Populous

Populous is a God Game, scratch that; Populus is the God Game. Designed in 1989 by Bullfrog (developers who also brought us Theme Park, Theme Hospital and Dungeon Keeper) under the leadership of a young Peter Molyneux (who later brought us Black and White). It saw the player taking the role of a deity that helped a primitive tribe of people into a powerful enemy to defeat the rival gods.

There are currently four main games in the series, plus a few expansions:
 * Populous (1989)
 * Populous: The Promised Lands (1989)
 * Populous: The Final Frontier (1989)
 * Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods (1991)
 * Populous II: The Challenge Games (?)
 * Populous: The Beginning (1998)
 * Populous: The Beginning - Undiscovered Worlds (1999)
 * Populous DS (2007)

Bullfrog was taken over by EA in 2007, in the era where EA had made a reputation for the Borg-like assimilation of studios they bought out, so it's highly unlikely another sequel will be made.


 * Bonus Stage: Complete the third game, and you can take part in an over-the-top straight-out battle called Armageddon.
 * Cheat Code: There's normally 500 levels, with the level names working as a password system. Entering "killuspal" (kill us, pal) as the password warps you to level 999, which is basically suicidal.
 * Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Provided one of your followers is left on the map you'll still survive. Just don't expect to survive for long.
 * G-Rated Sex: Two people walk into a house, and three people come out.
 * God Game: The first such to to be written, and as such the Ur Example.
 * A God is You: The Trope Maker.
 * Hide Your Children: They pop out of huts fully grown.
 * Isometric Projection
 * Terrain Sculpting: One of the Trope Makers for Video Games.