In the history of video game design, the work of William Ralph Wright (1960/1/20) has been incredibly influential. In university Wright studied architecture and mechanical engineering in the early 1980'.
After which who worked as a gamedeveloper at Brøderbund Software, where he made Raid on Bungeling Bay for the Commodore 64 (1984, later also ported to other platforms). At first glance this solo developed game (separate roles for game designer, game artist, developer, etc. didn't often exist at that time, not even at major software companies), where the player attacks enemy facilities by helicopter, doesn't seem relevant to Wright's later success. However, Wright noticed how he had more fun spending time in the level editor than playing the actual game. He wanted to expand upon the dynamics already there, like how the enemy expands and repairs its facilities and infrastructure to adapt to the actions of the player. This new project, initially named Micropolis, implemented ideas from urban/architecture theories from (amongst others) Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein and Jay Forrester. Finding a publisher for SimCity (Simulated City) proved to be difficult. They did not believe their was any intrest for a game without an explicit win and loose condition or goal. It didn't fit the conventions of what a game is expected to be. In 1987 Wright founded Maxis together with investor Jeff Braun to further develop and publish SimCity. When it released in 1989, it was an instant success, becoming one of the best selling titles of all time.
Since then Maxis developed many versions of SimCity for every thinkable computer platform from that time. It also saw the release sequels like Sim City 2000, SimCity 3000 and SimCity 4.
SimCity and other Maxis simulation games like SimEarth, SimLife and SimAnt where so different because they are about creation, not destruction. There is no agent representing the player in the game world. Instead it's played from a god perspective, only being able to influence the dynamics of the world indirectly. It is the playful presentation of what otherwise could be a dry simulation that I find very appealing about Will Wright's designs. I find these types of games very thought provoking and inspiring.