Populous on the Genesis is one of those games that makes you feel like an actual god—if that god had a weird obsession with tiny pixel people and rearranging hills. You start with a handful of followers, and your job is to terraform the land, raise or flatten terrain, and nudge your little worshippers into building villages while smiting the rival tribe with disasters. Lightning bolts, earthquakes, you name it.

It’s slower than modern strategy games, but there’s something weirdly satisfying about watching your civilization spread because you strategically placed a river just right. The AI isn’t pushover either—they’ll flood your valleys or drop volcanoes on you if you’re not careful. Definitely a relic of its time, but if you’re into old-school god games, this is where it all started.