‘90s game teaches city planning

Anybody who’s ever taken a government class knows how complicated politics can be. We don’t need a computer game to tell us that.

However, one of my favorite games growing up was the 1999 game “Pharaoh.”

It’s one in a whole genre of “city building” games, which is exactly what it sounds like. I think “Pharaoh” sticks out because it’s actually at least semi-realistic.

You go through the ages of Egypt, growing the empire and building iconic monuments.

In many of these games, you’re purely building. You put up buildings and that’s the primary goal.

In “Pharaoh,” your goal is more complicated. You’re building a nation over multiple generations until you become the Pharaoh.

What does that mean? Well, simplistically, you need to build successful cities.

Step one? Make sure there’s food, water and shelter.

Your citizens don’t appear out of nowhere. If you’re not meeting those basic needs, there’s no city. Or if they do come, they’ll complain about not having enough food or access to water, which is definitely a problem in the desert.

Also, they won’t immigrate if there are no jobs for them. Some simple ones are to make sure there’s plenty of firehouses and architectural posts. Those both serve as jobs and ensure your buildings continue to exist.

You also need to have money, or Pharaoh will get mad and send soldiers to attack your city.

There are a couple different options there. Your people pay taxes, and actually get upset if you’re not taxing them.

You can also open trade routes with other cities and sell whatever your city produces.

Products can range from food and other agricultural goods, but also gems, clay, reeds, pottery, weapons, bricks and papyrus.

What if your city doesn’t have entertainment or is lacking beautification? Your citizens are upset again.

When your people are happy, they’ll upgrade housing and allow for more immigration without taking up more space.

Based on where your city is, there could be enemy tribes coming to pillage your city, which means you need a military.

Also, you can’t neglect the gods. In fact, if your city is dutiful to its deities, they’ll give you blessings like killing your enemies or increasing the field of your fields.

All that to say, the game is complicated. That isn’t to get into your ability to change the minimum wage, tax rates, send gifts to the Pharaoh, manage unemployment rates and construct monuments.

My point is that it’s a deceivingly complicated game. I actually pulled it out while taking an economics class in college to practice putting the principals into action.

I find most city building games frustrating because they’re simplistic, but “Pharaoh” has too much going on.

These are lessons anybody should know, especially those involved in politics.

If your city doesn’t have basic needs, health care, religious facilities, jobs, entertainment and gardens then you don’t have happy people.

Happy people make your civilization flourish.

City planning is complicated and messy with a lot of needs to account for, and unfortunately not everybody will be happy.

Sometimes, your people get mauled by hippopotamuses and there’s not anything you can do about it.

Michael Shine is a contributing writer for the Daily American Republic.