A strange little side quest
The next time Mermaid Pet Shop asks for one more try, remember that game ideas rarely appear from nowhere. M.U.L.E. arrived in 1983 with multiplayer competition built around gathering resources and keeping a colony alive, an early example of resource-driven strategy play. There is another connection worth keeping in the same mental pocket: By the 1890s, department stores and mail-order catalogs were selling mass-produced ready-to-wear clothes in standardized styles and price ranges. That long chain of experiments is part of why simulation games still feels fresh when a game finds the right twist.
