City-building games offer you a chance to construct your very own utopia. A place brimming with life and opportunity for your happy citizens to live fulfilling lives. But sometimes things aren’t quite so simple, or even worse, the level of power offered by these games can go to your head, resulting all kinds of problems for the citizens.
One method of combating this is to picture life from the other side. If you were living in one of these cities, just how pleasant would the experience be? Would it be a place worthy of being called home or would it be more of a nightmare than a dream?
9Frostpunk
For some people, weather is the biggest factor taken into account when finding a new place to live. Some like it hot, others like it cold. But even for those who enjoy a bit of chill in the air,Frostpunktakes things too far to be considered habitable. Taking place in a world that is consumed by a deadly frost, Frostpunk has you leading a group of survivors through this ice age in cities built around massive generators, which are the only means of heat.
In this world,steampunk technologyhelps keep humanity afloat, but things are still far too grim to be comfortable. Child labor, mass graves, and political extremism all make Frostpunk feel like a nightmare scenario. One where even the best results see your society just barely scraping by.
8Surviving The Aftermath
Surviving The Aftermathtakes traditional city-building gameplay and sets it in a post-apocalyptic setting. The actual events that led to the end of the world are customizable, but the options are never pretty. Surviving The Aftermath includes themes of human struggle, and the willingness to overcome the odds while also coming together as a society.
Surviving The Aftermath is more hopeful than a world consumed by a permanent ice age, but only just. The communities that are built may be able to survive, but they’re a long way off from comfortable living.
7Banished
It is always nice to reflect on just how modern conveniences like running water and access to food can help make life a lot more comfortable than it was hundreds of years ago. Even still, the cities of yesteryear could at least count on the sense of community that being part of civilized society inherently brings. In the setting of Banished though, you’ll need to start from the ground up if you want any hope of surviving.
While there is no risk of massive natural disasters to spell your impending doom, Banished is a stark reminder that the natural world is already plenty dangerous in its own right. The early days of constructing your town are treacherous, but sticking with it will eventually lead to a somewhat cozy village. At least, by the standards of the Middle Ages.
6Kapital: Sparks Of Revolution
It’s not news that humanity can often be its own worst enemy. Even without the dangers of dealing with freak events of nature, humankind has a nasty habit of getting in their own way. And that can be for several reasons, but the one Kapital: Sparks of Revolution opts to focus on is classism. The game places you as the leader of this town and when you’re in charge of such a turbulent society, you must keep the peace by any means necessary.
When running things, it’s easy to take a utilitarian approach and say that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. But if you were living in a city where you were part of that few? It would be significantly harder to see the bigger picture, not to mention the day-to-day stress of living in a society constantly on the brink of war.
5Surviving Mars
Space is considered to be the final frontier of exploration. To be the first ones to set out into the stars and start a colony of the world would be an honor few would be privileged to obtain. Even still, the dangers faced in completing such an endeavor would be immense. As bad as natural disasters can be on Earth, the meteor showers and dust devils of Mars can be even more deadly ifSurviving Marsis to be believed.
However, things are greatly enhanced by the game’s future setting. The fact that the technology on offer exceeds what we have in our modern day means that, assuming the architect knows what they’re doing, living on Mars could be even better than modern-day Earth. For those willing to accept the risks, of course.
4Sim City
Sim City is one of the most highly praised and well-regarded city-building games of all time. The options given for building your modern-day metropolis are bountiful, which, in turn, can create a high-functioning society for yoursimsto live their lives to the fullest. The only catch? One of Sim City’s other major selling points. Disasters.
Not just any disasters either, since there is nothing natural about the kind of chaos that can occur at random in Sim City. When you’re playing it, disasters provide mischievous fun to the game, but it would be far less enjoyable to have your morning commute interrupted by a volcano erupting in the city center. Or having your favorite restaurant evaporated by a UFO, especially when there’s no elite team to beat back this business-stealing menace.
3Tropico 6
TheTropicoseries has you takecontrol of a tropical islandthrough the years, leading it from the colonial era up to the modern day. Your role as El Presidente ensures that you have absolute control of your city as you turn it from a quaint settlement into a bustling paradise of industry and tourism. The only catch? Aside from dealing with pressures throughout the ages from whoever was a superpower at the time, Tropico’s government is as corrupt as they come.
When you’re playing as Presidente, it’s nice to reward yourself with a shining gold statue constructed in your image. The same kind of opportunity is less possible for the average citizen, who is more likely to get picked up by the secret police than move up in society. But if you keep your head down and work hard, you could just secure yourself your very own slice of tropical paradise.
2Timberborn
Timberborn is an odd case. Taking place following human extinction, Timberborn has you taking control of a colony of beavers as they restore life to the world as well as build up their society. So, assuming you are a human, then the world of Timberborn isn’t that much better than a standard apocalypse scenario.
But assuming you were a beaver instead, then Timberborn is actually pretty great. The colony is filled with all kinds of luxuries and advanced designs that facilitate a healthy society. Plus, rather than exploiting resrouces like in many other city builders, Timberborn allows you to live alongside nature, which creates an ultimately wholesome atmosphere.
1Cities: Skylines
There are a lot of city builders out there who layer on their challenge by throwing all kinds of curveballs. Science fiction discoveries, natural disasters, or human turmoil can all spice up what could otherwise be a casual experience. The exact kind of thing offered byCities: Skylineswhich is devoted to allowing you to build a sprawling metropolis.
So while it lacks any steampunk aesthetic or futuristic technology, the metropolises of City Skylines more than make up for it with their safety and efficiency. Even in their early days, these cities are less the endeavors of bright-eyed pilgrims and more a chance to get in on the ground level as things expand around you presenting endless opportunity.
