Topic

Infrastructure

What everything runs on, noticed only when it fails.

5: in games
9:25: average
47 min: in total
280: across the network

Infrastructure across the network →

All briefs5

9:24

Final Fantasy XIV

Square Enix · 2013

Final Fantasy XIV (2013) is a subscription MMORPG rebuilt after failure. It runs on PlayStation 3 and Windows. Players choose a geolocated server and begin only as Disciples of War or Magic. Its UI unifies PC and console inputs. Translation enables basic cross-language communication. Crafting and gathering are locked at launch. The economy runs through market boards, not direct trade. It follows Final Fantasy XI (2002). It was developed by the Final Fantasy XI team using Crystal Tools.

10:09

Cities: Skylines

Colossal Order · 2015

Cities: Skylines is a systems-first city-builder where players manage zoning, infrastructure, taxation, and district-level regulations to grow a functional urban area. It rewards methodical planning and iterative adjustment—not storytelling, speed, or spectacle.

8:39

Factorio

Wube Software · 2016

Factorio is a factory simulation game developed and published by Czech studio Wube Software.

9:35

SimCity 2000

Maxis / Will Wright · 1993

SimCity 2000 replaces top-down abstraction with isometric spatial logic, adds elevation and underground layers, and expands infrastructure choice—but offers no deeper explanation of how its systems connect. It rewards experimentation, not mastery.

9:18

SimCity 3000

Maxis · 1999

SimCity 3000 refines the city simulation loop with decay, density, and deal-making — but never asks why the city exists, only how to keep its accounts balanced.