Time has changed now; gamers are not only playing storyline-based action or adventure games, but they are also playing City Building games. These games have become increasingly popular in the past two to three years.
City-building games that don’t mean building an apartment structure have different types and genres; you can craft an entire planet or just an apartment room; everything depends on you and your creativity.
Hundreds of City Building games are available on the internet, and each game’s content differs from other games if you want to know which game suits you, read this article.
15 City Building Games to Play in 2022
1. Cities: Skylines
- Platform: PC (Windows), Linux, PS 4, Mac, Xbox One.
- Genre: Simulator, Strategy
- Developer: Colossal Order
- Publisher: Paradox Interactive
- Release: March 10, 2015
- User Score: 7.1
- Metascore: 81
It is a fun and exciting game; Skyline is similar to the Sim city building. The goal of this game is simple, improve the economy and expand the city. You are the ruler of this city. The Cities: Skylines is one of the best city-building PC Games in 2022.
Skyline’s challenges are simple, like increasing the economy, expanding the city, and full fill citizens’ basic requirements (building houses, colleges, and hospitals).
It offers a lot of tools, and they are very useful. Let me give you an example; with the help of the District tool, you can divide the city into small colonies and name them so it will be easier for you to locate; you can make policies to watch over the city and control crimes or other issues.
Graphics is also good, and you can see the small details of each building and other objects. Gameplay is very simple; anybody can play this game on their first attempt. You can run this city-building game on a low-end PC.
2. Frostpunk
- Platform: PC (Windows), PS 4, PS 5, Mac, Xbox One and Xbox series X/S.
- Genre: Survival, Strategy and action-adventure
- Developer: 11 Bit Studios
- Publisher: 11 Bit Studios, Merge Games
- Release: April 24, 2018
- User Score: 8.4
- Metascore: 84
The goal of this game is similar to other town-building games for PC, that is, to improve the economy, expand the city, and survive. Frostpunk is more complicated regarding gathering resources, surviving in extremely cold weather, etc.
You will play as a ruler of the last city on earth during post-apocalyptic, and your task is keeping all the citizens alive. You must make very complicated decisions regarding workers and how kids will survive in this harsh situation.
You should know that workers are also humans, so that they can work during the day. In this harsh cold season, heating is the main priority, so you have to ensure that there are enough resources available for everyone and maintain the minimum temperature to survive. This city-building game can run on a low-end PC.
3. Anno 1800
- Platform: PC (Windows)
- Genre: Strategy
- Developer: Blue Byte
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Release: April 16, 2019
- User Score: 7.9
- Metascore: 81
Anno 1800 is one of the best city builder games on the internet, building structures and themes inspired by 19th century western Europe.
Like other city-building games here, you will start by farming to build small houses, but eventually, you will craft the most beautiful modern city. You can develop one island at a time. Each island has requirements like population, limited resources, labor, etc. Soon you will start trading worldwide with merchandise to grow your connection.
Anno 1800 supports multiplayer co-op mode, so playing with friends will be even more fun and exciting together; you can concur on the world map. This game also has different ways to help you organize the island and manage the economy. This city-building game can run on a low-end PC.
4. Surviving Mars
- Platform: PC (Windows), Linux, Mac, Xbox One, PS 4
- Genre: Strategy, simulation
- Developer: Haemimont Games, Abstraction
- Publisher: Paradox Interactive
- Release: March 18, 2018
- User Score: 7.1
- Metascore: 76
The goal of this game is similar to other town-building games for PC, improving the economy, expanding the city, and surviving. Still, in Surviving Mars, you will build your city on a different planet to face other challenges like meteors, oxygen supply, etc.
At the beginning of the game, you must build an oxygen supply, water supply, and colonies so humans can come to Mars and stay there as visitors or employers.
Here in this game, you have two ways to make money, visitors who will pay millions of dollars for Mars tours and research on Mars; these are the two ways to improve the economy. With time you will expand your city. It also offers different challenges; small details like these make it even more fun to play.
Most streamers and gamers like the concept of Surviving Mars, and they also said it is not a challenging game to clear. Still, they enjoy their time while playing this game. You can run this city-building game on a low-end PC.
5. Tropico 6
- Platform: PC (Windows), Linux, Mac, Xbox One, PS 4, Nintendo Switch and StemOS
- Genre: Strategy, construction and management simulation
- Developer: Limbic Entertainment
- Publisher: Koch Media, Kalypso Media
- Release: March 29, 2019
- User Score: 6.4
- Metascore: 78
Tropico 6 is one of the most popular city-building games on the internet. The concept of this game is that you are the ruler of a small country or island and trying to develop the country’s economy and create new opportunities to increase revenue.
Here in this game, challenges are simple, like making the city more beautiful and increasing the tourist spots; this is one way to improve your country’s economy.
The ruler can also make policies to control crimes, corruption, protest, and immigrant issues. A few things make you feel more realistic while playing; if you see an empty building or factory, there will be a power cut in that building, even for a moment. Each citizen follows some religion and supports some political party in the game.
Tropico 6 has 13 maps, each with a different theme to play. You can run the city-building games on a low-end PC.
6. Aven Colony
- Platform: PC (Windows), PS 4, Xbox One
- Genre: Simulator Game, Strategy Game, Indie Game
- Developer: Mothership Entertainment
- Publisher: Team 17
- Release: July 25, 2017
- User Score: 8.3
- Metascore: 65
Aven Colony is one of the popular town-building games on the internet today. The context of this game is similar to Forstpunk, where you are the ruler of the last human colony located on an alien planet. You will be responsible for managing citizens and resources so they can survive in that world.
If you are looking for more resources, you must complete different tasks like managing water supply and electricity and making policies to control crime or eliminate the monsters. These tasks sound complicated, but it’s not; if you make any mistake, the system will guide you through the game, so don’t worry; try to have some fun during the gameplay.
The graphics of this game is impressive, and you can notice small details of each building structure. One thing I hate about this game is sometimes it lags, except that everything else is good. You can also run this game on a low-end PC.
7. Townsmen
- Platform: PC (Windows), Nintendo Switch, Tizen, Android
- Genre: Simulator Game, Strategy Game
- Developer: Handy Games
- Publisher: Handy Games, Worker Bee, Headup Games
- Release: August 15, 2012
- User Score: 8.0
- Metascore: 60
Townsmen is the best town-building game on the internet; the game’s goal is similar to other city-building games; at first, you have nothing; slowly, with time, you will increase the resources and economy to develop the village.
You will be the ruler of this village and are responsible for building new houses and creating different sources to make money, such as mining ore, agriculture, and taxes.
19s early modern Europe inspired the concept of this game. I like a lot of things about this game, and it has different types of maps, modes, and challenges.
You have many options to choose from because most city-building games don’t offer these kinds of features or modes to offer; amazing, right?
You think the graphics aren’t good enough and look like an anime game; for them.
I will tell you just one thing try once; after that, you will love this game. You can run these city-building games on a low-end PC.
8. Atomic Society
- Platform: PC (Windows)
- Genre: Simulator Game, Strategy Game
- Developer: Far Road Games
- Publisher: Far Road Games
- Release: October 15, 2018
- User Score: 8.5
The goal of Atomic Society is similar to other city-building games that collect resources in the zombie land and build a community.
The context of this game is simple, and you will play as a city ruler; your responsibility is to take care of the citizens or workers in the community and guide them so that they can survive in the waste zombie land.
One thing I like about this game is that you can choose your path, which means you can be a cruel or kind ruler for your community.
Developers also give you the authority to set policies in your community; these rules can help you to control crimes and manage immigrants. These small details make this game more fun and exciting to play.
You can run this game on low-end as well as high-end PC.
9. Life is Feudal: Forest Village
- Platform: PC (Windows)
- Genre: Simulator Game, Strategy Game, Indie Game
- Developer: Mindillusion
- Publisher: Bitbox Ltd.
- Release: August 26, 2016
- User Score: 7.2
Life is Feudal: Forest Village is similar to another city-building game Banished. The goal of this game is to collect resources, build houses and fulfill all villagers’ needs.
The context of this game is that you will help refugees build homes and storage so they can survive in the unknown land. There are different ways to collect resources, such as farming, orchard, and windmills.
You will play the god character for those villagers and make all the decisions for them, it sounds easy, right, but you have to remember small mistakes can take their lives. You also have to prepare resources like warm clothes, water supply, and food for winter.
Now let’s talk about the exciting feature of this game; if you use the God Mode feature, you can take control of one of your villagers and play the first player.
The graphics are also excellent, but there are a few things I hate about this game, it takes so much time to complete a simple task, and you can’t interact with other NPCs.
10. Constructor HD
- Platform: PC (Windows), Nintendo Switch, Play Station series, Xbox series
- Genre: City Building Game, Strategy Game, simulation Game
- Developer: System 3, Studio 3
- Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment, System 3, Kalypso Media Digital Ltd.
- Release: 1990
- User Score: 6.8
- Metascore: 60
Constructor is one of the oldest and most popular city-building games since 1997. In 2019 developers made significant changes and republished the game because of fans’ demand. The goal is to develop your construction company and defeat your rivals.
You will play as a construction company owner, and your responsibility is to build houses and commercial buildings and rent those buildings to make money. It has different stages, each stage, you have to clear different types of tasks, such as protecting your building and resources from the rival company, and also make the strategy to destroy the rival company’s buildings.
This game also offers different types of maps, and each map has various themes to play; you can also set your gameplay level as easy or difficult. There are different types of Modes also available. These small details make this game more fun and exciting to play. You can run this game on low-end as well as high-end PC.
11. Rim World
- Platform: PC (Windows), Nintendo Mac, Linux
- Genre: City Building Game, Strategy Game, simulation Game, Indie Game
- Developer: Ludeon Studios
- Publisher: Ludeon Studios, Tynan Sylvester
- Release: November 4, 2013
- User Score: 8.9
- Metascore: 87
Rim World is one of the best Indie Games on the internet; this game aims to develop your colony and increase resources so you can repair the ship and then return to your planet.
The context of this game is simple: you are the leader of a small colony stuck on an unknown planet because of your plane crash.
You will be responsible for developing the colony and setting traps to protect your resources from enemies. It’s not like other city-building games; here, if you want to expand your base or increase the manpower, then two ways to do that are to hire talented people or change the prisoner’s mindset enemy to your employer. It looks so simple, but it is much more complicated than you can think of.
If you want to clear the game, then research is the crucial element. Play this game once or twice, and then you will know why gamers get addicted to this fantastic game.
12. Islanders
- Platform: PC (Windows), Nintendo Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PS4
- Genre: City Building Game, Strategy Game, simulation Game, Indie Game
- Developer: GrizzlyGames
- Publisher: Coatsink, GrizzlyGames
- Release: April 04, 2019
- User Score: 8.7
- Metascore: 82
If you are looking for a simple strategy-building game, Islanders is the game for you. The goal of this game is simple, build a developed city on an island. The Islanders is one of the best cross platforms for city-building PC games in 2024.
It is slightly different from other city-building games; at starting you have to choose building structures. In this game, points are more important; if you complete a task or build a building on the island, you will get more points, but you should remember if you make a single mistake or fail any missions, you will start the game from scratch. After clearing one island, you will move to another bigger island. Sounds easy.
During the gameplay, I noticed the graphics are excellent, and I like the game’s building structures and colors.
13. Northgard
- Platform: PC (Windows), Nintendo Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PS4, iOS
- Genre: City Building Game, Strategy Game, simulation Game, Indie Game
- Developer: Shiro Games
- Publisher: Shiro Games
- Release: March 07, 2018
- User Score: 7.7
- Metascore: 81
The goal of this Northgard is simple: you have to collect more resources, build houses or other buildings and expand your village to clear different chapters of this game. It is similar to Civilization Series.
You play the ruler character of a small Viking village, and your responsibility is to protect the villagers from enemy attacks or mythical creatures. You must also build houses, storage, and defense buildings to train or create new soldiers. One thing I like about this game is that you can kill mythical creatures or make them your ally.
This game has a total of eleven chapters, and you will face different kinds of problems in each chapter. This game’s dew characters look adorable, like dragons, wolves, and other surfaces.
14. Age of Empires Series 4
- Platform: PC (Windows)
- Genre: Strategy Game
- Developer: MacSoft, Ensemble Studios, Relic Entertainment,
- Publisher: MacSoft, Xbox Game Studio, Microsoft Corporation
- Release: October 28, 2021
- User Score: 7.7
- Metascore: 81
Age of Empire Series 4 is one of the internet’s best real-time strategy city-building games. The goal of this game is to create different resources for making money and building an empire.
The context is similar to other town-building games; you are responsible for building houses, storing, and protecting citizens from enemy attacks. There are different ways to improve the resources, such as farming, tax, looting the enemy base camp, etc.
Now let’s talk about my favorite part of this game; it offers different types of missions and campaigns, and after clearing each task or campaign, you will get incredible rewards. Sounds amazing right?
15. Floatsam
- Platform: PC (Windows), Macintosh operating system
- Genre: City Building Game, Strategy Game, simulation Game, Indie
- Developer: Pajama Llama Games
- Publisher: Pajama Llama Games, Kongregate Inc.
- Release: September 26, 2019
Flotsam is one of my favorite Indie games on the internet. The goal of this game is to collect various resources and build a floating colony in the middle of the ocean.
At the game’s start, you will play as a leader or captain of the ship. You are responsible for collecting the resource to build houses, research canter, and storage. For more resources, you have to travel to every island to contain more plastic and wood and use them to expand your colony, and you also have to fulfill the basic need of all citizens and workers, like food, clothes, etc.
Most gamers love the concept of this game; you will build a floating kingdom in the middle of the ocean, which can travel from one place to another.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Can I play the city-building game on a low-end pc?
Definitely, yes, you can play most of the city-building games on low-end as well as high-end PC. If you want to run these games on your computer, low-end graphics and memory cards are enough.
You don’t need a high-end PC to play these city-building games. If I have to give you a number, then 2GB GPU and 2GB RAM are enough to run city-building games.
Q2. Are there offline city-building PC Games?
Hundreds of offline city-building games are available on the internet; you can download and play them. One thing I don’t like about offline mode games is you will miss the new season features provided by developers and can’t play with friends.
City-building games are available online as well as offline; it depends. Hundreds of offline city-building games are available online, and you can download and play them.
Q3. How to download city-building games for pc free?
The process is pretty simple, and there are two ways to download city-building games for free, visit their official sites and download the game from there or download from third-party websites.
Final Words
Here in this article, we discussed many things regarding city-building games. All the games listed in this article are the best-reviewed games. You will have lots of fun during your gameplay; let us know your city-building game experience.
I’m confident you will enjoy these games while playing; for sure, all the games listed in this article are top-rated on the internet.
The process to download city-building games is very simple; first, select a city building game after that, visit their official sites. From there, you can download the game. If it asks you to pay, there are many other sites you can visit and download the game from there.
Let us know, Which one is your favorite city-building game?
