Play Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods Online

Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods came out in 1991 for MS-DOS, developed by Bullfrog Productions. It was part of that wave of early 90s PC games that asked you to think in new ways, not just react. You don't control a character; you control the world itself, or at least a piece of it, from a distant, godlike perspective.

You play as a deity competing against other gods for the faith of mortal followers. Your main objective is to grow your population and destroy rival settlements. You do this by directly shaping the landscape, raising or lowering land to create defensible positions or flood enemy towns. You also cast spells, which range from helpful miracles like making a follower into a powerful hero to destructive acts like summoning volcanoes or tornadoes. The game is played across a series of isometric maps, and the pacing is deliberate, almost chess-like, as you manage your power and wait for the right moment to strike. It feels like a puzzle where the pieces are land and people, and your only tools are divine wrath and a little patience.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".