Despite their creation in 1989 with the release of Will Wright's SimCity, City Builders haven't had as many releases in 24 years of existence. Moreover, they are not at all similar to each other in the style of play.
Because it's a genre full of duds and big titles are rare, we've compiled a list of the top ten city-building video games. Likewise, we have included some bonus titles at the end.
# 15 planet base
- Developer: Madruga Works
- Publisher: Madruga Works
- Platforms: PC, XBO
- Released: October 2015
In Planetbase, players guide a group of space colonists in an effort to establish a base on a remote and uninhabitable planet that doesn't look too much like Mars. Cultivate food, collect and extract resources, survive disasters and build a sufficient colony in an environment unsuitable for human habitation. It's basically the Martian in the form of a city building sim.
# 14 Year 2070
- Developer: Related Designs, Blue Byte
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Platforms: PC
- Released: November 2011
Anno 2070 is very similar to previous games in the series, including Dawn of Discovery, but with the crucial difference in that it takes place in the future. The game plays on the looming catastrophe of rising sea levels and melting polar ice caps, as humanity continues to grow and expand far beyond sustainable levels.
It's your job as a manager to build a sustainable island city while garnering favor with each of the game's three factions: industrialists, environmentalists, and technologists. In return for your support, each faction grants you access to technologies and advancements unique to your city.
In addition to the single player campaign and free play modes of the game, Anno 2070 comes with an online component that adds weekly challenges for players and a live voting system for passive bonuses in your city, which can change the dynamics of the way you build and run your city.
# 13 Year 2205
- Developer: Blue Byte Mainz
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Platforms: PC
- Released: November 2015
In the distant future, Anno 2205 brings the long series of Anno games to the moon. At first you 'conquer' all of Earth, building large, technologically bustling cities and large industrial complexes before you run out of space and travel to the stars.
# 12 Cities in Motion 2
- Developer: Colossal Order
- Publisher: Paradox Interactive
- Platforms: PC
- Released: April 2013
Cities in Motion 2 follows Colossal Order's Cities in Motion. The video game series in particular emphasizes public transport where players have to create efficient routes and systems in different cities around the world.
Depending on your ability to create a decent transportation system, this will determine the impact of your city's growth. Likewise, there are cooperative and competitive game modes to enjoy city building and management titles with friends.
# 11 banned
- Developer: Shining Rock Software
- Publisher: Shining Rock Software
- Platforms: PC
- Released: February 2014
Banned is an interesting title because it's not a typical city builder. Instead of ordinary cities or futuristic worlds, Banished follows a group of excluded citizens who must live in an isolated community. This small group will depend on the players who carefully manage the various resources for their survival.
Starting from scratch, players can build their community into a thriving city that can be sustained from the birth of children to the acceptance of wandering citizens in the world. Speaking of citizens, in Banished, as players develop their cities, citizens will age and eventually die, which makes citizens a valuable resource to return.
