Way back in 1989 there was no such thing as a 'God game'. Then along came Populous from relative newcomers Bullfrog, headed up by Peter Molyneux. Pete and chums had an idea for a game in which you played the role of a divine being trying to become more popular than the game's other divine beings, by caring for and nurturing a tribe of loyal followers.

Not a lot of people know this, but Pete and chums used Lego to test out ideas for their fledgling project. There's a bit in the game, for example, where you can raise or lower the world's water levels - handy for wiping out enemy coastal villages - and to simulate this, the young Bullfrogians would construct a Lego land and fill it with water. True story.

When it arrived in its computer form Populous obviously benefited from this early testing because the playing experience was superb. The game demonstrated not only the power of clever and thorough design but of the new-generation, 16bit machines.

A slew of add-ons followed which did mildly well before Power Monger gave the game a more combative edge and finally, several years later, Populous 2 rekindled everyone's interest in the genre. Populous 3: The Beginning has just been released for PlayStation and PC and a fine and splendid update of the basic model it's proved itself to be.

Peter Molyneux has since left Bullfrog and is currently working on his high-profile first game, Black and White, from new development house Lionhead Studios.