Sim City 2000 Is 20 Years Old And Free

Last year's SimCity was, in the end, pretty average. Its launch and the outright bullshit that EA span around it was a disaster, but the game was simply a quite disappointing entry in a formerly brilliant series. And I'd argue it was never any more brilliant than in Sim City 2000. Which makes it splendid news that just now, Sim City 2000 is free!

Free on Origin. Which, at this point, you might as well give up and accept. It and Uplay are obviously hideously put together pieces of infernal annoyance, but so long as you're never loopy enough to actually buy anything through their ludicrously over-priced stores, it's not endless torture to install to get free stuff. And Sim City 2000, while clearly readily available at bargain prices all over for many years, is not to be sniffed at.

The original Sim City was a brilliant thing, but is extremely clunky now. And obviously the series moved on in leaps and bounds, but 2000 remains the definitive entry for me. It's the one I played until the entire grid was arcologies, my Sims living in utter utopia.

At twenty years old (oh my aching linearity), you'll not be surprised to learn it's a little weary. And disappointingly, EA hasn't given it a technological overhaul for the release, instead popping it into DOSBox and hoping for the best. But it runs nicely here, and it's still such a pleasure to lay down those roads and water pipes. Hop over here for a copy.