Before Tiny Tower (and its rip off Dream Heights), there was SimTower, or The Tower, as it was known in Japan. Although Simtower was a different and more complex game from Tiny Tower, its goal was the same: build a huge skyscraper, and satisfy the needs to the tenants within. Your eventually objective is to make your tower a 5-star building. SimTower wasn’t developed by Maxis, but rather, it was published by a Japanese company called OpenBook (now renamed Vivarium Inc). Ironically, developer Yoot Saito got into game development after playing SimCity, and The Tower was re-branded SimTower when Maxis released it in the US. As you progress in Sim Tower, you’ll be able to build everything from offices and apartments to restaurants, movie theaters, and hotels. From time to time, you’ll encounter various events in the building. For example, terrorists may call to inform you that there is a bomb in the building. The game was criticized for moving slow and not including much promotional materials, but it would be just as well received as many of Maxis’s other games. OpenBook/Vivarium would develop a sequel to SImTower, called Yoot Tower, and would eventually go on to develop the Dreamcast cult classic Seaman along with portable remakes and sequels to The Tower for the Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS. The original SimTower has been regulated to abandonware status, but hopefully it won’t be long before GOG or someone decided to pick it up for a release. If anything, this game could use a good remake.