# SimCity 2000

20 Hacker News commenters recommended SimCity 2000 and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a fun, nostalgic city builder with engaging problems to solve. Critics say the simulation feels simplistic and the pipes frustrate.

## Why people recommend it

- Formative nostalgic favorite for many (4 comments): "One game that changed my life was SimCity 2000. It shaped how I think about building products" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46348651)) "SimCity 2000 and especially SimCity 4 had a huge impact on me growing up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47276632)) "after already having had a blast with Sim City 2000" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49738385))
- Complex simulation with interesting problems (2 comments): "It's so much more enjoyable because it's simply about playing a game where complex simulations put together interesting problems to solve." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45780922)) "it's probably considered one of the greatest games of the 90s" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49915604))
- Runs well on old Macs (2 comments): "I actually keep a Basilisk II System 7.5 Mac environment just so that I can play SC2k from time to time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48298093)) "Best balance of complexity IMO and ran pretty well on my old Mac" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48299217))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [SimCity 3000](https://hackerapproved.com/p/simcity-3000.md): 23 recommend
- [SimCity](https://hackerapproved.com/p/simcity.md): 20 recommend
- [Cities: Skylines](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cities-skylines.md): 20 recommend
- [Microlandia](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microlandia.md): 20 recommend
- [SimCity, but with Permits](https://hackerapproved.com/p/simcity-but-with-permits.md): 19 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "SimCity 2000", https://hackerapproved.com/p/simcity-2000/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).