Build Your Future: Best City-Building Games

Have you ever dreamt of being a mayor of your own virtual city? Do you want to experience the thrill of leading a metropolis to its glory and prosperity? Then, city-building games are the perfect genre for you. These games allow you to design, construct, and manage your own city while dealing with the challenges of urban development and management. In this article, we will take a look at some of the best city-building games that offer an immersive and engaging experience for players.

SimCity 4

SimCity is the game that started it all, and SimCity 4 is the masterpiece of the series. This game allows players to craft, develop and govern their own cities. Players can start with a blank slate or build on pre-designed terrains. Then they can zone their cities as residential, commercial, or industrial. As players grow their city, they must deal with unique challenges such as traffic and pollution. With over 200 buildings, including landmarks, and massive modding support, SimCity 4 offers a satisfying and immersive experience for seasoned and new players.

Cities: Skylines

Cities: Skylines is a modern classic in the city-building genre. The game offers a broad range of tools and mechanics from zoning to public transportation that allows the player to develop the city of their dreams. The game features a dynamic day-night cycle, a weather system, and realistic traffic simulation. Cities: Skylines offers an extensive modding support, allowing players to customize the game to their liking. The game also provides a unique and engaging feature allowing players to design scenarios from scratch and challenges players to solve imminent city problems.

Anno 1800

Anno 1800 takes you on a journey back to the 19th century where industrialization and colonialism reign supreme. Players start by building their trading empire, exploring new territories and conquering the world with a military of warships and armies. The game’s attention to detail is fantastic, with visuals that bring to life and breathes the world of commerce and industry. The game features a robust trading system that has a lot of depth and complexity, and the building and management aspects are excellent.

Tropico 6

Tropico 6 is a city-building game with a twist. As the leader of a small island nation, the player must manage their populous and lead them to prosperity. Tropico 6 offers extensive customization with its system of different factions and political ideologies, that will affect different aspects of the game. Players must balance their economy, infrastructure, tourism, social policies, and entertainment to bring up their nation. The game also offers an intricate building system, where every building can create their own impact on the island. The addition of online multiplayer modes is a significant improvement over earlier games in the franchise.

Frostpunk

Frostpunk is a unique city-building game that puts players in an intense and desolate setting of a frozen post-apocalyptic world. Players must build a city around a steam generator whose power slowly runs out. The unforgiving cold and severe weather add a tremendous amount of pressure to the game, forcing the player to make difficult decisions that will have long-lasting effects. The game’s relentless difficulty is what makes it shine. It’s a game that tests the players’ moral compass and gives a rough and emotional ride.

Surviving Mars

Surviving Mars is a city-building game with a sci-fi twist. In this game, the player must establish a sustainable colony on the hostile planet of Mars. You will manage resources like oxygen and water. The player needs to consider the environmental conditions of the planet, technological innovations, and supply chains to keep the colony functioning. Surviving Mars offers a wide range of customization features that ensure that no two playthroughs are the same.

Rise of Industry

Rise of Industry is a game with a focus on industrialization and manufacturing. The player is tasked with developing a supply chain network of goods, buildings, and transportation systems. The game’s mechanics are revolving around the production chains, the addition of new resources must leverage the existing infrastructure. Players can also set up their manufacturing processes by creating custom factories. Rise of Industry challenges you to think creatively, and the various business strategies that the game offers keep the game interesting.

Conclusion

City-building games offer a unique experience for players who enjoy building and managing cities. Each game on this list offers something different for players of all levels of experience. Whether it’s SimCity 4 offering deep specialization, Cities: Skylines providing an extensive range of tools, or Tropico 6 providing you with an opportunity for political experimentation, each game has its charm. Find your inner mayor and start building.

FAQ

Q1. Which game is the best for beginners in city-building games?

A. Cities: Skylines is the best game for beginners in City-building games due to its excellent tutorial and helpful community.

Q2. Where can I find mods for city-building games?

A. Steam Workshop or Nexus Mods is the best place to find mods for city-building games.

Q3. How is Frostpunk different from other city-building games?

A. Frostpunk has a much higher difficulty level than other city-building games with an emotional and moral compass element that is much more intricate than other city-building games.

Q4. Does Rise of Industry have multiplayer support?

A. Yes, Rise of Industry offers multiplayer support.

Q5. Can I build a city in space in Surviving Mars?

A. No, you can build a colony in Mars, but space building is not possible in Surviving Mars.

Q6. What are the unique features of Anno 1800?

A. Anno 1800 features a colonialism and industrialization system and a detail-oriented trading platform that offers much depth and complexity.

Q7. Is Tropico 6 on consoles?

A. Yes, Tropico 6 is available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

References

SimCity 4, (n.d.). Retrieved 2021, July 09, from https://www.ea.com/games/simcity/simcity-4

Cities Skylines | Paradox Interactive, (n.d.). Retrieved 2021, July 09, from https://www.paradoxplaza.com/cities-skylines/CS-CS01GSK-MASTER.html

Ubisoft Press Release. “The 19th Century Is Yours to Command in Anno 1800, Available Now for PC”. News.ubi.com, (2019).

https://news.ubisoft.com/en-US/article/348234/The-19th-Century-Is-Yours-to-Command-in-Anno-1800-Available-Now-for-PC

Tropico 6, (n.d.). Retrieved 2021, July 09, from https://www.kalypsomedia.com/us/tropico-6

Frostpunk | 11 bit studios’ Blog, (2020). Topics/frostpunk

https://www.frostpunkgame.com/

Surviving Mars – Available Now, (n.d.). Retrieved 2021, July 09, from https://g2a.com/r/surviving_mars

Rise of Industry on Steam, (n.d.). Retrieved 2021, July 09, from https://store.steampowered.com/app/671440/Rise_of_Industry/