City builders are a very divisive prospect. For some, they’re an engaging timesink, providing hours of compelling and strategic entertainment. Others, meanwhile, condemn them as boring and stuffy.
If you fall on the former side of the fence, then you’ll find you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to great city builders to play in 2024. From realistic options through to fantasy-inflected titles, there’s no shortage of city builders to occupy your mayoral mind.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the 15 best city builder games you can play in 2024!
1. Cities: Skylines II
It’s fair to call the launch of Cities: Skylines II “rocky”, but Paradox Interactive seems determined to turn the game’s somewhat ill fortunes around.
Regular updates have been promised to improve Cities: Skylines II’s performance, which leaves a lot to be desired on all but the most powerful PCs, and the console versions are arriving in spring too.
It’s good that the developers are so committed to Cities: Skylines II, because it’s brimming with promise and potential; it’s a massively detailed and exciting city simulator that just needs a few kinks to be ironed out before it’s fully ready.
2. Tropico 6
The Tropico series is known for its tongue-in-cheek approach to the city builder genre, and Tropico 6 is no different, allowing you to take charge of your very own “banana republic” empire.
Despite being a humorous game, Tropico 6 is no less detailed than many of its compatriots. Its detailed citizen AI means each townsperson feels like a distinct character, and it offers plenty of ways to build and maintain your nation.
If you want something that errs more towards the realistic side of city building, but you’d prefer a game that’s less po-faced than Cities: Skylines II, Tropico 6 is your game.
3. SteamWorld Build
The SteamWorld franchise is a rather exciting one; you never know what the good folks at Thunderful are going to pull out of their steampunk hat next.
It turns out that SteamWorld Build is that project, and it’s a city builder with SteamWorld aesthetics. You know what that means: lots of dusty desert steampunk robots, and plenty of underground exploration too.
This time, though, you’ve also got a city to maintain, which means building facilities, gathering resources, and making sure to tend to the needs of your clanky, clunky citizenry.
4. Frostpunk
A sequel for Frostpunk is on its way, but at time of writing, the first game is still the only one that’s available. Luckily, that’s not an issue, because the original Frostpunk is great.
It marries post-apocalyptic city building with moral decision-making that will have you genuinely despairing at times, so if you’re looking for something happy-go-lucky, this isn’t it.
However, if you’re happy to get stuck into some moral quandaries and engage in some darn fine city building gameplay as you do so, then there are few options superior to 11 bit studios’ offering.
5. Timberborn
At time of writing, Timberborn is still in Early Access, but there’s a wealth of content to enjoy even if the game technically isn’t finished yet.
As the name suggests (albeit somewhat obliquely), Timberborn is a beaver-based colony management sim. You must build a city for your beavers, constructing machinery and ensuring that everything is running smoothly.
As you’ve probably surmised, Timberborn is not for you if you don’t want a healthy helping of quirkiness with your city builder games. If you’re happy to watch the antics of some improbably intelligent beavers, though, Timberborn is a great time.
6. Townscaper
It’s true that city builders often appeal to a certain kind of gamer – one that’s happy to engage the thinking part of their brain – but that doesn’t mean the genre belongs exclusively to that sort of person.
If you want to play a city builder that’s more relaxing than taxing, then you should definitely check out Townscaper, a chilled-out experience that asks nothing more from you than just to build.
You won’t need to worry about resources, citizen demands, or any other ticking clocks; instead, it’s just you and a vast, serene expanse in which you can build whatever kind of town your heart desires.
7. SimCity 4
Unfortunately, EA’s 2013 entry into the SimCity series is pretty much a no-go; it’s a watered-down, boring experience that can’t get anywhere near the highs of 2015’s Cities: Skylines.
As such, if you want to revisit the glory days of the SimCity series, then you have only to go back to 2003’s SimCity 4, which still holds up to this day.
It’s a more complex and exciting experience than SimCity, and it’s got everything you could want from a city builder, even if its visuals are somewhat more primitive than you might be used to.
8. Anno 1800
This rich historical city builder takes place at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, a time of great change and upheaval for human society as a whole.
If you’ve played an Anno game before, then you’ll likely know what to expect; complex economics, strategic diplomacy, and the option to approach other leaders with either peaceful or violent intent.
Anno 1800 is the latest game in the Anno series, and for our money, it’s the culmination of what the series has been trying to achieve up until this point, so give it a shot if you want a more historical bent to your city building antics.
9. Surviving Mars
Have you ever seen Ridley Scott’s excellent 2015 movie The Martian? If you have, then you’ll know how exciting the prospect of travelling to Mars is, albeit hopefully in a less disastrous fashion than Matt Damon does in that movie.
Surviving Mars gives you the chance not only to go to the Red Planet itself, but also to build your very own colony there, making human history in the process.
You’ll reap Mars’ natural resources, receive support from home, and explore the world around you, constructing a potential future for humanity as you do so.
10. Endzone: A World Apart
As the name suggests, Endzone: A World Apart is a post-apocalyptic city builder in which you must reconstruct humanity and give what remains of your species hope for the future.
As you’ve probably guessed, this isn’t the kind of game you should play if you want something relaxing. However, Endzone: A World Apart has plenty of thrills for the more adventurous city builder fan.
Make no mistake: this is a pretty brutal city builder, and its atmosphere is top-notch, so if you like to immerse yourself in a dark and brooding world as you tend to a city, this is the game for you.
11. Banished!
Banished! is one of those games where the title explains the premise too; it’s a city builder in which you’ve been exiled, and you must now build a new home for yourself.
The game features all of the usual city builder fare; you can gather resources to construct buildings, tend to the needs of your citizenry, and trade with other villages to get what you don’t have.
While Banished! does feature natural disasters and other perils, it’s a fairly relaxed experience, so you can enjoy it at whatever pace you feel comfortable with.
12. RimWorld
Technically speaking, RimWorld is a colony sim rather than a city builder, which means it has a slightly more granular focus than you might find in, say, Cities: Skylines.
Still, we think this one will do a good job of scratching whatever kind of city building itch you might have. Beneath its rather primitive visuals lies a fiendishly complex and compelling game.
It’s all about your colonists in RimWorld; you must make sure they have what they need, protect them from internal and external threats, and manage their environment to ensure they don’t perish.
13. They Are Billions
They Are Billions is perhaps more of a hybrid between real-time strategy and city builder than a pure city builder, but you should still enjoy it if you’re a fan of the genre (well, of either genre, really).
The premise of They Are Billions is simple: you must build a colony, then protect it from billions of zombies that threaten to tear down everything you’ve created.
Just because the premise is simple, however, that doesn’t mean you’re going to have an easy experience with this one. Be prepared to tear out your hair as you try to keep the zombies from your door.
14. Dwarf Fortress
Alright, so we’re straying pretty far from the standard city builder brief here, but we do think there’s something about Dwarf Fortress that will appeal to city builder fans.
To put it simply, Dwarf Fortress is punishingly, murderously difficult. It’s also hilarious; it constantly throws out emergent situations that will give you your very own unique stories to tell.
Dwarf Fortress isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you can look past its unfriendly nature, you’ll find an incredibly immersive and involving management sim.
15. Pioneers of Pagonia
Here’s another newer entry on the list, but one that deserves a look thanks to its pedigree; it was created by the mastermind behind The Settlers, Volker Wertich.
Pioneers of Pagonia is in Early Access right now, but it looks pretty promising with its beautiful painterly visuals and more mythological take on the Settlers formula.
If you like the industrious way in which settlers bustle around and, well, just get things done, then Pioneers of Pagonia should definitely be on your city building list.
