I would not call it a city builder unless you stretch this category to include games with no map at all. I'm not sure if this genre has a name but it's basically a turn based game with the state modeled as a fixed length vector of numbers which represent resources or dangers. The player interaction is also limited to inputting numbers which the game logic translates into deltas on the state vector.
There were lots of games like this, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugsy_(video_game). "How many boys do you want to send collecting payments for protection?", "Rival gangs are on the rise. How much money do you want to spend on guns?".
Yeah, it’s kind of like being a PID controller for a few interrelated variables in an unstable model. The never ending illusion of balance followed by inevitable triumph of chaos lol
I thought I was the only one who knew about Mugsy! Played it on my uncle's collection of old computers, sort of a private museum, long after the Spectrum's demise.
Something like that could actually be pretty cool today with some good AI: Lots of variables behind the scenes, but only a text interface, representing you interacting with your advisors etc.
> I thought I was the only one who knew about Mugsy!
I played Mugsy on an actual Spectrum that I owned at that time. I think it was a pretty popular game, so I bet a large fraction of former Spectrum owners do know about Mugsy.
There were lots of games like this, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugsy_(video_game). "How many boys do you want to send collecting payments for protection?", "Rival gangs are on the rise. How much money do you want to spend on guns?".