the landmark success of The Sims 4 and its countless expansions, that franchise has grown into its own unstoppable juggernaut. SimCity might not be quite as prominent as its offspring these days, but it’s not without its fans.
As revered as the franchise is, though, the 2013 game is something of a black mark on its legacy. This title, simply called SimCity, launched as an online-only game. This resulted in rampant technical issues on launch. The game is generally remembered as one of the most disastrous game launches in history. Extensive post-launch support from EA has done little to fix this reputation. That said, now that the game is playable, here’s what you need to know about putting together cities in this deeply controversial reboot.
SimCity Premise
©Screenshot from SimCity (2013) – License
As the name implies, the main goal of SimCity is to build a city. You can zone land for residential or commercial use, and connect to other cities through highways to trade resources. Dynamic elements like traffic and air pollution can be seen traveling through the environment. Cities can even pool their resources to create Great Works, for the benefit of all players involved. The game also features some finite resources. Like in real life, a community built on the exploitation of these resources will collapse when they run out. This encourages careful planning to ensure that your cities are not only prosperous but sustainable as well.
The game’s multiplayer was a big selling point before it launched, allowing multiple fans to build cities in the same region. Of course, this online functionality was a major cause of the game’s disastrous launch. Even players who had no interest in building cities online with their friends had to run the game online, causing even more stress on the servers. A subsequent patch has added an offline mode to alleviate this issue.
SimCity Titles In The Series
Before the 2013 game besmirched the SimCity legacy, it had a long line of titles for fans to enjoy. Each one brought something new to the city-building franchise, offering new options and tricks to enhance the building process. Now that this game’s internet problems have been managed, it is by all accounts a perfectly serviceable entry in the long-running building franchise. If you still want to avoid it, though, here’s a full list of every SimCity game that’s been released since 1989. Somewhere in this long list of games, you should be able to find the city management sim that’s right for you.
- SimCity (1989)
- SimCity 2000 (1993)
- SimCity 3000 (1999)
- SimCity 64 (2000)
- SimCity 4 (2003)
- SimCity 4: Rush Hour (2003)
- SimCity DS (2007)
- SimCity Societies (2007)
- SimCity DS 2 (2008)
- SimCity Creator (2008)
- SimCity Deluxe (2010)
- SimCity Social (2012)
- SimCity (2013)
- SimCity: Cities of Tomorrow (2013)
- SimCity: BuildIt (2014)
SimCity Cheat Codes
Like other games in the overarching Sims franchise, 2013’s SimCity does include a few keyboard cheats you can use to adjust the game in your favor. This list isn’t extensive, but it does have a few useful cheats to get you out of a bind. It’s worth noting, however, that these cheats only work in Sandbox mode. Assuming you’re in the right game mode, here is the full list of keyboard cheats available for you to use.
- Alt+W: Add $100,000 to your City Budget.
- Alt+F: Toggle fire on and off.
- Alt+C: Toggle crime on and off.
- Alt+M: Toggle health issues on and off.
- Alt+A: Toggle air pollution on and off.
- Alt+P: Toggle ground pollution on and off.
- Alt+H: Toggle homeless sims on and off.
- Alt+S: Toggle sewage on and off.
- Alt+G: Toggle garbage on and off.
- Left Shift + Control + C: Turn on the debug menu.
- Alt+U: Toggle futurization.
- Alt+N: Toggle infinite ControlNet.
- Control + Alt + W: Add $5,000 to your profit.
SimCity Cheats FAQ
Is SimCity still available? While the catastrophic launch of SimCity effectively killed off any hopes of the franchise getting a new entry, the game itself lives on. You can buy it from EA’s website now for about $20. As previously mentioned, post-launch support largely resolved the connectivity issues that contributed to the game’s terrible release. While its legacy will never be erased, the game is still available. For better or worse, it now stands as a significant piece of video game history.
What can I play SimCity on? Ever since the early days, SimCity has been a predominantly computer-focused series. The 2013 entry is no different. To date, you can only experience the game on a PC or Mac. The title’s failure at launch precluded any hopes of it ever getting ported to consoles.