Populous cover

Genesis1990Plays in your browser

Populous

Download 512 KB

Free to play. No install, no account.

Play now edition USA

Game dossier

THE ESSENTIALS
System
Genesis
Year
1990
Developer
Bullfrog
Your forever threeDoes this game make the cut?Pick this game

Android app Beta 7

Your next level.

Retro Passport + XP · Time Warp · Lucky spin

Free forever. No ads†.

Passport is optional; account required. Guests can preview.

Get Beta 7 free

Inside the game

Populous on Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
Populous Sega Genesis / Mega Drive

Download

USA Game file (.md) 512 KB Download

Report an issue with this game

About Populous

You play a god, gaming against other gods in a celestial game of conquest. To win, you must help your chosen people take over the world and wipe out the vermin who worship that other god.

Each god starts out with a single human, dumped into the middle of the wilderness. Sometimes there is inhabitable land in sight, sometimes not. To get win, you must change the landscape, creating flat land for your followers to build on. The more followers you have you have, the more powerful you will be, so take care of them. Build as fast as you can, because the other god is doing the same.

When you have enough followers, you can make the leader of your people into a hero. He will then go around the land you have built, literally taking strength from the people into himself, and working his way toward the enemy. When he gets there, he will engage in holy warfare upon your enemy's people. He will burn; he will kill. And he won't stop until they're all dead... or he is.

But you don't have to let your people have all the fun; the god's have other tools as well. You can drown your enemies one at a time with your land lowering powers. Submerge their towns in swamps. Raise a volcano in the middle of their best farmland. Even better, you can flood the land and drain all the people who didn't build on high-ground.

And when you win, you'll have 500 more worlds to conquer. A god's play is just never done.

Search gameplay videos on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sponsored by our hosting partner Your next world.
Starts here.
Web hosting, VPS & dedicated servers. Make room for what comes next. Explore hosting
Hosting donated to Back2OldGames

Player memories

Memories

Remember Populous? Share a memory or a tip for other players.

The next memory could be yours.

Sign in to leave a memory

Loading the memory card…