SimCity has long been the go-to game for aspiring city planners. But it's not just for crazy people; millions of adults have tinkered around in one of the many versions of this classic game series. I would always focus on getting high approval ratings, and I still wear my 97% citizen happiness rate as a badge of honor. My process was simple:

1. When citizens complain about something, listen very carefully

2. Study super hard to figure out the exact area where complaining people's homes were being affected

3. Bulldoze those homes

However, the traditional benchmark for performance has always been population. Traditionally, packing in 500,000 is considered "beating the game," although many experts like to push it to 1 million and beyond. Then, there's Vincent Oscala. He decided he wanted to build the biggest city allowed in SimCity 3000. Instead of grabbing his controller, he pulled out a pen-and-paper and started calculating:

In a parallel universe, video games were around at the same time as Albert Einstein, and he never achieved anything

Oscala spent years doing calculations before commencing construction on what became the biggest city in Sim City 3000 history. Every acre of the town is packed with bustling commerce, industrial, or residential zones. No space is wasted with sub-tier buildings. There is no crime. All of the resources are brought in for neighboring cities, eliminating the need for space-consuming utilities plants. There are zero roads, relying solely on mass transit.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that all this hasn't made life peachy-keen for the average citizen of Magnasanti. Unemployment skyrocketed, pollution hangs thick in the air, there chances of getting an education are abysma thanks to minimal schools. Oh, and forget about hurting yourself, because there are no fire nor emergency services.



In the end, Oscala racked up over 6 million people. People whose life expectancy is 50, but hey they aren't real, right?

... Right??

