The Latest and Greatest City Building Games
City builders are their own class of games. They can be ultra-realistic from the traffic patterns and the people to the economy and the trade. City builders can also take on a more fantastical note by being set in the distant past, future, or some world no one even knows.
Over the past several years, many city builder games have released and they are all unique in their own way. Whatever you are looking for in a city builder, there is a game for you. I promise you that.
So let’s get started with the list, yeah?
11. Cities: Skylines (2015) by Paradox Interactive
Cities: Skylines release trailer on YouTube.
Skylines goes to great lengths to make the city building experience more realistic than most. Everything from water flow—something other games tend to neglect—to economic zoning, the developers built Skylines for the purposes of simulating a very realistic city. The developers did their best to make managing a city in Skylines to be more fun than managing a city in real life.
Game developing footage with some gameplay.
You don’t necessarily have to make the most beautiful city, you can sit there and crunch numbers all day long if you want to. The goal is to create the biggest, most optimal city you can. However, you can decide to create a smaller farm town and you’ll still win if you make it optimal.
Cities: Skylines has options, which makes it a great contender in this list.
10. Cities XXL (2015) by Focus Home Interactive
It’s so pretty of a view, I hardly realized it was simulated and not real.
Cities XXL allows you to create photorealistic cities that include famous world landmarks. You can link your cities through the “Cities Planet” and control trade, holidays outside of the city, and workers moving. You can also make “green” cities if you feel like being environmental.
This shows a lot of the intricate parts and nuances of Cities XXL.
Additionally, you can join the Steam Community of Cities XXL and share content. You can download content from other players, as well as upload your own if you feel. The game is made to be community-centric.
Cities XXL is huge and will only continue to grow with the endless stream of user-generated content. If you want to be able to manage different cities and link them together, Cities XXL is the game for you.
9. Elvenar (2015) by InnoGames
Sure, the graphics just scream “browser-game” but the overall concept is pretty cool nonetheless.
Perhaps the best thing about Elvenar, is that it’s completely free and browser-based. You still get to build a city and manage the economics, but you also have the added element of magic. You’ll pick either humans or elves and be expected to build a thriving city.
You’re also not alone: the game is online and one of the ways to boost your city is to do some trading with other cities on the World Map run by other players. The goal is to get Relics and gain access to knowledge of your ancestors. If trading doesn’t work out so well, you can also fight other cities in animated battles.
Tune to 0:58 for the gameplay trailer.
Elvenar is already a rich world to explore and the developers promise to bring new content to it in the future. Since it’s free, it won’t hurt to check it out.
8. Banished (2014) by Shining Rock Software
That’s a quaint-looking town there.
The premise of Banished is simple, you are the leader of a group of exiled travelers who have decided to restart their lives in a new land. All you’ve got are the clothes on everybody’s backs and a cart of supplies. Ideally, you’ll grow your group of exiles into a thriving new culture.
You won’t so much be worrying about road-planning or money-crunching in this city builder. Instead, you’ll be making choices of who to feed, how to feed them, when and where to farm, how much to cull the surrounding wildlife, and how to gather supplies to build your new town. You’ll also have to worry about surviving the winter.
Detailed gameplay trailer.
Banished is realistic in an older-time sense. It’s a little bit of fantasy but still a lot of fun.
7. Tropico 5 (2014) by Kalypso Media Group
Tropico 5 gameplay trailer on YouTube.
In Tropico 5, you’re turning a little island in the Caribbean into something that isn’t a poor waste of land. It is said to be painstakingly detailed and realistic. The game is rated T though for alcohol, language, suggestive themes, tobacco, and violence; so you might not want your kids playing it.
Regardless, Kalypso’s been at this a while and they know what they’re doing. If there’s one thing to be said about Tropico 5 over the other games in this list, it’s the sheer amount of DLC add-ons, each with their own scenarios, buildings, maps, and music.
This is the Waterborne Expansion Gameplay trailer, for more of a taste of the DLC.
Tropico 5 has a lot of variety in it, which is pretty sweet. It rates somewhere between Amazing and Epic here on GamersDecide.
6. Forge of Empires (2014) by InnoGames
A browser city builder that allows you to build empires.
From the same people who brought you Elvenar comes Forge of Empires, except it was actually the other way around since Forge came first. Forge of Empires is stated to be more of a strategy game, but it still has its city building aspects. You start out in the Stone Age with some huts and then you gradually build yourself an empire as time goes on.
Walkthrough on how to build Great Buildings in Forge of Empires.
One cool thing about Forge of Empires, (and not just that it’s free), is that your game continues when you log out. Your city will continue to produce goods and any squabbles that come up will be fought on a turn-based strategic system. You can come back to it later and see that progress has happened while you were away—and you didn’t have to wait for it!
Forge of Empires is very community-based, making it a completely unique experience and a fun time.
5. Cities in Motion 2 (2013) by Paradox Interactive
Design transit systems to help your city grow.
While Cities in Motion 2 and Cities: Skylines come from the same producer, they are completely different games and not in any way in the same series. Cities in Motion 2 focuses more on the transit systems in and around cities as a means of helping your city grow as well as shaping how it grows. Different means of transportation allows for different demographics to succeed and get around.
Different forms of transportation will be needed at night than what is needed during the day. You manage the time tables to affect city growth. You can play a campaign or sit in the sandbox and have fun.
So, if you’re looking for a city builder that has a lot of transportation involved, Cities in Motion 2 is where you want to be looking.
Preview trailer for Cities in Motion 2 with some hints at the gameplay.
4. The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom (2010) by Ubisoft
Settlers 7 launch trailer on YouTube.
This is another fantasy-based city-builder. You will be building a kingdom somewhere in middle-Europe. You skirmish and complete multi-player challenges to gain victories in order to build up your kingdom.
You focus on military, trade, or technology, or perhaps two of the three, as a strategy for winning your game.
Each has its pros and cons and can lead you to victory—or not. The game is multiplayer, so you’re competing against other players as well as neutral AI. The game boasts a lot of replay value. It appears to be a good mix of city building and strategy.
3. Grand Ages: Rome (2009) Kalypso Media Group
Grand Ages: Rome trailer on YouTube.
Set in iconic Rome at the height of its power, you strategically seize power to build yourself an empire. The game is complete with 50 missions, advanced battle systems, a comprehensive economic system, and online multiplayer with competitive and cooperative modes. The expansion, Reign of Augustus, adds 12 new missions, maps, and new gameplay features.
You have the option to expand your empire to Gaul, Egypt, and Britannia. You build through military and economic progresses and fight whoever stands in your way. You handle the control of natural resources as well as control of the people you conquer.
The game strives to let you feel what it would be like to be a conquering Rome reaching the pique of power. Thankfully, you don’t have to experience the downfall.
2. Sim City (2013) Electronic Arts
I can’t decide if that looks cool or sinister.
Official Gameplay Trailer with some exciting views.
This reboot of the series, though sometimes referred to as SimCity5, includes the abilities to have up to 16 different cities with different specializations as well as the ability to play multiplayer. You can now collaborate for achievements, or compete for them. You can do everything from city-plan to see how individual Sims are doing.
Different cities with different specializations allows you the freedom to create cities that can be industrialization hubs, vacation hotspots, or quaint college-towns. You control a region of cities, and each specialization of cities has its pros and cons.
The multiplayer options allow for new depth of sending your resources to help a neighbor in need and in return, getting aid should you ever need it. There’s a lot of depth to this game.
Of course, if you want some more information on the latest Sims game, look here.
1. Anno 2070 (2011) by Ubisoft
Those are nifty-looking docks.
Anno 2070 is different because it’s inherently futuristic. It follows a model that global warming made the sea level rise and certain other areas of land completely inhabitable. Your job as the player is to create a society in the future with both limited resources, but access to robots and other futuristic tech.
Get a closer look at Anno 2070.
There is a slight political element as well. You can choose to make your city very industrial and efficient and side with the Tycoons, or you go the more sustainable route but not necessarily more efficient and throw your hat in with the Ecos. There’s also the option to smuggle wares and forge alliances with powerful figures.
Anno 2070 is very decision based and the addition of politics and smuggling are nice touches.
Additionally, Ubisoft has since released Anno Online where you can essentially play for free.
Conclusion:
If you’re into city building, there is a city builder game for you in 2015. If you want to stay small and eco-friendly, there’s a game for you; if you’re more interested in conquest, there’s a game for you; if you want to connect all of your cities and control trade between them, there’s a game for you. There’s even a game for you if you don’t have a lot of extra cash.
Each of these games has its strengths, I hope I’ve shed some light on which one (if not many) is the best fit for you.
If you want to check out some other Builder-Puzzler games, take a look at Infinifactory. And, since we all know builder games can be terribly addicting, here’s some tips to sitting at your computer all day while being mesmerized by traffic patterns or building houses.
