The Best City-building Games

Update, : Thronefall added at rank #33.
1

Tropico 6 (2019)

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90
Review score
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Mac OS PC Windows Xbox One Playstation 4 Nintendo Switch Playstation 5 Xbox Series X Linux IOS iPhone

Tropico 6 is a city-building game that offers an engaging mix of elements such as ruling your own island dictatorship, sandbox mode with customizable goals, missions, and easy controller support. You can be a big picture person and make decisions that impact the entire island or get into the minute details of urban planning.


Pros:
  • Engaging mix of elements
  • Sandbox mode with customizable goals
  • Missions
  • Easy controller support:No need for mouse and keyboard or touchscreen
Cons:
  • Minor performance issues

  • city-building
  • simulation
  • economy
  • political
  • sandbox
  • management
  • strategy
  • construction
  • military
  • politics

2

Frostpunk (2018)

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93
Review score
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Xbox One PC Windows Mac OS

Frostpunk is a thrilling city-building game set in a freezing wasteland where survival is key to success. The game offers intense gameplay with unique moral dilemmas and a variety of scenarios to keep you engaged. The game's setting is beautifully designed, and the sound and visuals match the bleak atmosphere perfectly. Overall, Frostpunk is a challenging but rewarding experience that will leave you pondering about what could've been.


Pros:
  • Intense gameplay
  • Unique moral dilemmas
  • Great set of scenarios
  • Beautifully designed visuals and sound
  • A challenging but rewarding experience
Cons:
  • Binary choices limit experimentation
  • City building is constricted
  • Difficulty can be overwhelming

  • city-building
  • survival
  • steampunk

3

Airborne Kingdom (2020)

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86
Review score
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Xbox One Playstation 4 Nintendo Switch Playstation 5 Xbox Series X PC Windows Mac OS

Airborne Kingdom is a strategy simulator game that presents a unique concept of relocating a civilization to the skies. The game has a mysterious set up and setting, which intrigues and immerses the player in a vibrant and alive game world with organic world building and lore. Manage your air kingdom as you move to discover new resources, all while making sure your residents are happy, and enjoy the immersive experience of this visually stunning game world.


Pros:
  • Innovative mechanics
  • Beautiful visuals
  • Compelling gameplay
  • Relaxing and meditative
  • Ear-worm soundtrack
Cons:
  • Lack of replay value & short gameplay time
  • Limited depth in city development
  • Slow progression
  • High price for amount of content

  • city-building
  • relaxing
  • steampunk
  • resource

4

Terra Nil (2023)

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81
Review score
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PC Windows Android IOS iPhone Linux Mac OS

Restore the environment to its former glory in Terra Nil, a reverse city-builder game that challenges you to rebuild a barren wasteland. Build grasslands, forests, wetlands and more using advanced eco-technology, and leave behind a pristine wilderness for the animals. With procedurally generated landscapes, each playthrough is unique, challenging and unpredictable. Terra Nil offers a peaceful, meditative experience with lush hand-painted environments, relaxing music and ambient soundscape. Immerse yourself in the natural beauty of the ecosystem you've restored with Appreciate mode.


Pros:
  • Relaxing and engrossing gameplay loop
  • Gorgeous and vibrant hand-painted graphics
  • Procedurally generated maps create a unique experience with each playthrough
  • Effortless and straightforward game mechanics
  • Well-balanced difficulty that is not too challenging nor too easy
Cons:
  • Limited amount of content for its price
  • Limited replayability

  • city-building
  • relaxing
  • strategy
  • meditative
  • resource-management
  • puzzle
  • isometric

5

Townscaper (2020)

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84
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS IOS iPhone Xbox Series X Xbox One Android Nintendo Switch

Townscaper is a relaxing and creative town-builder game that lets you design your own picturesque floating towns with ease. With its colorful blocks and shapes that you can mix and match, you can create your dream villages whether you’re fidgeting or multitasking. The absence of missions or objectives allows you to immerse yourself fully in your creative flow and design your perfect idyllic town in no time. Get Townscaper for a soothing and creative gaming experience!


Pros:
  • Simple mechanics
  • Stress-free
  • Perfect for fidgeting
Cons:
  • Limited building tools and updates
  • Lack of variety in buildings and structures
  • Unsymmetrical grid pattern
  • No greenery except in enclosed areas
  • Building larger structures can be tedious

  • city-building
  • experimental
  • grid
  • sandbox
  • cute
  • minimalist
  • building
  • short

6

Cities: Skylines (2015)

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94
Review score
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Xbox One Nintendo Switch Linux Mac OS PC Windows

Build and maintain your own city with Cities: Skylines, where you must balance essential requirements like education, electricity, and healthcare while navigating your city's real economy system. With extensive traffic, district, and policy simulations, you have a multi-tiered and challenging environment to master. Customize and share your creations with other city builders. Don't miss out on this modern take on the classic city simulation game!


Pros:
  • Realistic city building simulation
  • Fun to plan, execute, and manage a city
  • Plethora of mods available
  • DLC adds interesting gameplay
  • Can enjoy the game without purchasing DLC
Cons:
  • Vanilla game is very basic

  • city-building
  • simulation

7

Before We Leave (2020)

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80
Review score
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PC Windows Xbox One Xbox Series X Playstation 5 Playstation 4 Nintendo Switch Mac OS

Before We Leave is a city-building game set in a post-apocalyptic world where you can grow your own civilization across various islands and planets. The game's atmosphere is calming and relaxed, and the music matches the gameplay perfectly. There are no violent elements, and you can grow your society at your own pace. With a good mix of resource management and logistics, the game is enjoyable for players who want a peaceful way to spend their time.


Pros:
  • Well-paced tutorial
  • Cute and relaxing game style
  • Variety of progression and resources
  • Good logistics challenge
  • Smart Shipping makes trading easier
Cons:
  • Limited tech tree depth
  • Population growth doesn't add value
  • Lack of equalization across planets
  • Game-breaking bug in late trading

  • city-building
  • 4x
  • resource
  • resource-management
  • hex

8

Paragon Pioneers (2022)

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90
Review score
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Linux Mac OS PC Windows Android IOS iPhone

Paragon Pioneers is a casual island management game where you build and manage a series of island nations. It offers over 100+ buildings to advance through and has an abstract look and mechanics that make it easy to manage on small screens. It's a stress-free game for casual players.


Pros:
  • Detailed explanations and tutorials
  • No ads or premium currencies
  • Easy to pick up and put down
  • Reminiscent of the Anno series with idle gameplay
  • No inherent time limit
  • Over 100+ buildings to advance through
Cons:
  • Long waiting times
  • Lack of a thrilling narrative
  • Game mechanics become increasingly complex
  • Colonization aspect may be troublesome for some players
  • Combat has a limited army size and isn't very interesting

  • idler
  • city-building
  • colony
  • tutorial
  • management
  • base-building
  • building
  • simulation
  • medieval
  • crafting
  • economy
  • top-down
  • relaxing
  • 2d
  • resource-management

9

Pocket City (2018)

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96
Review score
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Android IOS iPhone PC Windows Mac OS

A casual city building game. Become the mayor and create your own metropolis! Create residential, commercial, and industrial zones. Build parks and recreation spots. Respond to crime and disasters. Watch your city come alive!


  • city-building
  • cartoony

10

Pharaoh: A New Era (2023)

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77
Review score
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PC Windows

Pharaoh: A New Era is a city builder game that transports you back to Ancient Egypt where you can build your own city, construct iconic monuments, and manage all aspects of your city's development from trade to religion. With over 50 missions and 100 hours of gameplay, this Ultra HD remake of a cult classic is a rich and complex city builder that offers a great experience for both newcomers and fans of the original game.


Pros:
  • Remastered version of a classic game
  • Positive changes to the game's quality of life
  • Active development and patching of game by developers
  • Charming graphics and music
  • New global worker pool feature improves gameplay
Cons:
  • Bugs
  • Missing complex functionality from original game, such as the combat system and event planners

  • city-building
  • management
  • remake

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