Age of Empires. Startopia. Dungeon Keeper. Sim City. (To a degree, the Sims.) I loved these games.
Harvest Moon for the DS confused me. I've never played Civilisation.
Currently playing: WoW, Bully, Okami, Dead Rising. On the pile, Tomb Raider, Anniversary. Rule of Rose. (Ahem). No resource-management games!
I need a new resource-management game. Something a bit more thoughtful than Rollercoaster Tycoon, something as addictive as Startopia or Dungeon Keeper.
Got any suggestions?
uhm, galactic civilizations? theres that whole range of caesar/pharoah games.
How about dwarf fortress? i've been tempted to play that lately.
Posted by: bigwig | July 17, 2007 at 03:27
Never... played... Civilization? Huh?
"I love this German classical music -- Hummel, Raff, Karl von Dittersdorf! I hear there's some guy named Beethoven, anybody know anything about him?"
Posted by: Allen Varney | July 17, 2007 at 05:21
Heheh, I know. I maxed out so much on the AoE set that I thought maybe it was all much of a muchness. I was hoping for something a bit different, too - warfare is okay, but I do love aliens/demons/buildings.
But I do realise I'm missing out on a classic.
Posted by: Alice | July 17, 2007 at 06:01
I love resource-management as well, although my tastes tend towards real-time strategy and combat games: Company of Heroes, C&C3, even Advance Wars DS when I'm in for something a bit older and more portable. Something more thoughtful though...perhaps Overlord?
Posted by: James | July 17, 2007 at 07:42
If you haven't played Civilization then pick it up! I haven't played the most recent one, but its predecessor kept me at bay for hours.
Posted by: Hio | July 17, 2007 at 13:33
It's not pure resource management, but Overlord is looking to be my next purchase - sort of DK meets Pikmin.
Posted by: Seb Potter | July 17, 2007 at 13:34
It's not new, but if you never got a chance to play it, you owe it to yourself to play Evil Genius. Loaded with style, it's pretty much Dungeon Keeper, except that you're a James Bond-ian-type arch criminal. It's insane amounts of fun, but it's the style that really puts the game over the top.
Posted by: Rob Stevens | July 17, 2007 at 15:34
Overlord is more pikmin than dungeon keeper - the only resource you really manage are your minions, but it's GOBS of fun.
Posted by: jmojo | July 17, 2007 at 16:23
Evil Genius really was quite good. Didn't keep me interested long, but worth checking out. I'm sure there's a demo available somewhere.
Posted by: Michiel Kemeling | July 17, 2007 at 23:39
Stronghold (1 and Crusaders) was a great mix of micromanagement (à la Settlers) and strategy.
City Life was an interesting variation on the SimCity concept, and had some ideas close to SimCity Societies (obviously). It isn't That great, for some reasons, but still nice (and cheap!).
Theme Hospital is an oldie, but maybe the funniest i've ever played. It also gets a bit boring after a while.
Galactic Civilization is great too ! But, like Civilization, it's more about macromanagement than micromanagement.
Voilà !
Posted by: yhancik | July 18, 2007 at 14:14
Go out and buy the Starcaft / Starcraft: Brood War set. Certainly one of the best RTS / resource management games I've ever played.
Posted by: Josh | July 18, 2007 at 14:50
If you can stand roguelike 'graphics', there's this incredible freeware game called Dwarf Fortress.
It's all strategy... it's like Dungeon Keeper crossed with The Sims.
You mine stone and ore, you cut down trees, you build workshops to make goods, and it's all tied together to make a healthy fortress.
Then the goblins attack...
the depth is this game is astounding...
It's still in alpha:
http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/
Posted by: Cibbuano | July 19, 2007 at 00:43
http://www.travian.com/ is pretty good, addictive and very slow :)
Posted by: TJ | July 19, 2007 at 05:16
Civ IV. Go get it. Now.
Posted by: Tom | July 19, 2007 at 21:15
Too late - I got Overlord coming!
Thanks for all the great suggestions :)
Posted by: Alice | July 19, 2007 at 21:47
Let me know if you like Overlord. I played the demo and, while it was fun, couldn't figure out how long the minion-controlling fun might last past the first hour.
It also seemed quite linear, but I wasn't sure if it was just because I was playing the tutorial-style part at the start.
Posted by: Trevor | July 21, 2007 at 16:24
Anno 1701. I played the US version till 2 AM or so, and I am usually very picky with games.
Posted by: Jurie Horneman | July 27, 2007 at 09:13
Thanks for this post; I've been looking for the exact same kind of game.
Startopia and Dungeon Keeper (1 and 2) are favorites of mine. In fact, I just reloaded and replayed Startopia a few months ago.
For anyone else like me who is looking for games like this, I also recommend Command & Conquer. I'm not sure if the last version, "Generals," or the most current version, C&C 3, is my favorite - but both are hours and hours of fun.
Posted by: Delaney | August 08, 2007 at 15:07
thanks for all the great suggestions
by the way i love travian. i guess it has many fans.its recently becoming very popular.
Posted by: Travian lover | February 28, 2008 at 19:34
Nice list, I've never played Evil Genius or Startopia, so am off to acquire them now - looking forward to hours of play. Cheers all!
Posted by: MadMike | October 09, 2009 at 04:52