Play SimCity 4

Zone, tax, build a stadium and watch it burn; the city builder that defined the genre.

The 1989 original: lay down three kinds of zone, watch the traffic, then send a monster through it.

Build a house, fill eight need bars and steer a family through work and neighbours; the best-selling PC game.

Ageing, genetics and wants; the Sims sequel that gave them lives.

Build mode, mods and a decade of packs; the Sims of the 2010s.

One open neighbourhood with no loading screens, and Create-a-Style.

Build a park and lay a coaster track piece by piece; Chris Sawyer wrote almost all of it in assembly.

Salt the chips, water down the drinks and watch the queues; Bullfrog's management sim.