A strange little side quest
Put The Treasures of Montezuma next to the history of simulation games and a few unexpected connections appear. 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. Another piece of context lands nicely beside it: Nintendo's Donkey Kong arrived in 1981 and introduced the character first known as Jumpman, who later became Mario. The details change, but the appeal of learning a system and trying again is remarkably persistent.
