Simmiland (PC) review "Sokpop Collective’s Simmiland (2018) sees players support a civilisation through godly intervention, tracking its development from emergence until its (nearly) unavoidable demise. Presenting a very concise, but rather chaotic take on the god game genre, Simmiland emphasises short, session-based play that provides scope for both a level of strategy, and inevitable entropy."

Sokpop Collective’s Simmiland (2018) sees players support a civilisation through godly intervention, tracking its development from emergence until its (nearly) unavoidable demise. Presenting a very concise, but rather chaotic take on the god game genre, Simmiland emphasises short, session-based play that provides scope for both a level of strategy, and inevitable entropy.

Simmiland’s gameplay involves players utilising various cards to directly or indirectly interact with a budding civilisation on randomly generated maps. The core gameplay loop involves players selecting and using these cards on the environment, aiming to support and nurture a budding civilisation. Each card has a ‘faith’ cost, which acts as the key resource for the player, and introduces a certain level of challenge through opportunity cost. Disaster lurks at every corner, as the world’s inhabitants may starve, freeze, burn, or be killed by any number of the numerous plants, creatures and weather events that populate the gameworld.

Different cards have different use cases, but in general involve placing/destroying resources or creatures, or adjusting climactic conditions in a specific area. From this modest toolset players can craft a habitat for their civilisation, providing food-giving plants/creatures, resources for building through trees and mineral deposits, and numerous niche resources such as medicinal plants, or resources for further processing.

A few additional cards provide more niche—but potentially more useful—interactions with the world. Of these additional cards, the ‘Discover’ card is potentially the most important; this card enables the player to prompt their civilisation to ‘discover’ certain ideas or technologies by using it on specific items at specific points. For example, using the card on a dangerous plant may enable the NPCs to avoid that plant, while using it on a wild chicken may enable them to learn the principle of domestication.

At first the game is quite challenging, as it does not provide much direct instruction, instead demanding players experiment and discover ways to play by themselves. Luckily, the concise nature of sessions means that having your civilisation die out is not necessarily an undesirable outcome, instead it is a chance to start a new experiment.

The reactive nature of the gameworld, and the variety of cards, technologies and outcomes available provide Simmiland with significant potential for emergent play. Through resource placement, directed discoveries, and luck, the player can guide their world towards specific outcomes and styles, providing scope for replayability, as each playthrough offers a chance for a different (if consistently chaotic) experience.

Despite this, Simmiland is not without its gripes. While god games often explore tensions between direct and indirect control on the world of the game, Simmiland in some ways risks curtailing the agency of the player at a detriment to experience. For example, it’s possible to consider and plan out resource placement, knowledge and similar, only to have the NPC inhabitants completely ignore it, rendering the effort largely futile.

Similarly, Simmiland restricts certain technologies/ideas behind certain civilisation types, meaning that if your civilisation develops in a certain way, it restricts how you can meaningfully interact with the world. This manifests dramatically in the dichotomy between faithful and scientific civilisations, which force players to choose between having access to the full set of technologies and ideas built in, or having unlimited faith with which to play cards. While this could be attributed to a balancing decision, it detrimentally affects the feeling of playing the game.

Finally, there is sometimes a lack of clarity around certain NPC requests, and certain requirements for emergent game elements—such as specific biomes—which can frustratingly hinder progress. For example, the process of establishing a jungle is unclear at first, and can often be finnicky in practice.

This combination of relatively opaque requirements, a lack of agency, and sometimes frustrating stifling systems means that while Simmiland offers significant potential for emergent play, it never quite feels like this potential is fully realised. This isn’t a significant issue as such, but over time is consistent enough to somewhat dampen the experience.

That being said, Simmiland shines in numerous ways. Like many of Sokpop’s offerings, the visual style and wider creative direction of Simmiland offers a prominent strength of the game. The simple, yet interesting and consistent visuals are readable, engaging, and communicate key information without feeling cluttered.

Simultaneously, Simmiland’s sense of whimsy provides an approachable context that prioritises fun and playfulness above all else. Applied to a game which seems to attract chaos at every turn, this ensures that failure rarely leads to frustration, enabling a smooth gameplay experience, even in situations where a specific session may not pan out as intended.

While not perfect, the quirkiness of the game, coupled with its low-stakes structure and concise playtime means that Simmiland offers a concise, but utterly rambunctious take on god games. If you’re in search of a deep experience offering the feeling of heavy agency and strategic godliness, this probably isn’t the game for you. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what it would be like to be a petty and capricious god in a world of chaos, then it absolutely is.

Community review by cjdh (December 29, 2025) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.