Powermonger is a real-time strategy video game developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts.
Originally released in 1990 for the Amiga and Atari ST, it was derived from the Populous engine but presented using a 3-dimensional game map.
Each person seems to have a mind of their own and will go about his or her job, fishing, farming, shepherding, collecting wood or making items without any input from the player.
The player can also use a query tool to view the name, sex, age, allegiance, vital stats, hometown and equipment of any given individual.
For example, if a large area is deforested, the weather pattern will change and more rain or snow (depending on the season) will fall, making movement slower.
Townspeople will occasionally make items but to speed things up the player can order an army to "invent" at a friendly town.
Reviewing the Amiga version, CGW favorably cited its graphics and realism, but criticized its unusually strict copy protection and the need to load a saved game twice to return to the previous state.
[7] Reviewing the Sega CD version, GamePro criticized the graphics, particularly its pixelated maps that can make it difficult to see in-game, but they gave the game an overall recommendation based on its slow-paced strategy gameplay.
[6] Electronic Gaming Monthly gave Powermonger an overall score of 6.6 out of 10 from five reviewers, who praised the high detail of the simulation.