My story is similar, except it was the Summer of '92. I was visiting my cousin in Boston and he had it on his computer and showed it to me. I went home and bought it immediately. I loved exploring and uncovering the world. I was such a noob that I refused to build any buildings in my 1 city because I didn't want to incur the maintenance costs. It was a few months before I realized that if I built a Marketplace and subsequent "gold" buildings, then my income would grow and I could build more buildings. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't understand my gaming habits, but hopefully I can enrich my daughter's life with "One more turn . . . "