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SimTower is a 1994 real-time strategy/simulation computer game (or "software toy"). Published by Maxis, it is a spin off game from the popular SimCity.
Description
SimTower was spun off shortly after the release of SimCity 2000. Although published by Maxis, the game was originally developed in Japan and its license was acquired by Maxis. In Japan, it was published under the name of Tower, and developed by Yoot Saito's company OpenBook.
A sequel to SimTower, Yoot Tower was also developed by OpenBook and was published by Sega in the U.S. in 1999.
A clone of SimTower for the PocketPC was released in 2004 under the name of Pocket Mogul.
Gameplay
As the name suggests, the objective is to construct and manage a towering skyscraper and keep its occupants happy. Offices, hotels, and condominiums give tenants places to live and work, while shops and restaurants provide commercial balance. Utilities such as hospitals and recycling centers become neccessary as the tower grows in size. The player's progress is based on a star system, similar to how hotels are ranked, with new stars awarded for meeting population milestones and other conditions. Population is measured by the number of individuals currently in the tower; many hotel rooms will cause population to soar during the night. As the tower's rating improves, more facilities can be built by the player. Like other Maxis games, gameplay is not designed linearly, and SimTower does not have a specific end point; however, the primary goal is a population of 5000, which rewards the player with a unique structure.
One of the key activities of the game is effectively managing and building elevators in order to allow occupants to move between floors efficiently. In fact, the original game was a program to test effective elevator layouts. Many users felt a more appropriate title for the game would have been SimElevator.
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