Obscure Maxis sims, marred by political shenanigans...
Generally Maxis was in the business of creating, as Will Wright put it, digital toys, creations that did not have immediate goals on the player but allowed them to mess about with the world and the tools inside the games, creating your own scenarios, your own gameplay and your , well, narratives. That goes for Sim Ant, for Sim Earth, for The Sims and much more. However, Sim Health was marred as a game because it was used as a tool to advertise a, seemingly, nonprofit foundation, The Markle Foundation, and so, the game is more of an interactive advertorial than a proper game. Not that a game such as John Deere: American Farmer, which after all is still advertising for something (agricultural machinery) can't work, to give just an example (the above game is actually really fun and well designed), can't work, can't create an enticing experience, they sure can; however, when you make everything about the company you advertise and not the gamers' interactions palette and well, the fun experience to be had, then it all goes down the drain, which is what happened to Sim Health. But then again if you want a game that is both fun and educative, about the health realm, something like Laser Surgeon can be an option, one that doesn't do away with the player to just advertise some obscure company. So try this one out instead.
