Maxis has been a weird company from the get-go, making unconventional games that have met with far too much success for conventional logic. Actually, it can't even be said that they make GAMES; the good folks at Maxis prefer to call their efforts "software toys," and this is the most accurate description I've yet to hear of any Maxis title. Their first title, SimCity, surprised me twice – once when it became a hit, and again a year later when I played it (reluctantly) for the first time and discovered WHY it became a hit. Since then Maxis has taken their software toy approach to a multitude of varied locales, ranging from extreme micro management (SimAnt) to monumental theaters of balance and experimentation (SimEarth). They've even tried their hands at a few things that DIDN'T require you to balance conflicting systems. (Okay, I admit it, I still love the free-form no-dexterity-required artistic playground of ElFish, even though I'm probably the only person in this hemisphere whose looked at the thing in the past year.) This time, Maxis has turned to third party developers for their new managerial toy, the English design team Intelligent Games. The result is SimIsle, a product that straddles the middle of Maxis's scope. What's bigger than a city but smaller than a planet? An island of course, dummy! This is the project that started life as SimRainforest, but went back to the drawing board when Maxis decided they could do better, and a creative second wind has breathed new life into this title.

	On the surface, SimIsle looks like a direct descendent of Maxis's mega-hit SimCity 2000. You view your property from an isometric 3D slant with three zoom levels; the farthest zoom setting allows you to view the entire island at a glance, while the tightest shot shows you all the minute detail of the landscape. At close zoom the graphics are rich and handsomely drawn with great attention to detail, much like SimCity 2000. That's about where the similarity ends, though. In SimCity your goal was clear-cut – build, expand, be as huge as you want. In SimIsle you'll still build, but how much? And where? And under what circumstances? These are some of the questions you will be faced with in this new toy. If first impressions are any indication, SimIsle proves that you don't need a planet-wide simulation to make the situation as complicated as you can stand it.

	SimIsle puts you in charge of a tropical island. Its warm location and abundance of natural resources make it a great location for business, and you'll quickly find that outside interests aren't exactly shy with the money they flash around. One problem – business, by its nature, uses up whatever it capitalizes on, and that's a goodly part of your challenge. You have to keep your efforts profitable, but at the same time you have a responsibility to protect the fragile ecosystem that is your island. 

	You perform actions through your agents. Depending on which scenario you choose to play, you are given a staff of agents with varying skills. Each agent has a biography which you can read through to decide which tasks are appropriate for which agent. Some agents are skilled builders, some are good with dealing with the native populations, some have valuable political connections. Making informed decisions about who to use for what is crucial to your success in SimIsle.

	As with most Maxis titles, you can play an open-ended freeform game, or you can challenge yourself with a host of included scenarios. Naturally, many of the scenarios will test your ability to deal with natural disasters and ecological calamities. In one such scenario, an oil tanker just off your island's coast pulls a Hazelwood/Gilligan and starts dumping its cargo into the sea. If you don't react quickly and intelligently, your coastline will be covered with black goo and dead birds, a sight the guests at your seaside hotels aren't likely to appreciate too awful much. On a lighter note, another scenario has you discovering that a near-extinct species is making a home for itself on your island; if you play your cards (and agents) right, you can setup an observation post and eventually establish a wildlife preserve that charges tourists to look at the cute furry things.

	From our sneak peak, SimIsle looks like a game Maxis fans will enjoy thoroughly. The graphics are appealing, the subject matter is timely, and it's got enough complex decision making to satisfy any Sim junkie out there. It also seems to be just the right size; may people were overwhelmed by SimEarth, but those same people should be able to deal with a small island. As always, look to IE for complete coverage of this promising toy as soon as a final version surfaces.