18 Best City-Building Games to Play Right Now - Gameranx - Popular Categories

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The best city-building games on PC | Digital Trends.

 

As noted by Polygon, the game's "kooky" visuals and randomly-generated worlds will keep you hooked for a while. Space, the final frontier, has always been a stage for big ambitions and " Dyson Sphere Program " is a ready player for that grand stage. Named after the Dyson Sphere, a hypothetical mega-structure capable of harnessing the energy of whole stars , "Dyson Sphere Program" aims to make that dream a reality. While the early hours may be a bit of a grind per Polygon , the grand scope of "Dyson Sphere Program" is its greatest attribute.

Many city builders involve the construction of villages, kingdoms, and even empires, but "Dyson Sphere Program" starts with a whole planet and branches into galaxies. Pulling off that type of scale is tough, but "Dyson Sphere Program" manages it with finesse. There are always reasons to reach further out into the cosmos, as researching new resources and technology is a major part of the meta.

Importantly, the grand project of creating a Dyson Sphere always lurks in the back of the player's mind, creating a balance of both short-term accomplishment and long-term achievement as each new planet is added to the factory.

It's not too punishing mechanically, and not many games can offer the type of fine-tuned quality of life systems that are available here. For example, when building on a planet gets crowded, players have the ability to stack certain buildings vertically. As in "Timberborn," this added wrinkle is both complex and satisfying. Tasked with keeping civilization alive through a bleak and never-ending winter, " Frostpunk " pits players against the ever-approaching cold. Construction in "Frostpunk" is all based around the heat generator.

Buildings are constructed in a circular pattern stemming from the central generator, giving the game's builds a unique pattern. Villager management is another bright spot from "Frostpunk. Late-game automations are gatekept through narrative-based exploration mechanics, which PC Gamer praised for adding extra tension to your already-packed settlement. From its jaw-dropping cutscenes to the top-class mechanical accomplishments, the game is capable of grabbing your attention and running away with it.

The freezing storm, always threatening your already struggling city, keeps the tension flowing throughout a playthrough and results in a satisfying and scary late-game climax for players. For good reason, "Frostpunk" won Strategy Game of the Year at the Australian Game Awards in , and fans are eagerly awaiting what " Frostpunk 2 " has in store. As a spiritual successor of one of the progenitors of the city building genre, "Sim City," " Cities: Skylines " arguably holds the title as the king of realistic city builders.

Released in , "Cities: Skylines" has inspired countless sessions of gameplay that stretch into the wee hours of the morning. There's not really any flashy content in "Cities: Skylines," only municipal functionality and cold hard cash. What separates "Cities: Skylines" from other realistic city builders is its sheer amount of content, but more specifically, the complex ways in which this content can be manipulated.

Placing a zone in "Cities: Skylines" feels organic and powerful. Much like "Oxygen Not Included," this game's sandbox approach to layering of different mechanics on top of one another can lead to countless combinations and new discoveries.

Playing against your budget, as well as random external events like floods or fires, maintains a short-term feeling of achievement, all while a functioning city is born from the players fingertips.

Much like "Skyrim" can be completely changed by some insane mods , "Cities: Skylines" has 12 official expansion packs and one of the most active modding communities in the gaming world. Glory of the Roman Empire. Settlers II 10th Anniversary, The. Anno Dawn of Discovery. Settlers: Rise of an Empire, The. Sequel to The Settlers: Heritage of Kings. Anno The Curse of the Dragon.

A Kingdom for Keflings. Open source version of SimCity. SimCity Societies: Destinations. Expansion to SimCity Societies. Expansion to The Settlers: Rise of an Empire. Imperium Romanum. Sequel to Glory of the Roman Empire. Sequel to Imperium Romanum. Related , Ubisoft , Blue Byte.

Sequel to Anno Dawn of Discovery. Successor to Tropico. Duong-Khang Nguyen. Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom, The. Sequel to The Settlers: Rise of an Empire. Focus Home Interactive. Stronghold Crusader 2. Clockwork Empires. Colossal Order. It borrows mechanics from Civilization games where you get to pick a leader or faction and build your mere plot of land into your own empire through military actions, development, and many more aspects not present in other city builders.

Banished is one of the most unique takes on the city-building formula for this list since it delves into a setting that's practically unexplored in its genre: medieval era. In that regard, you control a group of exiled travelers in Banished whereupon you're forced to build your village and eventually city from scratch after being banished by a feudal lord.

This also makes Banished a survival title on top of a city-builder-- something you don't usually experience in city-builder games. The game even makes it so that your primary resource is townspeople who get old, get sick, and even die, making managing them an important element of this game. It's worth playing alone for its unique take. Continuing with our space theme, we have Madruga Works' Planet Base. All the usual suspects are here: base building, resource management, and citizen satisfaction.

Where Planet Base sets itself apart is its varying types of planets. The game allows you to choose between four different planets , each with increasing difficulty and different environmental hazards to contend with.

For instance, the frozen planet will pit you against sub-zero temperatures, while the Storm Planet will hit you with a deluge of storm effects. It is up to you to keep your pioneers alive long enough to create a stable and liveable colony.

Frostpunk , as the title suggests, focuses on the importance of warmth and surviving the harsh cold. In an alternate version of history, humanity has been defeated by climate change and been forced to contend with extreme cold that has decimated most of the planet. The tale is a grim one, to be sure. As the leader of humanity's last hope , you must use what little resources are left to try and construct a haven to keep the dwindling population alive. Frostpunk is not for the weak-willed and will challenge you both technically and morally.

As the story unfolds you will be faced with difficult choices that will ultimately change the world around you. The level of depth and storytelling in Frostpunk is rarely seen in this genre. Few games are as addictive in nature as Anno The game intrigues players by using the carrot-on-a-stick method that rewards you consistently the more you play. Set in the not-so-distant future, Anno provides players the opportunity to reshape civilization after disasters have decimated much of the planet we're sensing a common theme.

There is a little something for everyone here: large-scale economies to manage, warfare among other factions, and deep gameplay. No seriously, you can build a city underwater! Embrace the future and build a new world. Tropico is a far lighter take on the city-building genre than our last few entries.

That is to say, it is far more comedic in nature. The gameplay here is still complex enough to keep you busy for hours on end.

Publisher Shining Rock Software. Release February 18, Banished is a city builder that puts your citizens at the heart of the experience. You lead a group of exiled travelers looking to establish their own colony, and unlike a lot of similar games, growing that colony is your sole focus. Banished is a methodical city builder that rewards thoughtful resource management and punishes rash expansion.

Developer Ludeon Studios. Publisher Ludeon Studios. Release October 17, RimWorld is a colony simulator where almost anything can happen. You lead the establishment of a new colony on a rim world, a planet located on the edge of known space.

Your colonists all come with a randomly rolled list of traits, which dictate how they act. You may have a genius who learns quickly but is suspectable to a mental break or someone with bloodlust who gets a mood boost from killing strangers and making clothes out of their skin.

The combination of traits across your colony gives you a wholly unique experience every time you load up the game.

On top of that, an artificial intelligence A. Genre Strategy, Indie. Developer GrizzlyGames. Publisher GrizzlyGames. Release April 04, Islanders is a bite-sized city builder about building a city on an island.

It does away with skill and research trees, trade, and resources and focuses on the building itself. At the start of the game, you have the choice between different packs of buildings. And if you run out of buildings before you can refill your inventory, the game ends.