The best city-building games on PC. City building games for pc The best city building game

Build your city and manage it.

With just one computer, you can create your own virtual city with a unique storyline. The best building games put you in charge of creating a city and maintaining all the processes that take place inside it. Here is a list of the top 10 city building games for PC.

Note: These games should work fine on most computers, but check the required system requirements before purchasing a specific game. Some of them work best on gaming PCs with plenty of RAM and CPU power to render graphics and ensure smooth gameplay.

Cities in Motion 2 is a city transportation simulation developed by Colossal Order in 2013.

In Cities in Motion 2, players manage a public transit system that provides transportation between and within cities. Using vehicle management, players influence how and where they grow and change.

From middle-class housing to business districts, the transit system preserves and supports the growth of various areas. Everything in the city must work - and this responsibility lies on the shoulders of the player. Features of "Cities in Motion 2" - the alternation of day and night, rush hour and cooperative and competitive game modes.

Cities in Motion 2's other downloadable content includes Metro Madness, which lets you create custom subway trains and change schedules. The set includes five new subway trains and the ability to place the subway underground.

Tropico 5 is the fifth installment in the Tropico video game series. The setting and backstory of Tropico 5 is the same as previous games in the series. Players take on the role of the president of a small tropical island. In this role, they run a small nation through construction, diplomacy, and trade.

Tropico 5 introduces a number of new gameplay features that make it stand out from previous games. This is the first Tropico game to include both cooperative and competitive multiplayer for up to four players. The nation goes through several eras - from the colonial era to our times in the 21st century.

Tropico 5 has two full-fledged expansions: Espionage and Waterborne, which add new missions and buildings on the water.

SimCity (2013) is a reboot of the popular SimCity city builder series. It was released in 2013 and is the first game in the SimCity series since "SimCity 4".

The backstory of "SimCity (2013)" is almost the same as in other similar simulators. Players are trying to turn a small town or village into a thriving metropolis. As in previous SimCity games, players divide up plots of land into residential, commercial, or industrial development zones. They create roads and transportation systems that connect city areas with each other.

Originally released as an online multiplayer game, SimCity (2013) was criticized for post-release bugs and requiring a permanent network connection to play and save data.

However, after its release, Maxis and Electronic Arts removed the permanent online requirement and updated the game so that it now includes both an offline single player and a multiplayer version. After the bugs and connectivity issues were resolved, the game was met with mostly positive reviews, but is no longer a role model.

Anno 2205 is a sci-fi futuristic city where players lead the colonization of the moon. It is the sixth game in the Anno series created by Blue Byte.

The player becomes a corporate CEO who competes with other corporations to colonize the Moon, build metropolitan areas, and develop new technologies to enable humanity to thrive away from Earth.

Anno 2205 includes city management and construction, including housing, infrastructure, and economic goods, all of which contribute to the growth of your city and colony. In addition to managing cities on the Moon, players also manage cities on Earth to establish trade routes between cities on different planets to share resources.

The cities in Anno 2205 are much larger than in any of the next five games.

Cities: Skylines is a city builder released in 2015 and developed by Colossal Order. The developer has released five expansions for the game.

Playing Cities: Skylines begins with an empty piece of land close to a highway and some money to start building and managing your new city.

Players control almost every aspect of city management. They organize residential, commercial and industrial zones and provide basic services to their growing population. Services start with basics like water, electricity, and sewerage, but can later be expanded into perks and amenities that keep the population happy.

Cities: Skylines received extremely positive reviews from critics. A detailed and attractive game includes elements such as a transport system, built-in scenarios and good moddability.

To keep players interested in the game, the following five service packs have been released for Cities: Skylines:

• Green Cities (2017) adds the ability to use solar panels on rooftops, electric cars and other renewable green elements.
• "Mass Transit" (2017) adds funiculars, minibuses, ferries, monorails and more.
• Natural Disasters (2016) adds not only disasters themselves, but also services related to disaster response and urban recovery. It also includes in-game radio stations and a scenario editor.
• "Snowfall" (2016) adds content related to winter and snow, as well as a theme editor to create different worlds.
• After Dark (2015) introduces night into the game and adds additional buildings such as a casino and a hotel.
• There are also several DLC (Downloadable Content) packs available for purchase for Cities: Skylines, including Concerts, European Suburbia, City Radio, Tech Buildings, Relaxation Station, and Art Deco.

Planetbase is an indie game, part strategy, part construction and city management. In the game, players control a group of space settlers who are trying to build a colony on a distant planet.

As the manager of the settlers, the player instructs the colonists to build various buildings and structures, which will possibly become a self-sufficient environment where they can live and work.

In addition to building, colonists collect energy, water, metal, and food, with the three primary needs being water, food, and oxygen.

During gameplay, colonists encounter potential disasters such as meteorite impacts, sandstorms, and solar flares. They create robots that help perform more tedious and complex tasks.

Constructor HD is an HD remake of the 1997 strategy game Constructor. You play as a property tycoon who builds an empire by ruining the plans of his rivals.

You will have to deal with maintenance issues, hippies, serial killers, thugs, killer clowns and crappy workers. Despite these problems, there are some funny moments in the game.

The developers have taken the atmosphere of the original game in this remake.

There are plenty of players enjoying the nostalgia right now, but some early adopters have encountered bugs specific to a game that had been delayed for months. Developer System 3 releases regular updates to optimize the gameplay.

"Prison Architect" gives players the chance to build their own maximum security prison.

You instruct your workers to lay bricks on the first prison building before the arrival of the prisoners. You are responsible for the construction of the medical unit, dining room and dressing room. You decide whether you want an execution chamber or solitary confinement.

After you build everything you need and get guard dogs, you can play as an escaping prisoner yourself - start a riot and dig a tunnel in the turmoil or go to the armory and fight your way to freedom with weapons. You will need to figure out how to get out of your own creation.

In Urban Empire, you play as the mayor of a city from one of the four ruling families. This game from Kalypso Media combines city management with political infighting and world-changing events.

You will have to demonstrate your skills in the fight against rivals, while contributing to the technological and ideological development of the city. The game starts in the early 1800s and goes through five eras, each with its own challenges and features that the player needs to master.

Urban Empire is a new type of game that combines city building with political intrigue. Expect many quarrels and betrayals. This is not a construction simulator in the usual sense. Instead of just knocking out a couple of houses, you have to manage almost everything from the city hall.

Banished is a unique simulator of its kind. Instead of planning and building potential metropolises, players control a small group of exiled travelers who establish their own settlement. At the start of the game, all the exiles have are the clothes they wear and some basic supplies.

The main resource of the game is the newly minted citizens. Players assign each citizen a task, such as becoming a fisherman to gather food for a growing population, or a builder who designs houses, schools, and workshops to help citizens in their daily lives.

During the game, wandering travelers, nomads and newborn children join the population of the settlement. However, the townspeople and workers also age and die.

If you're looking for guys who were inspired by Ants, then you finally have a chance to get to know one of them. Meet Foamy125, a self-taught engineer who is obsessed with Lisp and everything related to the Ants game world. This guy likes neural networks, genetic algorithms, and besides, he is happy to communicate with ordinary people. He currently has at least 178 hours of streaming. The project on which he is going to work in the near future is called "Creating our own urban stimulator". The author teaches users how to develop games, and the process itself will take place in real time (all broadcasts are available in recordings on the author's channel). In this way, you will be able to interact with the streamer, for example, by chatting with them directly.

• Project start date: Tuesday, April 11, 2017;
• Schedule: every week from 1:00 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• All broadcasts are available in the recording on the author's channel.

What is this project about?

This project is completely dedicated to the topic of developing a city-building stimulator using technologies such as WebGL and JavaScript. Developing a complex game, such as the city builder mentioned above, can give you a good game development experience. To start with, to make it easier for you to understand the essence of what is happening, the streamer will begin his course with the basics of game development, such as rendering a point, creating a random walk model on the screen, etc. After the main points have been learned, the streamer will continue learning by looking at various complex concepts, such as metaheuristic algorithms for determining traffic behavior, distribution of resources among the population, etc.

In addition, in this tutorial project, the source code will be reviewed and users will be able to download it in order to independently deal with all the incomprehensible points. In this tutorial project, in addition to JavaScript, a programming language such as Sibilant will be considered, which will also be used to develop a game.

Who is this project for?

This project is for students who want to improve their knowledge of game development.

To complete the course, you will also need:

• Understanding of object-oriented programming at an intermediate or advanced level;
• Understanding the basics of functional programming;
• Understanding the concept of "method" and how it works in different contexts;
• Understanding the principles of converting data from one type to another;
• Basic knowledge of linear algebra;
• Basic knowledge of matrices;
• Well, of course, and the desire to study hard.

You can become a participant of the training course if you:

• Crazy about simulation games like SimCity or Cities: Skylines;
• Are you interested in everything related to artificial intelligence, as well as neural networks or algorithms inspired by nature;
• You are fond of inventing various applications and bringing them to life by writing code.

What will you be able to do after completing the course?

Completing the training course is a kind of method through which you can improve your skills in developing various games. If you are interested in such a topic as game development, and you know enough to do it, you can also use the knowledge gained during the course. After all, you won't have any more trouble understanding how games like city builders work.

Course plan:

Session 1: Introduction to the course, explanation of basic concepts;

In the 1st lesson, we will figure out what we need to do throughout the course, what exactly we will develop together, and I will also tell you a little about myself.

After that, we'll do an introductory course that will cover things like the electron/node js development environment and also make it interoperable with the sibilant REPL (or any other js dialect-compatible environment). Such a development environment should work equally on all platforms.

Lesson 2: Entities, components and systems.

In this lesson, we'll cover the basics of the entity component system (a common software architecture that is used to develop games) and try to implement an entity that will move in a straight path.

Lesson 3: Collisions, fields and entity detection

In this lesson, we will look at what a field is (from physics), how it relates to many problems that are often encountered in the game world, and also implement an entity collision field.

Lesson 4: Random Walks

In this lesson, we will learn what random walks are and how they relate to the creation of city-building simulations. In addition, we will create an entity type that performs a random walk and creates a base environment, which will be a problem for which the entity will use the random walk to solve.

After you sign up for this training course, you will have the opportunity to learn the most complex methods of game development. Anyone who wants to master game development should try their skills and enroll in this training course. Well, what are you waiting for? Come on, sign up for our course!

In order to take training, you need to get a Pro-subscription on our website - LiveEdu. After receiving such a subscription, you will not only be able to gain knowledge and improve your programming skills from this course, but also get access to all other premium educational projects on our website.

To the delight of all strategy lovers, we are publishing another TOP, this time dedicated to such a rather narrow topic as city-building simulators or city-building strategies!

10. Banished

The tenth place was taken by the recently released construction simulator. In a sense, the game can be called the smallest urban simulator in our TOP. After all, we are not dealing with a city, but rather with a village.

You control a group of exiled migrants starting a new life in the picturesque wilderness of the taiga. There are 18 different crafts in the game, ranging from farming and hunting to blacksmithing, teaching and healing.

There is no universal strategy in the game, the number and ratio of resources on the maps is generated randomly. Surviving cold winters is one of the main and most difficult tasks for the player. To keep the settlers warm, your tailors will have to sew a lot of clothes, and your builders will have to build houses and harvest firewood.

You also have to constantly keep in mind a lot of small details and nuances that determine whether your settlement will survive or die.

Although the game is ranked last, it is an excellent example of a rather complex simulator, especially considering the fact that it was made by a single person - programmer Luke Jodorovich. Although the gameplay Banishd over time, it begins to become boring, you will definitely experience the pleasure of another experienced winter.

9. Emperor - Rise of the Middle-Kingdom

One of the representatives of the so-called city-building series, which began back in 1993. Ten games have since been released, including expansions.

"Emperor: Dawn of the Middle Kingdom"- is the only representative of the series covering the territory of ancient China, which is already interesting.

However, otherwise the difference between "Emperor" and other strategies of the series is not so great - we make sure that the inhabitants are fed and employed, and the gods are satisfied with alms.

You will also have to deal with the production of resources and trade, as well as lead the defense in the event of an attack by invaders.

8 City Life

A game that is often compared to the notorious Sim City 4, and not just compared, but even called names with the offensive word "clone". However, this is not quite true.

The development of the French company Monte Cristo, although it repeats the concept of other games in the genre of city-building simulators, is an absolutely independent project.

In addition to the presence of an extensive social system of socio-cultural groups and the relationship between them, City Life can offer players a standard set of production infrastructure tasks. As usual, we will have to satisfy the whims and needs of the citizens and at the same time try not to empty the city's treasury ahead of time.

In general, this is another entertainment for more than one evening for lovers of construction and management.

7CivCity-Rome

Imagine what could happen if the authors of the cult Civilization and no less cult strong hold unite to create a sort of crossover between Stronghold and Civilization.

So, from Stronghold, the game got the entourage, the scale of the maps and the choice of military or peaceful missions. Inherited from Civilization CivCity wonders of the world and a whole palette of chips, including 75 unique units, 115 buildings and 70 technologies available for research.

And although the game did not find solid ratings, many still liked the idea of ​​​​such a mix.

6.Caesar

Another series of city building games. Third Caesar is a great example of how a game series, having squeezed the maximum out of the concept, is content with only cosmetic changes. At the same time, it cannot be said that the game came out mediocre - on the contrary, despite many shortcomings, the feeling of managing an ancient Roman city is incredible.

Of the minuses of the game, one can single out the small size of the map - from a certain point there is simply nowhere to build, all that remains is to observe the stagnation of the city and improve the attractiveness of already attractive areas. The second minus is the military component, although on some maps it is the threat of invasion that forces a complete review of the course of the development of the settlement. Finally, trade has not always been adequate.

The rest of the game is just awesome. Here you have a religion with blessings, and the curses of powerful gods, a lot of resources, goods and buildings. In the end, where else will we be entrusted with the management of Roman colonies, entrusting the mission to make a city worthy of Caesar out of a deserted plain.

The fourth part of the game came out more impressive in terms of graphics, but the features remained the same.

5 Tropica

According to the plot, the player takes control of a small island nation somewhere in Latin America. It all takes place during the height of the Cold War.

The game has economic, political and urban planning, as well as interesting companies and multiplayer.

The addition of innovations such as random events that affect the course of events and additional sectors of the industry made it possible to breathe new life into the series.

Your construction site starts with an empty plain and almost zero plot. At first, there will be enough money only for the most necessary things for the country, and even the people will have to live in makeshift shacks for some time.

You can earn money by selling valuable natural resources right and left and receiving handouts from the USSR or the USA, depending on which country you support politically. Over time, it will be possible to deal with tourism and infrastructure.

Recently Released Tropico 5, offering many innovations and a modern graphics engine.

4Cim City

The representative of perhaps the most famous series of the urban simulation genre, which determined its high place in this TOP. It was Sim City, released by Maxis in 1989, that formed the classic look of city-building simulators and a number of mechanics that later became the standard.

The true success of the game brought the fourth part. The game turned out to be a rather complex and detailed strategy with very sketchy, but nice graphics.

You have three modes to choose from, including god mode, which allows you to transform the selected section of the region, where the city will then be built. This mode also allows players to create natural disasters such as volcanic eruption and a number of others. Even in the first games of the series, players were amused by the opportunity to send a gadzilla or an earthquake to an objectionable city and watch how everything collapses and dies.

Mayor mode is the planning, construction and management of the city. The construction of roads, streets, metro lines, bus stops, railway stations will fall on your shoulders. You will also have to deal with the exchange of resources with neighboring cities, garbage collection, medicine, and so on.

However, the fifth part of the game came out damp and in many respects did not justify the hopes of the fans.

3. ANNO

The first game in the series called Anno 1602 came out back in 1998 / The series also includes Anno 1503, Anno 1701, Anno 1004, Anno 2070.

The action of the first game of the series takes place in a new time. Under your control is the construction of colonies and resource management on the archipelago of small islands of the new world.

There is the possibility of research, trade, diplomacy, but to a greater extent the game is focused on the economic component, and you won’t have to fight much there. But you will have to constantly increase income and expand to neighboring islands. And what did you expect? Enemies are on the alert, and the faster your colony reaches a certain population level, the more opportunities and unique tasks will open up for you.

These and other features made the game memorable and unlike other representatives of the genre, which allowed Anno acquire an army of loyal fans and pave the way for playing the now popular online game.

The last part of the game, which went online and became completely free, uses the concept of the classic first part. But thanks to the Internet, the possibilities of the game have increased - now players can wage trade wars among themselves, compete in the level of development of their colonies, and much more.

The game is now completely free, you can play it right in your browser. More about the game Anno Online read my review.

2. Settlers

In the second part of the most popular series of city-building simulators, the authors polished the gameplay and improved the graphics many times over in comparison with the debut project, which was released many years earlier.

The game made a splash thanks to several innovative gameplay elements. Units don't need to be told what to do. Instead, the player's task is to provide the necessary number of buildings and resources.

Needless to say, the economic model in Setlers is many times more detailed and deeper than that of other representatives of the genre, providing multi-level production chains made with German pedantry. The Settlers game even marked the beginning of the so-called economic strategy of the German school. It also includes "Anno" and "Patrician".

All this, as well as multiplayer battles, make this meditative strategy worthy of your attention and guarantee its place in the hall of heroes of fame.

Read more about the Setlers Online game in my review.

1.Strong hold

In addition to the obvious military component, an important part in the games of the series Stronghold is the economy and the balance of many factors. So very important in the game is popularity. The higher the trust of the settlers in you, the faster the number of peasants increases. When popularity falls below half, your inhabitants begin to flee, and there is no one to work in the fields. Popularity can be increased by reducing taxes, expanding the diet, building temples and taverns.

Almost all these actions have at the same time a negative effect - the devastation of the treasury, barns, and even drunkenness, which reduces labor productivity. Of course, you can always build a gallows and other visual structures to motivate the population to work better and faster. But then the popularity will fall, and a dilemma arises that can be solved in various ways.

But still the game is not about that, but about the garden and defense. Troops can take up positions on towers and move along walls, firing at the enemy below.

The player can also start a fire or an epidemic in the enemy's country. Thus, at our disposal is the widest arsenal of tactical and strategic possibilities. How to achieve victory is up to you!

Not so long ago, following modern trends, Stronghold moved online, becoming shareware. Read more about this game in my review.

Sometimes you don’t feel like running around with a gun in some kind of shooter, fighting zombies trying to save your life, solving intricate mysteries in order to reach some goal. Sometimes you want to relax, use your brain and analytical thinking, and not just the reaction and good speed of pressing the keys.

In this case, city-building simulators can come to our aid. Usually, in toys of this genre, you need to build your own metropolis, and then manage all the processes that take place in it. The better you perform the duties of a builder mayor, the faster your city develops and the higher the quality of life of the population in it. Usually, there is no global goal in such toys - the construction process itself is your mission.

And who refuses to feel like the ruler of an entire city, where you can set your own rules?

So for those who want to get the reins of power, as well as learn how to create entire megacities from scratch, we have selected the TOP, which included the best city-building simulators of all time.

10. Banished

Banished - a simulator where you need to build a village

The tenth position was occupied by a city-building simulator, which appeared in the public domain 3 years ago. It ended up on the last line of the TOP because it is the smallest in terms of volume and the game world. You will not see a huge metropolis here. You must build a village. But that doesn't make the game worse.

According to the plot, you are provided with several exiles who must survive in the wilderness. The nature around is beautiful, there are also plenty of resources: from wood to water, animals, etc. So it is quite possible to start settling in this place.

Your wards can engage in crafts, of which there are as many as 18 in the game. Here, the characters can be farmers, hunters, blacksmiths, healers, and so on - it all depends on what you order them to do.

Also, this city-building simulator does not require a strategic plan - there is no specific scheme for the appearance of the necessary resources in certain areas, etc. - everything is random. The most difficult test for a gamer will be winter: this season is really harsh in the game. You will need to sew a lot of warm clothes, and you also need to take care of the houses in advance - so that there are a lot of them, and so that there is something to heat them with.

You will also have to remember many details that will decide the fate of your wards.

Although the toy looks like a small city-building simulator, it is very difficult. And it was created by only one developer - Luke Hodorovich. And this deserves respect.

9. Emperor - Rise of the Middle- Kingdom

Popular Series

City-building simulators are sometimes created as one-of-a-kind, and sometimes come out in batches. Emperior - Rise of the Middle-Kingdom - represents exactly the second type. Its history began almost 25 years ago, and since then we have received ten excellent game simulators of the series.

Emperior - Rise of the Middle-Kingdom tells about China, namely its Ancient era. And this, you see, is not often found. The historical basis almost ends here: the entourage of Ancient China creates the necessary atmosphere - the rest is almost identical with other simulators.

In the game, you need to constantly make sure that the inhabitants of the city do not starve, that they constantly work, and that the gods, whom the population worships, receive their offerings on time and do not get angry.

In addition, in the game you will need to trade, fight if enemies suddenly attack, and also extract the resources necessary for construction.

8. city ​​life

City Life is a city-building simulator that is very similar to the very famous Sim City 4 game. Sometimes they can even offend by calling this project a clone of the above. But no, that's wrong.

First, all city-building simulators are somewhat similar. Secondly, City Life was created by French developers from the Monte Cristo company, and they released a full-fledged and independent thing.

The developers have worked out well the social levels of the population and their role in the life of the city. So it will be important to monitor the relationship between each group, avoiding conflicts between them. You can also run many infrastructure processes in the game.

Well, how could it be without this - it is necessary to make sure that the entire population is satisfied, without spending a lot of money.

7. CivCity-Rome

Ancient Rome is a popular city building simulation setting.

Almost everyone knows about games like Civilization and Stronghold. So, for the sake of creating this game, the developers of both projects began to work together. This is how a city-building simulator appeared, which combines the best aspects of the above games.

From Stronghold CivCity - Rome received huge garts, tasks related to the conduct of the battle, as well as the external design and style of locations. But Civilization got seven wonders of the world, seventy-five special units, a little over a hundred buildings, about 70 different technological achievements that you can explore.

And although the critics did not greet the novelty too warmly, gamers positively evaluated this game.

6. Caesar

Not all city-building simulators offer huge maps and limitless city sizes. There are such as the game on the tenth line, or, like this one - Caesar.

This city building demonstrates well to the public that you can not really bother with the plot or make huge changes with each new part of the series. So, for example, all games after the second part received light cosmetic improvements, but the game still has not diminished its fans.

And the reason is that Ancient Rome captures so much that you don’t want to stop managing your beloved city.

This toy has a small map, so once you reach a certain level of development, you will not be able to find a place to create new buildings. You will only monitor the state of what has already been built. War and sometimes trade also became a minus.

If you ignore these three components, you will definitely like the way the Caesar series is arranged: here you can create a religion, and have fun with the gods. Also, gamers like to manage colonial settlements and so on.

5. Tropica

Tropica: populate your island

Sometimes urban simulations deal with topics that are important to society. So, for example, in the game Tropica, the Cold War and the relationship between two warring countries: the USA and the USSR are affected.

You will become the ruler of the country on the island, which is located near the coast of Latin America.

This city builder combines politics, economics and construction. There is also a good storyline and an interesting multiplayer mode.

There are also situations that arise from time to time in order to affect the gameplay - they can suddenly change the course of your story.

Initially, you will settle in a wasteland, which must be turned into a busy area. There are few financial resources, so it is necessary to properly dispose of them. In some cases, you will build incomprehensible shacks - but all this in order for the population to somehow exist.

You will receive the first profit from the sale of resources, of which you have a lot. Also, the source of income will be the USA or the USSR (depending on which one you make friends with).

4. Cim City

The first part of the game is already 30 years old!

City-building simulators became famous as a genre thanks to this toy. She appeared about 30 years ago, and gradually won her place on the shelves of the then gamers. However, the game gained real popularity after the release of Part 4 - at that time, Sim City 4 became a very complex strategy with many details. It also had a beautiful visual component.

The game has 3 modes that can be changed - you can even be a god in one of them, in whose power to modify any area on which you will then build. You can also send Godzilla against those who you don't like or who disobey orders. And then watch the characters die.

There is a mayor mode in which you will prove yourself as a real owner of the town. You will decide what and where to install, with whom to interact, etc.

3. ANNO

Anno appeared in 1998, and takes fans of the series to the islands in the Pacific Ocean. You can trade, establish diplomatic relations with others, and even fight - although the game focuses more on the economy and everything related to it.

Your colonies must be constantly developed in order to capture the islands in the neighborhood - otherwise, at one moment you can look around, and other territories will be occupied. And you will have to huddle in a very limited space of the island.

2. Settlers

This game differs from others in that the units do everything themselves - you just provide them with the necessary number of buildings that you need, and also give them the right amount of resources.

Also, a huge role belongs to the economy - this urban simulator is provided "from and to" with all the possibilities for the development of the economy in any direction.

1. strong hold

Stronghold: Build a medieval stronghold!

In this medieval strategy, the main place in the game belongs to city building, which has a lot of advantages. There are a lot of elements here that cannot be described so simply - they are all part of the development of a medieval settlement. You will have to pay attention to the economic component: build houses, sawmills and quarries, store food, and protect all this by building a variety of fortifications.

So choose a city builder and create the metropolis of your dreams!

Modern city-building simulations are already significantly different from those that we could see just 10-15 years ago, offering players much more options. Some games were initially so good and thought out in detail that over time they only improve the graphics, but otherwise they remain the same classic strategies that most fans remember them.

For those who are not yet very familiar with this genre, it is quite difficult to choose for themselves a really high-quality game that can fully satisfy the gaming interest. That is why we decided to select for you the best city-building simulators about building cities on PC, which have managed to gain a foothold in history and do not lose their popularity to this day.

TOP browser-based city-building simulators

City building games can be played right in your browser! Try to create a giant empire on a web page. At the same time, they are not demanding on the hardware of the computer, which allows you to play from old PCs. You can play browser games at work, on a trip and other places.

Forge of Empires

Forge of Empires began its march in 2012, and a year later its audience grew to 10 million players. Right in the browser, you have to build a huge city, moving along the timeline.

The beginning is the same for everyone - a small village, a minimum of resources. Gradually, you will expand the boundaries of your territory by mining, developing the army and building buildings.

Special attention deserves the technology study system, which advances players through the ages. For example, after the Stone Age, we will find ourselves in the Bronze Age, and so on, until the virtual future. Your city will be constantly changing, and the game will not soon lose interest.

Elvenar

The fantasy genre is popular in MMORPGs, but it's not uncommon in other games as well. For example, in Elvenar, the player will have to choose a side: humans or elves, and lead their people to prosperity. To do this, you need to build a city with various buildings and hire creatures into the army, which will protect your borders.

The developers have focused on various buildings and improvements. You can build a unique city, and then repeatedly upgrade buildings (there are up to 200 upgrades in the game). Don't forget to take a look at the global map, where you will find hundreds of other players with whom you can make friends or start a war.

Elvenar also attracts with colorful graphics and a magical atmosphere, thanks to which you feel like the hero of Tolkien's books.

Princely Wars

A global strategy, at the start of which you can choose one of 12 nations, each of which has unique features. Players will have to develop their own powerful empire, and have to start, as always, with the construction of the city. You can choose a unique structure for it as you wish.

You won’t get far on economic development, so soon after the start, players will have to hire units. There are 28 types in the Princely Wars game - infantry, cavalry, archers, siege weapons and more (can be improved). Are you ready to become an influential prince and conquer the world?

Stronghold Kingdoms

A series of real-time strategy Stronghold is going through hard times, but the developers have found a way out. Stronghold Kingdom is an online game in which you have to build a castle, hire units and get a lot of resources.

Many rules and mechanics of the game are unique and have not been seen in other parts. But in terms of atmosphere and graphics, this is still the same Stronghold, loved by thousands of fans. The PvP mode has a big role to play - you can join guilds and rob other players.

The remaining elements are familiar to fans of strategies: several types of resources, an abundance of buildings, castle defense and much more.

Game selection:

TOP city-building simulators on PC

Below you will see city-building simulators that can be downloaded to your computer. How are they different from online games? The gameplay is more diverse, and the graphics of each project are unique and inimitable. All this thanks to the client that you need to download on your PC to play these games.

SimCity game series

SimCity has been the go-to city builder for many years, and while new building games are constantly being released, new installments in the series are constantly garnering a ton of awards. The reason here is banal and simple - the developers pay attention to the smallest details and try to recreate as much as possible the situation in which the real mayor of some town finds himself, who, if he has funds and wants to spend them only on the development of this settlement, should turn it into a metropolis that will compete with the best cities in the world.

At the same time, SimCity tells everyone exactly about the modern world, which also distinguishes it from most other games.

Popular games in the series:

• SimCity 4 - 2003
• Sim City 5 - 2013
• SimCity BuildIt - 2014
• SimCity 6 - scheduled for release in 2018

Tropico game series

The Tropico series of games raises the bar a little and puts the player at the head of an entire state, which, even if it is just on a small island. At the same time, this game is not some kind of relaxing simulator - this is a real city building simulator in which the user will have to face all the problems of modern leaders - discontent of the population, opposing parties trying to seize power, elections and, of course, making responsible decisions . If you ever dreamed of being in the place of Che Guevara, this is a great choice for you (especially since you can choose him as the main character).

Popular games in the series:

• Tropico 3 - 2009
• Tropico 4 - 2011
• Tropico 5 - 2014
• Tropico 6 - 2018

Anno game series

The Anno series of games allows you to plunge into the global economy of various formats, from the Middle Ages to the future. The key features of this game are an extremely detailed picture, which invariably pleases the eye even for those who are used to playing modern shooters or RPGs, as well as an extremely detailed economy. German developers are responsible for the quality of all parts, so you definitely shouldn’t doubt it. It is not for nothing that this game has overcome a huge history, and there are already many games in the series, each of which has found thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of fans around the world.

Popular games in the series:

• Anno 1404 - 2009
• Anno 2070 - 2011
• Anno 2205 - 2015
• Anno 1800 - 2019

Cities series

Another series of full-fledged city-building simulators in which the user must take on the role of the manager of a city that develops its small settlement to the size of a large metropolis. The allocation of roads, taxation, work with utilities and other services, constant monitoring of the budget - all this will become a feasible burden only for those who are really ready to take responsibility for managing the whole city and are confident in their abilities. At the same time, everything starts with a small plot of land 2x2 km and a minimum amount of funds, so each new high-rise building will already be a small achievement.

Popular games in the series:

• Cities XL - 2009
• Cities: Skylines - 2015

Tycoon game series

The Tycoon series of games is no longer based on political or urban trends, but on more realistic and approximate tasks - the development of your own business, which can be very different, from an airport to a zoo. The main advantage of this series is that the developers offer their fans several interesting options at once, so that they can choose the option that they like the most. Like to make super profits? Organize your own oil well. Do you love children? Make them a full-fledged amusement park. For lovers of city building games, Tycoon City: New York is perfect for building your own city. Everything is possible in this series of games.

Popular games in the series:

• Transport Tycoon - 1994
• Tycoon City: New York - 2006

The Settlers series

The Settlers belongs more to the genre of military city-building simulators, in which the main goal is not to develop your own city or reach the forefront of the economy, but in the standard defeat of the enemy troops and the destruction of his kingdom. Actually, this is how they often acted in those days, so the player can feel what it is like to be in the shoes of a local ruler, who must not only enjoy a quiet pastime and gradually develop his settlement, but also take care that his opponents do not plunder him.

Popular games in the series:

• The Settlers II: Awakening of Cultures - 2008
• The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom - 2010
• The Settlers Online - 2011
• The Settlers - Kingdoms of Anteria - 2016

Stronghold game series

Stronghold emphasizes even more military focus than economic development, and is more of a military strategy with economic elements. The main goal of the player here is to quickly accumulate resources for a large army and defeat the enemy, while not allowing their own fortress to be destroyed. Interesting graphics, exciting and unusual gameplay, as well as the developers' attention to detail did their job, and eventually Stronghold became one of the most famous game series in its industry.

Grand Ages series

Grand Ages is another harsh economic game in which the player goes back to Roman or medieval times, taking under his wing a settlement that he will have to develop over several decades. The key feature of the game is the simplicity of the gameplay, as well as its regularity, when you do not need to hastily make any decisions or constantly check a lot of information. At the same time, there is a fairly extensive economic component, which should definitely appeal to all lovers of active trading.

Popular games in the series:

• Grand Ages: Rome - 2009
• Grand Ages: Medieval - 2015

pharaoh and cleopatra

A rather unusual game, which, unlike most of its counterparts, tells about rather distant and contradictory elements of history, namely, about Ancient Egypt in the period from the XXXIII century BC to the XIII centuries AD.

The hero begins his journey from a small village on the banks of the Nile, in which he will have to make a full-fledged agricultural structure and start producing the necessary elements. As you may have guessed, gradually we will guide our people through the above period of time, gradually meeting with various references to real historical events.

Popular games in the series:

• Pharaoh and Cleopatra - 1999
• The sequel was called Zeus: Master of Olympus - 2000

War and Peace, War and Peace 2: The Second Crown

A classic strategy that has nothing to do with the novel "War and Peace". A total of 2 parts have been released. The events of the games take players to the year 1200, to medieval Europe. You will learn the story of Prince Lothor's betrayal. Having enlisted the support of the army, he decided to remove the king, and you, being the weak head of the guard, decide to prevent him from doing this.

Get ready to go through 20 interesting missions, during which you will visit the entire kingdom from south to north. The task is to rebuild the cities, turn the young men into warriors and destroy the enemies of the kingdom. The game skillfully combines economic and military elements. You must competently develop the city and not waste resources, as well as manage the army. The game is exciting and will appeal to fans of the genre.

Surviving Mars

What is hiding on the Red Planet? Full life or evil aliens? This is what you have to find out! Surviving Mars tells the story of the first colonization of Mars, which will be led by you. The player will have to develop a civilization and survive among sandstorms! Supplies and oxygen are scarce - how will you deal with this problem?

Unlike other strategies, the game presents a lot of difficulties. You will be lucky if you pass the mission the first time. You also need to watch out for subordinates - their death will bring defeat. Otherwise, it's a great strategy - with the construction of buildings, the research of technologies, the extraction of minerals, and so on. You can download Surviving Mars from the torrent.