Which city building games are awesome to play right now?
Several city-building or colony simulation games have been released on PC in recent years. Each one has its own set of difficulties, twists, and turns. Some are quite difficult, while others are quite relaxing.
If you're looking for a city-building game, here are fifteen to check out.
15. Medieval Dynasty - 2021
Medieval Dynasty is a survival game with city-building elements set in a medieval setting. In this game, you play a young man who has fled conflict and wishes to control his own fate. You will be the leader of your own dynasty and village while honing your skills.
You must gather resources, food, and equipment to help sustain your village. Of course, you must first construct the village and recruit potential villagers. There is also a detailed skill tree that helps your character develop, and you may be able to trade, gather resources, and do a variety of other things more efficiently.
You are the first citizen of your village, so you have to do all the gatherings first.
14. Timberborn - 2021
Timberborn is all about creating beaver technologies and surviving the ever-changing seasons. There are two factions, each with their own style, architecture, and gameplay mechanics, with the hope that more will be added in the future.
The game can be difficult at first because there are wet and dry seasons that you must constantly be aware of, as not having enough water during the drought season will halt your production. In Timberborn, it's all about survival, gathering resources, and becoming a self-sustaining beaver city.
Who doesn’t like beavers and the way the create their dams?
13. Going Medieval - 2021
Going Medieval, from the same publisher as Timberborn, is a medieval city-building/colony sim. After a plague wiped out most of humanity, you begin with a group of survivors who will begin to build their own settlement.
Although the gameplay is centered on settlement construction, you must also construct a fortress to defend your settlement from animals, bandits, and external threats, all while attempting to maintain sustainability by stockpiling supplies and preventing your citizens from starving to death.
Defend your townsfolk by creating an impregnable fortress.
12. Settlement Survival - 2022
Settlement Survival is a fun city-building game in which each run is unique due to its randomly generated maps, which have random resource nodes, so where you start your settlement is entirely up to you.
You can also use the terraforming tool to shape the map however you want. Following that, you can build the settlement however you want, and you must ensure the citizens' safety by controlling crime and protecting them from disasters. You can choose your settlement development, which unlocks new buildings and abilities, and you can develop your trade to improve your settlement economy.
Terraform your world, and build a town as you please.
11. Surviving Mars - 2018
We're headed to Mars! Surviving Mars is about colonizing Mars and establishing the first civilization there. To expand your settlement, construct domes, infrastructure, and drones. Grow food, mine minerals, or simply relax at the bar. Keeping colonists alive is critical because it is extremely difficult to do on a distant planet.
Each colonist is a distinct entity with its own set of problems and strengths. There is also a randomized research tree that will help your colony thrive and become better, and in order to survive, you must build a smart, functional colony. You can also discover some of the game's secrets as you play, which may result in an unexpected event that helps or harms your colony.
Create the first martian colony and discover the secrets of the planet!
10. Against the Storm - 2022
Against the Storm is a fantastic city-building game with elements of strategy and roguelite. The Scorched Queen appointed you Viceroy to reclaim the wilderness and unearth forgotten riches for the Smoldering City, civilization's last fortress against the Blightstorm that annihilated the old world.
You build settlements with various races, each with their own specialization and needs, and this is where strategy comes into play as you connect multiple settlements while dealing with challenges along the way. The roguelite aspect of this Against the Storm is that if you fail an expedition, you will still have the resources and upgrades you had to improve your chances on the next expedition.
A fantasy city-building game is always fun to tinker around.
9. Anno 1800 - 2019
We've already covered a number of medieval-themed city-building games, but this time it's all about building a city in the Industrial Age in Anno 1800. It is actually the seventh game in the city-building strategy series, so it has a solid foundation. What kind of ruler will you be now? Perhaps a conqueror?
Build your metropolis full of factories as you see fit to thrive in this age, while attempting diplomacy with other rulers, engaging in battles with them, or simply trading goods for the betterment of your economy. Anno 1800 has it all, as it innovates while maintaining the classic experience that fans of the series have come to expect.
Be the best ruler you can be in the Industrial Age.
8. Tropico 6 - 2019
Tropico 6 is all about becoming the president of an archipelago while the world is rife with politics and turmoil, with people literally asking you to do things for them in exchange for much needed goods in your country.
What distinguishes Tropico 6 from previous games is the ability to manage a large archipelago with multiple islands, which means you have more open area to develop the country you desire. Furthermore, you can become a sea pirate or an international threat by stealing world wonders and monuments to place in your country.
As president, elections are unavoidable; therefore, you must craft your speech to win, whether you will keep your promises to the people or lie to them. It is entirely up to you.
Vote for El Presidente!
7. Foundation - 2019
Now, for a more laid-back city-building experience, Foundation is one of those games where you can just sit back and watch the town you've created and the villagers who are hard at work on it.
It's a gridless city-building game, so you just place buildings wherever you want and let the villagers build roads and homes around them. The game focuses on you building unique taverns, keeps, churches, and more, which you can customize however you want. You can also interact with the realm's estates, which will grant you access to new buildings and perks for your village. Furthermore, this game has mod support, which ensures its replayability in the long run.
Build your own unique keep, churches, and create a bustling medieval town.
6. Farthest Frontier - 2022
Farthest Frontier is another excellent Early Access city-building game on this list. Similar to the other games on this list, you help a small group of settlers build a town and make it self-sustaining.
To sustain your settlement, your settlers must gather resources, produce better items, and include foods. Because of the randomly generated maps, each run in this game will be unique, and you can customize your playthrough if you want a relaxed run or a hard run where invaders and diseases are more prevalent. Finally, each villager in your settlement is assigned a task, such as foraging for food or producing goods. Farthest Frontier is an excellent city-building game in general.
Manage your medieval town while maintaining their needs and health.
5. Prison Architect - 2015
Prison Architect is one of the most unique games available, and it is not your typical "city-building" game in the sense that you will be the warden running your own prison from the ground up.
As previously stated, you will construct your own prison, manage the prisoners, and ensure that they stay out of trouble or refrain from rioting. Prisoners can form gangs and diseases can spread, so it is best to have a steady income or to seek federal funding through grant applications to secure your prison.
Riots can be a bloody mess, hence, it is better to prevent it
4. Banished - 2014
Banished is regarded as a classic survival city-building game because it was one of the first to implement the concept successfully.
You have command of a group of travelers. They are, in a sense, your primary resource in the game because they must survive, gather resources, and populate while you construct structures for them to use. All resources gathered can be used to improve structures or bartered for unique assets such as livestock and crops. It's all about managing them, especially when winter arrives or illnesses strike the town you've built.
Forage and gather resources before winter to increase your survivability once the new seasons sets in.
3. Frostpunk - 2018
Frostpunk is the way to go for a challenging city-building game. Although it can be brutally difficult at times, if you have a knack for those, you will never regret playing this game.
It is a survival city-building game in which the harsh cold weather that has engulfed the world means certain death and every decision you make has consequences. Optimize your resource management and decide what is best for your city as you pass legislation to govern their lives. Discover new technologies to fend off the disaster and explore the Frostland for valuable resources.
Develop your steampowered city to go against the endless harsh cold weather in Frostpunk.
2. Cities: Skylines - 2015
Cities: Skylines is arguably one of the best city-building games to date, and it continues to receive content in the form of DLC even today, which is not bad considering the game has been out for nearly 8 years.
Build your ideal metropolis, placing districts with unique policies based on the goods produced, and as your city grows, manage your traffic accordingly, and watch your citizens go from one place to another, improving their lifestyle by adding schools and libraries, and protecting them by adding various police and fire departments. You can also buy more land to expand your city. Furthermore, the modding community for this game is incredible, with over 8 years of great mods that significantly improve the game.
Buzzing lights in your cities means you have tons of citizens to take care for!
1. Rimworld - 2018
Rimworld appears to be similar to Prison Architect at first glance, and you'd be right because it has the same concept and visuals, but RimWorld is so much more. For example, the game's AI storyteller actively monitors your progress and pushes some challenges, creating tension and obstacles in the game.
Furthermore, you must monitor your colonists' health and moods because they are all unique, which can make or break relationships. Create your colony anywhere, including caves and jungles. Trade with passing merchants while defending yourself against pirates, robots, and even animals. If you're still not convinced, there's a fantastic modding community here that makes the game an endless source of entertainment.
Create your own colony anywhere in the world.
