While SimCity's somewhat disastrous launch is now behind them, and a proper offline mode that took almost a year-long escapade to implement now in the game, it seems Maxis' city simulator is looking for some new mayors to govern the virtual townships.

Announced today, those opening up their EA Origin clients will find that SimCity is now offering a free trial to get your hands dirty with city planning. There are a few strings attached to the free trial, which include limiting single-player mode to the Cape Trinity and Reflection Atoll regions, and only provides two save slots. It is also exclusive to Windows users - sorry Mac users - and can only be played once per Origin account per computer; If there are multiple Origin users, only one will be able to grab the freebie.

Sadly, that isn't the worst of the strings attached, with the free trial only lasting a laughable four hours, starting from when you launch the game. Once its over, that is it, though saves will apparently cross-over if you do decide to buy the game. Let us just hope that trial users don't run into any issues while launching, eating away at the four hour trial.

If the guidelines haven't scared you off, you can find the free trial over here, with full details on the offer here.