Populous
Populous on the Amiga (screenshot)
Developer(s)Bullfrog
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Designer(s)Peter Molyneux
Platform(s)Acorn Archimedes, Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16, Game Boy, NEC PC-9801, SNES, Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Sharp X68000, Mac OS, Nintendo DS
ReleaseJune 5, 1989
Genre(s)Real-time strategy, God game
Mode(s)Single player, Two player


Populous is a computer game developed by Bullfrog in 1989 and is regarded by many as being the seminal god game. In 1991, Populous won the Origins Award for Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1990 as well as 1990 Computer Game of the Year in American video game magazine Video Games & Computer Entertainment. It was the first game in the Populous series. It preceded Populous II and Populous: The Beginning.

Synopsis

edit

In this game, first developed for the Amiga, Atari ST and PC, the player adopts the role of a deity and assumes the responsibility to shepherd people by direction, manipulation, and divine intervention. The player has the ability to shape the landscape and grow their civilization with the overall aim of having it conquer an enemy force, which is led by an opposing deity.