At least one amongst the best city building games we’ve listed below may be new to you. So if you’re into such titles and want to see what you’ve missed out on, scroll through our list and find out for yourself. You won’t be wasting your time, we promise. We’ve listed out the options in no particular order.
1. Anno 2070:
The first place in our list of city building games goes to this popular title in the Anno series, published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows. Here you can choose to play as any of the three available factions – the Tycoons, the Ecos or the Tech. Unlike in the previous releases, this one is based solely on your faction’s ability to generate power and energy from the given resources.
Since global warming had caused the melting of the ice caps, the sea levels have risen and caused land masses to diminish. So humans have to make optimum use of the limited land available to them and expand accordingly. The main structure here is the Ark which you can upgrade as you progress. There is also a multi-player option where you and a bunch of pals can take part in the World Events missions.
2. Cities XL:
Here is popular famous pick which has been developed by Monte Cristo for your Windows PC. It includes many lots which you can erect such as those for industrial, commercial and residential purposes. You are also allowed to choose your lots individually or your lots can be created automatically when you zone in on a particular area of the map.
You can make your own network of roads to connect the different types of lots and even construct tunnels and bridges wherever necessary. The terrain which you will be using would be created with the help of third party tools like GeoControl and its 3D engine ensures you’re viewing spectacular graphics effects and a real-world type of scenario.
3. Tropico 4:
Tropico 4 not only gives you an opportunity to create your own nation, but you can even control it and become a powerful and benevolent (or not) leader for your people. There are 10 different maps for you to play on and you can even customize the look of your character namely, El Presidente.
So basically you have to ensure that your nation prospers under your rule and that the demands of the various sections of society or factions living on Tropico are met. When you make a decision, you have to be careful that it does not create a conflict between two factions, so as to maintain happiness. Some of the more interesting add-ons available for it are Pirate Heaven and Quick Dry Cement
4. SimCity:
This is certainly one of the most sought after city building games of all time and is the latest installment in the SimCity series which was recently released (amidst a bit of criticism for needing an online connection always, admittedly) in March by EA for Windows and OS X. You will find a lot of differences here as compared to the previous series such as the new user interface, better road creation tools, transportation choices and customization.
The 2013 version supports multi-player mode which has the full online playing feature and you also have the option of choosing a specialization sector such as education, manufacturing, tourism and so on. You will notice the traffic jams, pollution and other economic problems more prominent and therefore big challenges, and these are just some of the features that make this pick really attractive.
5. The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom:
The next item in our city building games collection is this seventh part of The Settlers series, developed by Blue Byte Software and it also combines real-time strategy. You have three types of strategies that you can use to conquer enemies – Trade, Military or Science. You will start off with just a small village and attempt to expand it into a large kingdom using any of the three techniques.
Here you will notice that the AI enemies are more advanced as pitted against the title’s predecessors and there four separate types of playing modes namely Skirmish, Multiplayer, Ranked and of course, Campaign. Note – this installment has been built very intelligently, meaning you will have to be equally cunning and think carefully about action and consequence of more than one element at a time before you make a single decision.
6. Grand Ages: Rome
Here’s another famed title published by Kalypso Media with a real-time strategy element. You can customize the look of your avatar according to your preference and may choose to play as any of the five families namely the Aemilii, Lucii, Flavii, Julii or Valerii, where each will have their own unique economic or military advantage associated with them. One of the key factors which will be vital for you to succeed in achieving your mission’s objective is to always keep your civilians content.
This can be done by maintaining good food production units, providing them with sources for entertainment and also by constructing religious monuments. If you fail to provide for your people and keep them happy, then you will notice a rise in disease and crime levels which would create an adverse effect on your economy. The entire look and feel is not vastly different from the scores of other Roman civilization themed titles on the table, but it’s for those of you who’re into such offerings.
Conclusion:
So those were our list of city-building games you should try. They’re all amazing experiences that let you get a feel of what it’s like to be a position of power and influence, taking important economic and strategic decisions, so that your small settlement turns into a large and successful one.