Play Populous (Japan) on gb Online

I remember picking up Populous on the Game Boy back in 1991, a portable version of the Bullfrog Productions god game. It was a strange and ambitious thing to see on that little green screen, a complex simulation squeezed into a handheld during a time when most games were simpler action or puzzle titles.

You play as a deity directly influencing the landscape, raising and lowering terrain to guide your followers toward enemy villages. The main goal is to outpopulate your rival god by strategically shaping the world. Key mechanics include tilting the land screen by screen to create paths or obstacles, using powers like earthquakes or floods to disrupt the opposition, and carefully managing your belief meter which fuels your abilities. The pacing is deliberate, almost methodical, requiring patience as your tiny worshippers slowly build and multiply. It feels surprisingly powerful to sculpt the earth itself from the palm of your hand.