Here Are The Best Building Games of Today

From a tiny plot of land to a sprawling mega-city, there is something incredibly satisfying about playing city-building games.

While some are more akin to the classic city-building tropes, others will include  elements such as survival and combat. If you’re feeling the itch to try out a different game and are looking to build a city from the ground-up, then you have come to the right place.

Each one of these games showcases why the city-building genre is the best.

12. Cities: Skylines

Cities: Skylines gameplay

A modern take on the classic city-building sim, Cities: Skylines combines new elements with well-established tropes of city building to make a truly fantastic experience.

As the mayor, you will build your city from the ground up while being tasked with adding in essentials to make your city thrive, such as education, police, water, electricity, healthcare, firefighting, and so much more. Master the art of placing your buildings in different districts to ensure your city will grow and your citizens will be happy.

Featuring a robust local traffic simulation, build your roads to make sure citizens can get where they need to be. With multiple DLC, scenarios, and being incredibly mod-friendly, there are many ways for you to create the most fantastic city!

Utilizing the day and night cycle, the city comes to life in the darkness of night!

With fires breaking out like this, it is safe to say that building fire departments earlier on should be near the top of your priority list.

11. Tropico 6

Tropico 6 gameplay:

El Presidente is back in the newest installment of the critically acclaimed ‘dictator’ city-building simulation. In previous games, you controlled just one island nation, but now you will be able to manage vast archipelagos.

Bridges, tunnels, and other all-new methods of infrastructure and transportation have been added to help connect your islands. Send your agents on raids around the world to steal some of the most highly recognizable monuments and treasures of the world, such as the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower, and add them to your own islands.

Customize your palace, give election speeches, research political aspects, play with your friends, and so much more while you are on your quest to become the world’s greatest dictator!

As El Presidente, you need a superior palace. The intuitive building system ensures you can build the palace of your dreams.

Keep track of your Tropico citizens! Bribe, kill, imprison, institutionalize, or simply follow them around.

10. Stonehearth

Stonehearth gameplay:

In a forgotten land, you will assist a small group of settlers to grow their town with  a combination of city building and management. Find food resources to create a food supply, build shelters and other buildings.

Create weapons to  defend your people. Monitor the moods of your people all while finding different ways to grow and expand. Level up your citizens’ jobs in order to fill critical roles within your city.

Stonehearth’s design is completely moddable to create a truly unique experience.

Play how you want; build a sprawling metropolis, a peaceful monastery, a robust trade city, an empire striving for conquest: the choice is yours!

Defend your city from fearsome creatures like this gigantic titan!

Celebrate victories and host town parties to keep your citizens entertained and happy!

9. Prison Architect

Prison Architect gameplay:

A unique take on the city-building genre, the primary goal of Prison Architect is to build a maximum security prison from the ground up. You are in charge of the  type of facilities in your prison. Create and build holding cells, solitary confinement cells, execution rooms, feeding areas, work-out areas, and more. Play through various scenarios and modes as either those running the prison or as prisoners (there is an even a campaign to try to escape the prison!). Will your prison be able to keep bloody riots at bay, or will you encourage prisoners to revolt? With so many different ways to play, the options are limitless!!

Build a massive, sprawling prison to hold the worst of humanity!

Some prisoners are so horrible that execution is necessary.

8. Banished

Banished gameplay:

Combining city-building with strategy, in Banished you control a small group of exiled travelers who have started their lives over in an entirely new land. Starting off with only the clothes on their backs and minimal supplies from their homeland, you will assign your villagers various jobs: laborer, builder, farmer, hunter, woodcutter, and so much more. These jobs are what will help your village grow into a thriving city. Your townsfolk are your primary resource; keep them happy, healthy, and educated to ensure they work hard to keep the town growing. Each game is unique with newly generated maps, terrains, and starting conditions. Banished’s  amazing modding community adds that much more to the original gameplay, making each playthrough a genuinely distinct experience!

A small river-side farming community may the perfect choice for your Banished settlers.

Plan your village carefully using mods to take it to the next level of a beautiful sprawling city!

7. Kingdoms and Castles

Kingdoms and Castles gameplay:

With a more relaxing take on the city-building genre, Kingdoms and Castles starts you off as a tiny hamlet in a vibrant world. With raiding Vikings, diseases, and lush forests, how will you grow your hamlet? Build and fortify your village as it expands into an imposing kingdom. Create farms to keep your townsfolk fed. Create weapons to build up an army and to let hunters capture animals for food. Build taverns and hold festivals to keep your citizens happy. Create the ideal city, and your citizens will prosper!

Be wary of dragons and other creatures!

Create a massive kingdom from the ground up!

6. Depraved

Depraved gameplay:

Set in the Wild West, Depraved is a city-building game with a survival twist. Lead your pioneers on a search for the perfect settlement. With limited resources, your pioneers must be able to procure materials from nature or construct a trading post to obtain the things your group needs to thrive. Keep them fed and hydrated, clothed and warm so they don’t succumb to the harsh environment. Of course, any settlement in the Wild West isn’t without its dangers. There may be bandits, illnesses, and natural disasters to face. Even your own citizens can become a danger if their needs aren’t met. Will you have what it takes to grow your settlement into a booming city or will it become a ghost town?

Gunslingers and bandits can wreak havoc on your townsfolk!

Meet your settlers needs to ensure a prosperous settlement!

5. Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation

Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation gameplay:

In Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation, the gates of hell have opened.  Demons are wreaking havoc on the world. Yes, the end times are here; how will you survive!? The first thing you and your friends must do is find and build up a base; you have to be able to protect yourself from the horrors of this new world. Scavenge to find food and other useful things. Craft weapons, learn new technologies, and practice the occult so that you can fight off the demons and send them back from where they came from!

Slay the demons before they destroy humanity!

Fortify your base and make sure it has everything your group could possibly need. Don’t forget to include a spot for practicing the dark magic!

4. Anno 1800

Anno 1800 gameplay:

The latest from the much loved Anno series takes you into the Industrial Revolution. Write your own version of history while discovering new technologies, continents, and societies. Discover a new continent; explore South America and seek the mighty resources it has to offer while facing the challenges of a new land. Featuring a robust AI opponent system, randomly generated maps, story-based campaigns, classic multiplayer experience, and a highly customizable sandbox mode  ensures adventures abound in Anno 1800, promising a truly unique experience with each new game.

Start off as a small, sprawling city, and make sure it has everything you need to flourish.

While it may take time to grow your small town into a highly industrialized city...it will be worth it! 3. Frostpunk

Frostpunk gameplay:

With humanity on the verge of extinction t, you are tasked to lead the very last city left in the now frozen world. Use steam-powered technology to keep your city running. You will have to make a lot of difficult choices, including laws and how you will lead the citizens. Will you be fair or will you be cruel in your leadership? In Frostpunk, one of the most important things to remember is that heat means life. You must always keep it going, or everyone that remains will freeze to death.

With heat comes life.

After many years of hard work, your city will advance and thrive.

2. Life is Feudal: Forest Village

Life is Feudal: Forest Village gameplay:

Life is Feudal: Forest Villages is set in a harsh medieval world that masterfully combines city-building with survival. Starting over in a new land, you will lead a group of refugees. Shape and build on the land, create farms, homes, and keep your townsfolk happy to survive. Of course, there will be challenges. Natural disasters, overuse of land, and illnesses could bring an end to your peaceful village. In an exciting twist to the gameplay, you can control any of the villagers and work on their tasks or play in a third-person birds-eye view to watch over the entire town. The choices you make will determine whether your refugees thrive or not.

Life is never easy when trying to build up a small village into something glorious!

With time, your village will grow and prosper, if you’re willing to put in the work.

1. Industries of Titan

Industries of Titan gameplay:

Coming in 2019, there is so much hype around Industries of Titan already. In this city-builder, you are tasked with developing a highly industrialized city on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. Build residential buildings, factories, research facilities, and much more as you turn your small city into a massive metropolis. Engage in tactical combat aboard battleships you’ve created and equipped with weapons, shields, thrusters, and more. With more than one way to best your opponents, you decide whether you want to overcome your enemies through combat, superior technology, or political dominance.

The enemy has been spotted. Taking out the target is crucial!

Fly above and around your city in the ridiculously awesome ships you build yourself!