# SimCity 4

7 Hacker News commenters recommended SimCity 4 and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Deep, long-lasting city simulation that people still replay for its micromanagement and scope; the interface is often called dated and cluttered.

## Why people recommend it

- Timeless, still impressive for its age (2 comments): "Both are timeless and I still play them a few times a year." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48294794)) "Pretty impressive for a game released in 2003" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48304090))
- Deep micromanagement and large scope (2 comments): "I really like the sweaty micromanagement and bigger scope of 4" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48298424)) "Another reason SimCity 4 is still be best one of these to be made." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49945994))

## What people warn about

- Dated, cluttered interface (1 comments): "Four Squares in a Grid Button > All Apps > EA Games > Sim City 4 describes crap I'm clicking on in the UI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48592715))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [SimCity 3000](https://hackerapproved.com/p/simcity-3000.md): 23 recommend
- [SimCity 2000](https://hackerapproved.com/p/simcity-2000.md): 20 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

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=SimCity+4+Deluxe+Edition+EA&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "SimCity 4", https://hackerapproved.com/p/simcity-4/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).