Play Populous (Japan) on sega Online

Game Overview

Populous on the Sega Genesis is one of those games that makes you feel like an actual god—if gods had to micromanage tiny pixel people, anyway. You start with a handful of followers and a patch of land, and from there it’s all about terraforming, smiting enemies with disasters, and watching your little civilization grow (or collapse if you mess up).

At first, it’s a bit overwhelming—raising land, flattening hills, and dropping the occasional earthquake on rival villages. But once you get the hang of it, there’s something weirdly satisfying about shaping the world while your followers cheer (or panic) at your divine interventions. The AI doesn’t pull punches either—those rival gods will absolutely wreck you if you don’t expand fast enough.

It’s old-school tough, and the graphics are definitely of their time, but there’s a reason this game basically invented the god sim genre. Just don’t expect any hand-holding—your followers will starve, drown, or get crushed by rocks if you’re not careful.