Populous II on the Sega Genesis is one of those old-school god games where you shape the land and mess with tiny worshippers. You start off with this little patch of terrain and a handful of followers—then it’s all about raising mountains, flooding valleys, and dropping disasters on rival tribes. The pixelated chaos is weirdly satisfying, especially when you summon an earthquake and watch everything collapse.

It’s not as polished as modern strategy games, but there’s something charming about the way your followers cheer when you bless their crops or panic when a volcano erupts. The controls take a minute to get used to, but once you figure out the spells, it’s hard to stop terraforming just to see what happens. If you’re into retro god-sims, this one’s a classic for a reason.