Another friend entered the inescapable vortex of World of Warcraft on the weekend, and I’ve been doing everything in my power to resist for reasons unknown even to me at this point. To that end I reinstalled Sim City 4, which in my mind is just as addictive, though not exactly an experience that can be shared by all.

Our new apartment has a great view of the city, and during a short break in play I took a look out of the window and felt like I was gazing into a thousand mirrors reflecting back on each other. Indeed, the burgeoning metropolis sprawled out on my monitor was not entirely different from the houses and buildings around me, and for an instant I had one of those episodes where reality and gamespace were indistinguishable.