Quickfacts
Developer:
SomaSim
Located in Chicago, Illinois
Founding date:
April 1, 2013
Website:
www.somasim.com
Social:
twitter.com/somasim_games
facebook.com/somasimgames
Press/Business Contact
[email protected]
Titles:
Project Highrise, 1849, 1849: Nevada Silver
About SomaSim
SomaSim was founded in 2013 by industry veteran Robert Zubek to create simulation games. The studio’s first game, 1849, a city management game set during the California Gold Rush, was released in May of 2014. The next game, Project Highrise, a skyscraper simulation game, is currently in development with release anticipated late summer 2016.
Click here for more about the studio founders.
Projects
Project Highrise
Project Highrise is a skyscraper construction and management sim.
Your job as the architect and developer is to build world-famous skyscrapers that will be the envy of the entire city, masterpieces of art and engineering. But a skyscraper is more than just steel and glass, it’s an intricate ecosystem, full of people that live and work in the building. They become a complex machine that needs your steady hand to keep it running smoothly and efficiently.
From the moment you break ground, every decision rests with you. As the architect you must coordinate the construction of everything – every wall and wire, every office and apartment. As the building owner you must keep your tenants happy – and paying rent on time. As a savvy developer you must keep an eye on the bottom line and invest in the future. Succeed and you will reap the rewards of a prestigious address where everyone will clamour to live and work. Fail and you will watch tenants leave in disgust, taking their business elsewhere and leaving your reputation in tatters.
Will you create an exclusive office high-rise that attracts business leaders from around the world? Will you construct luxury apartments in the sky, penthouses for the elite and playgrounds for the famous? Perhaps greed will get the better of you and you’ll build a tenement building that trades tenant happiness for loads of cash? All these choices and more are yours. Success is entirely in your hands.
1849
1849 is a city management game for tablets and PCs, set in the California Gold Rush. With all of the peril and possibility of the new frontier, 1849 challenges players to build a thriving mining empire in 19th century California. The game contains 20 campaign scenarios that trace the development of the Gold Rush throughout northern California, from mining camps in the High Sierra to the bustling city of San Francisco. Each scenario map will challenge players with a unique set of starting conditions, victory goals, and obstacle events.
A player’s task in 1849 is to build towns, populate them with workers, and then make sure that those workers are housed, fed, and entertained. Players manage and coordinate extensive production networks to supply workers with their daily requirements, and engage in trade with nearby towns. 1849 has over 50 resources that players can dig up, farm, refine or manufacture as they build more and more complex towns and cities.
The 1849: Nevada Silver expansion pack carries the simulation into neighboring Nevada, presenting players with six challenging new scenarios set ten years after the Gold Rush. With trains moving goods between distant cities, steam-powered mills boosting production, and more complex mining processes yielding deeply hidden riches, Nevada Silver expands on 1849’s addictive gameplay to provide even more challenge on a bustling new frontier.
Videos
Images
Additional screenshots and images available upon request.
Logos
If you’re looking for a specific size or format, please contact us!
Selected Articles
Project Highrise
- Project Highrise Preview
– Andrew Duncan, GameGrin, 7-5-16 - A CHAT WITH SOMASIM ABOUT ‘PROJECT HIGHRISE’
– Michael Riser, GoombaStomp, 7-27-16 - Project Highrise Aims To Be A Modern SimTower
– Graham Smith, Rock Paper Shotgun 4-29-16 - Interview: Matt Viglione on Project Highrise, a tower sim for the modern gamer
– Lena LeRay, indiegames.com 7-5-15
1849
- 1849 DEPICTS CALIFORNIA’S GROWTH DURING THE GOLD RUSH, BUT OMITS ONE THING
– Chris Priestman, KillScreen Daily, 5-22-14 - Travel back to 1849 and help build towns in the California gold rush
– Lena LeRay, IndieGames.com, 5-19-14 - 1849: Nuggets of Promise
– Jon Mundy, PocketGamer, 5-15-14 - PC review: ‘1849’ by SomaSim
– Simeon Cortezano, Examiner.com, 5-15-14 - Review of 1849
– Joel, Dark Station, 5-14-14 - New video game ‘1849’ mines California – and Sacramento’s – past
– Anthony Siino, Sacramento Bee, 5-7-14
- Preview: Strike Gold In Old West City Sim 1849
– Chloi Rad, IndieStatik, 4-17-14 - The Lighthouse Customer: 1849
– Christopher Livingston, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, 3-31-14 - Preview: 1849: A New Nostalgic Game!
– EMILYISBACH, Nerdy-But-Flirty, 3-4-14 - Howdy partner! Here’s TVGB’s preview of 1849!
– Noe Ponce, That Videogame Blog, 3-1-14 - A Swearengen Engine: 1849 is a proper city-builder for iPad & Android
– Owen Faraday, Pocket Tactics, 2-24-14 - Preview: 1849
ggsgamer.com, Alice Bell, 2-24-14 - Hands-on with 1849: A challenging city-building sim worth panning for gold
– Chris Priestman, PocketGamer, 2-21-14
Game Development
- Four AAA veterans share their transition to independence
– Kris Ligman, Gamasutra, 11-5-13 - Going Indie: “I’m more scared of staying in AAA right now”
– James Brightman, GamesIndustry.biz, 10-28-13 - What’s Next? The evolution of ‘social games‘
– Patrick Miller, Gamasutra, 10-1-2013
Videos, twitch and Podcasts
- Game Design Critique – Project Highrise with William Chy
5-6-16 - Rob’s Interview/Podcast on The Chicago Gametrepreneur Show
2-6-15 - A playlist with a video for every scenario in the game. In German.
Schwaben Boy LetsPlays mit Herz - 1849 – City Management Simulation Gold Rush Era – Gameplay/Review
BrbteabreakTV, 3-4-14 - Heads Up: 1849 [Preview]
Halfbeard’s HUD, 3-3-14 - Matt and Rob interviewed by IndieGameStand’s Matt Cangialosi
twitchtv, recorded live on 3-3-14 (Audio issue during the first few minutes of broadcast. There is sound!)
SomaSim Team and Collaborators
Robert Zubek,
SomaSim Cofounder
Matthew Viglione,
SomaSim Cofounder
Eddie Einikis,
Concept and 2D Artist
Kevin Paskowski,
UI Collaborator
Brian Block,
Composer and Sound Effects (Project Highrise)