As far as I can judge, these are the best that exist. Do you love one I didn't mention? Also, if you want to support the channel, buy games using this GOG referral link: af.gog.com/?as=1715648857 Thank you!
@@milosstamenkovic5941 I know about Citadelum, I was sponsored by them. Also like I say in the video, 1 just released, which is that. Pax Romana isn't released and I even talk about it in the video. Roman Conquest: Rise to Power? That's not a city-builder.
Oh, yeah. It's an urban trope from Hollywood. Nobody plays jazz out in the country. Were in the urban jungle... were we have to dress up and wear cologne to impress the high maintenance ladies...
Pharaoh is by far the best of the best of all Impressions City Builders, and by extension the best city builder ever created. What other city builder allows you to build the Pyramids?!
It is personal, because everyone finds something different to love about each one. I started with Caesar III and Pharoah, but I fell in love with Zeus/Poseidon, easily my favorites. The music in them is just so soothing, GREAT atmosphere building to just relax and build a great Classical city. The slight silliness they added (like guards being named Hutchippus and Starsichus, and healers named Allergeia and all, made it even more fun and the voice lines too "Build me a pyre, to roast my friends upon!" still make me lol.
Caesar III has an awesome story. It could've been forgotten long time ago, replaced by a sequel or just any newer game. But no. Community is not only alive and well, but the game receives brand new updates.
I just want to thank you for these videos! I discovered your channel while playing Anno 1404, and your content has been incredibly helpful. It’s refreshing to see a channel focused on simulation games rather than the usual AAA shooters and adventure games that fill up the RUclips discovery page. I’d love to see some videos on other types of sim games too, like transportation or shop management!
I thought Pharaoh would be on the list, to be fair I haven't played many of these, ANY of these games, except Pharaoh and Cleopatra, which I absolutely loved and completed, thanks to your guide. I found the warring a little difficult/tedious at times, which is why i needed your help. Thanks.
I highly recommend all city builder lovers try Workers and Resources. It's so different than other city builders. You fight tooth and nail for every square inch. It's is very challenging and therefore very satisfying to see a properly functioning city. In other city builders, you build something beautiful. In W&R you build something you're proud of.
So... when does this larning curve end? I have been playing it since early access release... Logged 800 hours into it and still learning new stuff each time XD
Another great list, Zakh. I really liked your comment that rough games without the pressure will never become a diamond. I like the objectivity the list represents and the transparency. Well done!
Frostpunk comes quite as a surprise. I think people in general (understandably) appreciates other aspects of the game, but the pure city-building aspect of it was super innovative, fun, and solved a thousand-year problem of playing city builders in consoles.
Great list! I'm only missing Surviving Mars, one of my all time favourites. And while I get the argument for Anno 1800, I personally prefer Anno 1602 and 1503. The later ones just add a lot of unnecessary and tedious balast to the gameplay imo.
I was surprised you picked Against the Storm above Banished for best of all time, but I'm happy because of your list AtS is the one I play the most, it's one of those very few games where you feel the love and passion that went into the game. If I let my nostalgia get the upper hand I would go for Caesar 3, but it's been so long that I've played it that I can't call it the best game for me.
I do give credit to Banished, and even though mods are great for it, development stopped a long time ago and it's starting to feel old. With all the 'Banished clones' being made, there's just better options in my eyes now. To a lesser extent, I now talk about Banished like SimCity 1. Super important but it has been improved upon at this point.
I'm not really a city builder player (I prefer defense strategy like They Are Billions provides), but there is something about AtS that has me hooked. I've put 40+ hours into it and even though there is a bit of frustration within those hours, I keep coming back for more and that's saying something.
AtS is not a true city builder. I don't like the randomness and rouge features of it and rather fast pace and episodic gameplay. I think the 95% positive reviews are misleading since it mostly measures if the buyer knows what he gets and if the game is not broken. There were many opportunities to try demo or play during fee weekends so many people could try it and simply steer away.
@@qwe5qwe566 You're going to have to define 'true city builder' because most consider it to be a city builder. Many games have demos and many people get games on deep discounts too.
I can't wait for the release of "Manor Lords". I played the demo last year and instantly fell in love with it. It was amazing how detailed everything was.
@@ThaGamingMisfit I I agree. It's very overhyped and released very barebones with very slow updates. It will take years to become at least a decent game. Now it's very good looking but empty and shallow game compared to Ostriv and other games in the genre. I think it gets too much attention that is not deserved. Now it only sells on visuals and bunch of promises and borderline false advertising of solo dev story.
@@ThaGamingMisfit It's been slowly but steadily adding features and subsystems since its pre EA days. It still feels somewhat incomplete to be honest but at the same time there's enough now to warrant several playthroughs, especially with how fleshed out the combat system is.
A really good list. My favorites (according to hours played): C:S, Foundation, Workers&Resources (and Ostriv, but I bought it on GOG). My favorite Tropico is the original one but No.4 is also very good. I loved Anno 1800 "age of sails" part but not later ones. Against the Storm must be a good game but not for me. Still sniffing around Frostpunk. ETA: Frostpunk is on sale ATM (-85%), so I stopped sniffing.
i think success of Againt The Storm is partially due to mix of genres, it's not just City builder. It's technically a Roguelite with City builder framework and 4X Strategy game elements
Glad to see you back with the same great quality. Since I saw the rant vid, I've started to see others talking about "hostory or ancient places, etc. Just like you and S***** tha tyou mentioned. It's a trend to keep am eye on. Now. Back to watching what you've offered!
Awesome vid, couple of games suggested ive not played yet (Timberborn, Farthest Frontier), everything else is in my Steam List and Ive played the crap out of them all. Just to comment on some of the early access stuff. Foundation is AWESOME. The organic growth of the city/kingdom just puts it in this special tier that other games can't sit in. Once you learn how to manipulate the population using buildings etc, you can make incredibly nice looking towns. Kingdoms Reborn is lowkey one of the best "empire builders" Ive ever played, it can go from very easy to very hard depending on how you start out, and even if you are sitting pretty, a population boom can cause your city to just fail. Its a lot of fun. I'd like to add one I think you missed but it just entered early access recently. Memoria Polis. It is a organic style city build/resource management simulator....that also involve factions and "politicing" kind of like Frostpunks systems, basically you are building an Empire to stand the test of time, as you play through various ages of civilization. Ive had a blast with it so far, granted it is very early and does have some crash/bugginess, the core gameplay of it is actually very enjoyable though. Keep this one on your radar.
@@Islacrusez And I'm prepared for that too, because although all curated lists have subjective elements, I use a lot of objective indicators when curating too. Playercount, sales numbers, review scores, user tags, modding situation, etc. I give reasons why I chose these 8 games through the video, and some argue against the objective points too. For example, Manor Lords being the 4th most played city builder in the world, I have people saying "the community has woken up and realised it's a terrible game" when it's still literally in the top 5 city builders in the world. You can name a game that you think deserves to be in the list instead of these top 8, and I have objective and subjective reasons why it's not. To disagree with the subjective point, you have to be just as subjective. To disagree with the objective point, sometimes it's being silly or it goes back to just feelings. Like you can say Cities Skylines is 'boring, soulless, pointless', but a decade after release and it's still the most played city builder in the world. To say it shouldn't be in the list doesn't make sense considering what the list is about.
@@GamerZakhI can also say that Anno is a buggy mess with an AI-upscaled cover image (or perhaps upscaled by an employee that doesn’t get paid nearly enough). The first time I played it the campaign broke and dumped me into a full armed conflict without unlocking the relevant building options, and the second time it locked up prior to unlocking basically any buildings making it entirely unplayable. Or you can look at the background image in the steam library and see if there’s anything up with the text. Looks like maybe AI upscaling to me, but could also be a woefully underpaid employee. Best of all time it really shouldn’t be. An older Anno may have been a better pick, but I wouldn’t know. I’d also question your Soviet Republic pick but far more tongue in cheek. It’s a hell of a game but it’s a decent citybuilder without everything turned on, and with everything turned on it’s barely a citybuilder at all - it’s a logistics game. Probably the best one there is. While it did knock CS2 off my wishlist, it actually eliminated several games from the logistics and transport genre off my list. And I’d put C3 and Pharaoh in there as a single item, they’re functionally alike and both very good. Mostly pulling your leg though. These top x lists can be very pretentious, especially if they have a spicy pick, but hey it drives engagement. You’ve got some solid picks and even the ones I’ve not played I at least recognise. If anything the biggest failing of the list (apart from Anno, zing!) is that it didn’t bring anything new to my attention.
@@Islacrusez Haha well it's only half about my experience, the rest is more objective. Right this second, Anno 1800 is the 5th most played city builder in the world half a decade after its release. Part of the longest running city building series, a solid 8/10 or higher based on various ratings, top 5 most played. Your personal experience is understandable, but it's not enough to override all that. As for C3 and Pharaoh, it's why I talk about the entire Impressions series in the video. However, there is no Julius or Augustus equivalent for Pharaoh. Also, a number of game breaking bugs plagues Pharaoh. Caesar 3's game breaking bugs have now been fixed by the community. To note, Caesar 3 and Pharaoh weren't even made by the same people. After C3, most of the team left and founded Firefly Studios, Pharaoh was made by a completely different group. And these are the best in the world, of course if you're a city-building aficionado you'll already know them. If you want unknown stuff, watch upcoming or underrated lists. Best of lists aren't going to be hidden gems, the best games don't fly under the radar. Only people without radars miss them. Having said that, I made a 'best of 2024' city builder list that rules out everything older. You might find something new in there.
Manor Lords has been very interesting. I love how it looks and hope the full launch comes out in reasonable time. I remember hearing it was a one man project, which in and of itself is incredibly cool, but I also temper expectations on a single person being able to do everything as quickly as we might like.
I love less known Cliff Empire. Definitely recommend this one to everyone. Don’t get confused by its simplistic look. It’s a pretty refined game with many cool features.
This is a great list thank you! I loved tropico pirates Cove. I don't think many played that I have never seen it anywhere on you tube. Anno 1503 is my fav. I guess I love the underdogs so to speak.
If you talk about early access also, you should mention Ostriv. It has really deep production and economical simulation. (Of course, games listed in video are great, I've been playing a lot in most of them)
Lovely list, I agreed with most of it... and seeing it reminded me how much I love and play these kinda games =))) For me, the best sierra/impression/bullfrog are Caesar II, Zeus and Children of the Nile :D And, in the Tropico series, the first one (for nostalgia) and the 4 (for gameplay!) I missed an Ostriv mention
Thanks! I've talked about Ostriv for a decade. Although it's commendable, for obvious reasons it's taking a very long time in development and I don't see it crossing into the 'best' category in the foreseeable future. Maybe more down the line yes, but after 10 years it's literally still in Alpha. In 5 years I could make another list like this and it's likely that Ostriv would still only be a bonus mention as I don't see it fully releasing by then.
@@GamerZakh yes, as frequent in this kinda "always in EA" games, I guess Ostriv is in continuing building state, altought I think now it's getting ready for a 1.0 launch (the dev showed another game he's working too), but the war in Ucraine affected the developer... It's very hard indeed to choose from this multitude of games (and kinda hard to pinpoint the exact "city" status of some xD) Thanks for your work and curation! =))
OMG Zakh! Incredible stuff!!!!!! The. Mos sttill reliable youtuber when it comes to city builders? I do have mistakes at times but so much love your games!!! You're the best!!!!
I´m that addicted to Workers and Resources that I even found ways to build cities like in Cities:Skylines, f. exp. building complex highways by using the ground-lift-tool.
Pharaoh, Sim City 2000, and Tropico 1 are at the top of my list, probably due to nostalgia. I like that for your list you considered the ongoing community updates, rather than just old favorites. I'm a little resistant to some of the recent games being called "survival city builders". For me, banished and frostpunk are solidly in builder category (relative placement of the buildings matters a lot) but others play more like tower defense games in that there is too much combat, like defense building and unit micro. IMO a city builder should still be fun to play even on maps without combat, like the impressions, simcity, tropico games.
Great video, Zakh, as always! I have a suggestion: when presenting a game, could you show real gameplay footage instead of just random clips? Especially since these are your favorite games, it would be great to see you play, so we can get a feel for the UI and gameplay. Thanks!
Zeus Master of Olympus was my first experience with city builders and a true epiphany for me. I understand your point about Caesar 3, taking longevity in mind, but I can't look past it when thinking about best of all time.
I totally understand. I mentioned that I used to call Pharaoh or Emperor the 'best' one, but personally I just liked Caesar 3 way more than those. If I was calculating merits Pharaoh beat base Caesar 3 easy, so I couldn't really justify calling C3 the best. But it was the one I enjoyed the most by far. Me labelling Augustus the best now, it's also based on me trying to be objective.
Thanks for the list im suprised Cities Skylines 1 is still played more than 2. I was playing Anno 1404 when 1800 came out, even watching people playing Anno 1800, i didn't believe I would like it more than 1404, until i played 1800😊, now i only play 1800 haha, but 1404 is definitely still great just leaves me desiring so much of what was added in 1800
I was surprised that Surviving Mars was not on the list. It's an amazing city/colony builder with tons of ways to play it, lots of great mods (Silva's even got rolled into an official DLC for the game with even more improvements), and a bangin soundtrack just like in Skylines (which has a Mars Radio station too :) )
Good list. I think mine would look very similar. Personal favorites (but this isn't saying they are the best) would be Urbek (for being very different from other city builders) and possibly Settlement Survival (for being a more sophisticated Banished ... talking about that spiritual successor theme). I probably wouldn't have included the more survival-themed ones because then I'd have to think whether Songs of Syx or possibly even Dwarf Fortress or such shouldn't also count. But tough to say where city building stops and colony survival starts.
Thanks! I have a pretty good line that works 99% of the time when it comes to 'city builder or colony sim'. It's just "do you place beds"? If you place beds, it's almost always more colony sim.
Little note about Tropico: The seventh game is in development at Gaming Minds Studios, which previously developed Patrician 4, Port Royale, Grand Ages Medieval and Railway Empire.
Amazing list I love all of your videos!!! I know it’s too early to tell and too young a young game to add to the list but what are your thoughts/conclusions on Citadelum?
First I was sponsored to cover it, so keep that in mind for anything I say about this. Besides that, it's only just released with no time to prove itself. People are enjoying it and it's at 82% positive on Steam. The map making tools are robust, which opens up a long lifespan, but it depends on whether the community wants to make content for it. It might get updates, maybe DLC, but unsure on those. There are also like 3 more Roman city-builders that are supposed to release in the next 6 months, so there's a lot still left to be seen.
Lol I played all these games but 1 ^^ (The Russian city builder, it's on my list though) Would definitively recommend Against the Storm to both city-builders and colony-survivor games. Because the game is both, and is more one genre or the other depending on your difficulty settings :) You can also play custom games to really match your style. Thanks Zakh, very nice vid :)
You remember SimCity but not a word about the Settlers series? I know under current Ubisoft the series is kinda DOA but back then there were awesome Settlers games that people deserve to know and remember.
@@mikebobihov I'm being strict on the definition of the genre here, many don't consider Settlers as a city-builder. You don't really build houses for citizens to live in and the primary objective is conquering land. Outside of this, I talk about not just Settlers but Pioneers of Pagonia a lot.
I still haven't find any other games that scratch that itch like Caesar 3, and not for lack of looking. It was so ahead of its time. Really wish I could find a modern city builder that has all the same features.
Definately Caesar 3 is an all time classic, however Caesar IV is now my fave and users have created alot of their own custom levels which has kept it alive a bit longer.
Yes, agreed with your list. But there are some definitely great city builder games which you didn't mention: Endzone, Surviving Mars, Surviving the Aftermath..
I've been making city-building lists for 10 years, there's a lot of good games I didn't mention lol. I listed 35 city-builders for 2024 alone: ruclips.net/video/2oYMqZinXok/видео.html
Augustus has elevated C3 to the top in my opinion. Of the original Impression Games I would rank Zeus and Pharaoh at the top, but they're all incredible.
With Anno I wished they gave us more goal options, My friends and myself would love to play a game where victory is based on museum, botanic garden and zoo, completing sets hence more focused on exploration and culture ! Shame they missed on that ...
wdym? Cleopatra, Pharaoh, Emperor and Zeus were all mentioned in Caesars panel as a part of Impressions Games legacy, if You want to pick either one of them then more than half of this list would be just Impressions games
@@GamerZakh ehhhh, I dunno. I've been keeping on top of the discussions in the discord, and it feels like Augustus has a problem with "too much content" in it, and also being too balanced towards the hard-core players of the game. I would say Pharaoh is still the better game for being just hard enough for most players, but not so extremely hard that casual or average players can't complete the game on the balanced difficulty level. Pharaoh is the more "complete" game out of all four of them, excluding any modding on Caesar 3 (since the Augustus project is unrepresentative imo: I would say a modern C3 experience is that of Julius since it fixes bugs without changing the original mechanics), mainly because Zeus is an extremely simplistic game and Emperor has all sorts of random bugs and isn't particularly balanced. C3 is also balanced to just one difficulty level and has various issues that are well known. Pharaoh is the most replayable out of all the games for me.
@@SuperSajuuk Sure it's just in my eyes. I just can't replay Pharaoh on Very Hard anymore because of the wild military balance. Plus the 'dancer glitch' made a lot of my runs unfun. I still have Pharaoh as a close second to Augustus.
This was a refreshing change from the usual infomercials posing as "best of" reviews. I felt I was viewing a genuine gamers opinions with all the associated credibility. Loved the presentation. As with all opinion pieces there are disagreements. I was surprised by your last choice. I hated Frostpunk. It seemed to me to be a "create your own adventure "game with added city building, but hey, we're all different. Great video. Thank you.
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. And in my attempt to be objective I often list games that even I don't really like, so just because I list something it doesn't mean I personally enjoy it. I have my experience and opinions, then I combine it with data and consensus in the bigger picture. Frostpunk 1 was fun for me but the main point is that it's over half a decade old and still in the top 5 most played city builders in the world. 95% Overwhelmingly Positive recent reviews on Steam too, it's actually the second highest rated game in the list. To include or exclude any game I need to balance reasons and even if I wanted to exclude Frostpunk it'd be hard to justify.
@@GamerZakh I wasn't suggesting you drop Frostpunk from your list. I know it is popular and I tried to "get it", but it wasn't for me. I guess "surprised" was the wrong word, but I was trying to convey my reaction. I was enjoying the video. making mental notes as to what I might buy next and anticipating the last rated game. If you had included it earlier I wouldn't have had that feeling of disappointment, because somehow the last choice feels important. This is absolutely not a criticism of your choices. You do you. I really enjoyed the video, but I did cry out "Oh no, not Frostpunk" at the end" because we are all different and I guessed there may be others out there who disliked Frostpunk. A minority obviously ;) Keep up the good work. I have subscribed and liked.
I agree with simcity 4, thats my immediate thought. I tried to get into anno series but I don't like it...its not just a city builder, you can't relax and build a city, it has like campaign/story and objectives that takes away from what I enjoy. Idk, the space one was adding too much for me to enjoy too
Great picks, even greater commentary. Hearing why these games either stand the test of time or quickly rose above the rest is exactly what I love hearing you talk about. I've tried most of these games and, I must say, I never realised how diverse they really are. Cities: Skylines is just an entry point to a vast selection - and, even though it's the most popular, C:S kind of sucks, in my opinion. It's not that it lacks anything - quite the opposite, it has too much! In fact, it feels like some parts of it are just to fill in features that would be relevant for a real city; emphasis on "fill" - it's *filler.* What I really love about all the other games is how crazy they get, *focusing* on a few aspects to the best degree. I'll comment more in replies about specifics. But first, I'd like to highlight 2 recent games. They're very out there but I think they're similar enough to include in the same "city builder" bucket - after all, they do revolve around making inhabitants prosperous by addressing their needs. - Factory Town: as the name suggests, it's a factory game... with very toy-like inhabitants that honestly feel more like bots than people. Zero immersion but hey, the actual gameplay loop of getting more autonomous bo... ahem, people, by supplying more varied and more highly-valued needs in _any_ order, it always feels like you're making progress in a world where nothing is threatening you and every corner feels so polished that I don't think I ever felt _frustrated_ playing it - quite a breath of fresh air, considering most city builders. It's like "mindless fun" without the "mindless" part. - Terra Nil: once marketed as a "reverse factory game", it's very moody and thematic but, as all games I play, I particularly like the gameplay as well - it's a quite simple progression where you're only really transmuting tiles from one kind to another, using nearby catalysts, like some sort of bio-alche-artifice-mancer, but it's a very good system and it _feels_ great, especially as the world comes alive. Since this year's update to the animal system, it does feel like a proper city builder in the sense that you provide a sort of "amenities" to various inhabitants - just in rather short levels. Oh but the levels are great and keep building up one step at a time introducing more trickery or taking away things you took for granted and replacing them with other systems... sometimes in the middle of a level! Zakh's video doesn't feature this year's transformative update but shows the gist of Terra Nil quite well. I love the new "recycling when out of resources" setting: allows you to play on the most challenging difficulty with the most forgiving safety net - best of both worlds. I'm not just mentioning Factory Town and Terra Nil - I truly believe they deserve top 5 among these games. They are stretching what a "city builder" is a little bit but I wouldn't put them in any other box. Speaking of other categories, I also have a lot of transport tycoon, automation and strategy game recommendations for some other time...
*Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic* Do not underestimate this game - it goes _hard!_ From the resource chains having branches to the intricate, yet minimal, transport systems, to the highlight of them all: construction being an industry. We all have played that game where you make money to build more buildings that make more money and then resources are no longer a problem - you're just maximizing the city. Workers & Resources has a lot of settings relating to difficulty (that can be changed mid-game!) and the most interesting by far is the "always build from resources" option - this suddenly makes money a very obscure resource only used at a customs house and pivots to every single building, utility, pipe and street being built by construction workers over many months using refined resources delivered by trucks and set in place by dumpers, pavers, rollers, cranes, using the hands of workers walking to the build site, others delivered by bus from a city centre and other foreign workers paid to enter your nation for work. Really, I'm just scratching the surface of what that single setting entails. ...unfortunately, the game is also clunky and inflexible across the table. Interacting with the overly rigid road and building placement system (god forbid you've made an _intersection_ - now nothing else but roads can touch it) proved too frustrating for me to bare with it... after enjoying it for like 40 hours :'D In short, I think it's an absolute gem but I wouldn't exactly recommend playing it, weirdly enough.
*Anno 1800* Really solid. It's extremely resource-oriented and cuts out a lot of city planning, like transport within an island is barely a factor and you can mostly place anything anywhere and nothing can ever clash - only boost each other (which is fun, not going to lie!) Trade between islands, however, completely reinvigorates the city building - as you progress through implicit technology tiers, your people require goods that only some islands have the capacity for so you either need to expand and connect up other islands, or you have to hope your diplomatic trade routes with other factions can help you, OR you can acquire rare items that allow island access to those rare goods (only for crops; usually at lower efficiency) The inhabitants are a bit lifeless and mostly just consume goods and poop out money but the theme, visual design, friendly faces representing each building, dynamic events (mostly pleasant surprises!), and all of the campaign really spice it up to feel like a place with real people.
*Against The Storm* My personal favourite, _by far!_ It's hard to describe - nothing compares to it. It has city builder elements with a major colony sim flavor, it has roguelike elements like drafting and "runs", it has a metagame with unlocks and progression - but none of that would be sufficient for me to like this game. (also, yeah, that's probably why it's not for everyone - it's a mix of genres) What I really love is how intertwined it is. The resource system is next level - you have anywhere from 2 to 3x3x5 = 45 ways to make a single type of good, depending on the alternatives and substitutes you choose to craft it from. It's not "production chains", it's a whole production _net_ that you can tug and pull in so many directions. Except you don't have the full "net" available: you start only being able to gather limited raw stock and produce building materials, and then, as you explore the forest and satisfy your people and the queen (her orders are ever changing), you unlock more and more parts of the net - one "blueprint" at a time, unlocking 3 wildly different recipes for you (for example, a Bakery can only make Biscuits, Pottery and Pie... hope you have Flour to bake with!), filling in more and more of the "net" while sustaining yourself with various temporary solutions. In fact, it's all quite temporary - as soon as you're self-sufficient and provide what your people need, you just win and move on to the next challenge (...or stay, nobody's rushing you - but the fun ends here: you've bootstrapped the settlement successfully and it doesn't need you to function anymore) The result of this is that no "run"/settlement is the same - you're always playing a different game as the rules are never exactly the same. 400 hours later, I'm eager to try something new and I know I will find it here.
I still think Pharaoh IS the best- because it introduced the monument system which has been a staple of many city builders since. I'll certainly have to look into Augustus, I hope it adds monument building. it is really special. Edit: I see that Augustus does add monuments, woo, i'll have to give it a full go.
Great list! I'm curious what list you'd put Medieval Dynasty on. It starts off as a first person survival crafting game, sure. It's a quest-based narrative RPG, sure. But the way most people play it, the internal core gameplay loop is... building and managing a city. Just on a massively smaller, and first-person, scale. The only game that I immediately thought of for my Hono(u)rable Mentions list that you didn't include was Land Of The Vikings. It has some rough edges, but overall it really was innovative and fun!
I generally put that on a survival list, maybe colony sim. The fundamental difference between a city-builder and colony sim is: - Build houses as wholes? - 20 population is small? - Main camera is from above? If 'yes' to all 3, generally speaking it's a city-builder. Colony sims typically: - Place beds - 20 population is a lot - Main camera is anything (can still be from above but city-builders must be from above) I originally didn't consider camera perspective as part of genre definitions, besides of course things like FPS. But after looking into it, city-builders are always viewed from above. If it's got another camera perspective as the primary method of playing, or even as a viable alternative, it's a mix of genres at least but in almost every case I'd call it not a city-builder.
@@GamerZakh I *THINK* I fully agree with you. It's a fascinating mix and a fun discussion. Usually the mix of colony/city builders is more clear in terms of the primary genre, like Sid Meier's Colonizations. It definitely has "building a city by parts" in it, but that's not the core gameplay loop. Also, I'm not sure how much you've played (from what I can tell you haven't streamed it) but in Medieval Dynasty, the largest city rank is "city" at 70 people, FWIW. I've had cities of about 150 or so, but I definitely indulge.
@@yondie491 Yeah there aren't any hard lines, and genre definitions change over time as games change. For now, I'd consider 70-150 being a soft maximum of population and considered to be very high would make it a colony sim rather than a city-builder. For example, 150 in Oxygen Not Included would be massive (and I think impossible?). 150 in SimCity and you've barely built anything.
@@GamerZakh Oxygen Not Included is a great comparison, thanks! And, again, fully agree. It's why stuff like Banished *STARTS* out small and intimate feeling, where you can know your entire population as individuals, but eventually grows to where you see them as numbers or cogs in your city machine. Thanks for all these videos, and for always engaging with the community!
i like how you put alll impression games in the same place. they are so different that it's very hard to pick a "best one". sure, we all have our favourite, but each one had their own niche
I'm looking forward to a city builder that can accomplish true, accurate scale of a modern mega-city. No game comes close to what one sees when they hop into google earth and browse real world cities like Manila, Tokyo or the Pearl River Delta. Even relatively small cities of "just" 2-3 million people are often bigger than anything you see in cities skylines or sim city.
That idea is sort of coming along in the concept of a 'grand city-builder'. Memoriapolis is sort of an execution of that as for that scale you really have to zoom out more.
actually does what everyone should do in this type of videos. Say the name of the game, says what u do in it in 2 small sentences and move on. Beautifull
I really hope Ubisoft releases a complete edition of Anno 1800 with better pricing. I’ve been wanting to play the game (and get all the DLCs), but even on sale, the total cost is pretty high. I absolutely loved Anno 1404, so I was hoping to dive into this one soon.
Populous was a very unique and great game. However, it is not really a city builder in the sense of the other games imho: it is more like settlers in the sense that you need to defeat the enemy.
I've played Farthest Frontier for almost 500 hours at this point, and it's just got me hooked. Sadly, I think the poor performance will be its biggest issue even after launch. They're working hard at it, and they will continue to improve performance, but being this late in development, and still adding more to the game, I don't see it becoming much better. I do have my fingers crossed though! I must say, Banished really deserved a spot on the list besides just a small mention. It's still a game that to this day makes me want to rip my hair out because I made a mistake 15 years ago that is now coming to bite me in my ass, and I fucking love it for that fact. Without Banished, FF, Manor Lords and many others simply wouldn't exist today.
As far as I can judge, these are the best that exist. Do you love one I didn't mention? Also, if you want to support the channel, buy games using this GOG referral link: af.gog.com/?as=1715648857 Thank you!
Actualy we have new games set in Ancient Rome like Citadelum and Pax Romana and Roman counqest.
@@milosstamenkovic5941 I know about Citadelum, I was sponsored by them. Also like I say in the video, 1 just released, which is that. Pax Romana isn't released and I even talk about it in the video. Roman Conquest: Rise to Power? That's not a city-builder.
@GamerZakh Ok then sorry i thought it was its a base builder right .
you forfor to add banished, dwarf fortress, rimworld.
these stuff, are clearly far better than silly against the storm, kingdoms reborn, foundation.
@@DBT1007 You missed me talking about banished in the video. Dwarf Fortress and Rimworld don't fall under city builder for most people.
Thanks to SimCity 4 I always expect city builders to have a jazz / electronic soundtrack, and when they don't I always feel like something is missing.
SC4 had an awesome soundtrack. I used it to study to, it works great for staying focused.
Check out the older ones as well! SimCity 3000 jazz also slaps!
SC4 soundtrack is one of the playlists I play Cities Skylines with.
Oh, yeah. It's an urban trope from Hollywood. Nobody plays jazz out in the country. Were in the urban jungle... were we have to dress up and wear cologne to impress the high maintenance ladies...
I used to play it on loop during all nighters when I was in architecture school
Caesar III a timeless masterpiece
I would still place Pharaoh above C3 Augustus and I like 1404 as much as 1800. Your list is spot on!
Pharaoh is by far the best of the best of all Impressions City Builders, and by extension the best city builder ever created.
What other city builder allows you to build the Pyramids?!
For me, it was Zeus/Posseidon, and Caesar II, but it's very personal indeed
It is personal, because everyone finds something different to love about each one.
I started with Caesar III and Pharoah, but I fell in love with Zeus/Poseidon, easily my favorites. The music in them is just so soothing, GREAT atmosphere building to just relax and build a great Classical city. The slight silliness they added (like guards being named Hutchippus and Starsichus, and healers named Allergeia and all, made it even more fun and the voice lines too "Build me a pyre, to roast my friends upon!" still make me lol.
Big shout-out to the Banished 🔥
I think Banished deserved some video - but I can agree that others are better now - even if it hurts a bit
Banished seems to not get the love it deserves.
I credit Caesar 3 with laying the foundation for my love of city building games, I played it for hours as a kid.
Same here! It was my first city builder and I still play it.
I still remember the first time i got Caesar mad enough to invade, i wasnt ready...
Caesar III has an awesome story. It could've been forgotten long time ago, replaced by a sequel or just any newer game. But no. Community is not only alive and well, but the game receives brand new updates.
I just want to thank you for these videos! I discovered your channel while playing Anno 1404, and your content has been incredibly helpful. It’s refreshing to see a channel focused on simulation games rather than the usual AAA shooters and adventure games that fill up the RUclips discovery page. I’d love to see some videos on other types of sim games too, like transportation or shop management!
Motion seconded. Thank you Ringo, and thank you Zakh
I thought Pharaoh would be on the list, to be fair I haven't played many of these, ANY of these games, except Pharaoh and Cleopatra, which I absolutely loved and completed, thanks to your guide. I found the warring a little difficult/tedious at times, which is why i needed your help. Thanks.
Pharaoh is better than legacy Caesar 3. Don't know about modded version Augustus
I highly recommend all city builder lovers try Workers and Resources. It's so different than other city builders. You fight tooth and nail for every square inch. It's is very challenging and therefore very satisfying to see a properly functioning city.
In other city builders, you build something beautiful. In W&R you build something you're proud of.
Pharaoh for me. A long coherent campaign that takes you through authentic Egyptian history, and such immersive gameplay. Plus I love all things Egypt.
Pharaoh is truly a peak of mankind's performance
so pleased u mention Workers and Resources. So addictive when u get past the learning curve really the best toy 😂
So... when does this larning curve end? I have been playing it since early access release... Logged 800 hours into it and still learning new stuff each time XD
Over 3000hrs played since early access, it just never stops stimulating the brain and the workshop now has over 10,000 mods for unlimited creativity.
Another great list, Zakh. I really liked your comment that rough games without the pressure will never become a diamond. I like the objectivity the list represents and the transparency. Well done!
Thank you! I put a lot of my thoughts into this one because it's more my specialty.
Frostpunk comes quite as a surprise. I think people in general (understandably) appreciates other aspects of the game, but the pure city-building aspect of it was super innovative, fun, and solved a thousand-year problem of playing city builders in consoles.
I love the high quality you put in these videos
great list, Ceasar 3 was the first city builder I've played 22 years ago, I need to try the augustus mod
We're honored to be a part of this list ♥
Purely based on nostalgia, my favourite of all time was SimCity on the SNES. I played the absolute Samarkand out of that as a kid
Anno 1800 devoured two months of my life, I only stopped because my ps5 save got corrupted. I loved every single second of it.
One of top favorites too! Loved it! I need to go back and finish. I am soooo close!
Great list! I'm only missing Surviving Mars, one of my all time favourites. And while I get the argument for Anno 1800, I personally prefer Anno 1602 and 1503. The later ones just add a lot of unnecessary and tedious balast to the gameplay imo.
Very nice video. Right now I scratch my city builder itch with the remake of Pharaoh, but will definitely try some games from this list.
I was surprised you picked Against the Storm above Banished for best of all time, but I'm happy because of your list AtS is the one I play the most, it's one of those very few games where you feel the love and passion that went into the game. If I let my nostalgia get the upper hand I would go for Caesar 3, but it's been so long that I've played it that I can't call it the best game for me.
I do give credit to Banished, and even though mods are great for it, development stopped a long time ago and it's starting to feel old. With all the 'Banished clones' being made, there's just better options in my eyes now. To a lesser extent, I now talk about Banished like SimCity 1. Super important but it has been improved upon at this point.
I'm not really a city builder player (I prefer defense strategy like They Are Billions provides), but there is something about AtS that has me hooked. I've put 40+ hours into it and even though there is a bit of frustration within those hours, I keep coming back for more and that's saying something.
AtS is not a true city builder. I don't like the randomness and rouge features of it and rather fast pace and episodic gameplay. I think the 95% positive reviews are misleading since it mostly measures if the buyer knows what he gets and if the game is not broken. There were many opportunities to try demo or play during fee weekends so many people could try it and simply steer away.
@@qwe5qwe566 You're going to have to define 'true city builder' because most consider it to be a city builder. Many games have demos and many people get games on deep discounts too.
I can't wait for the release of "Manor Lords". I played the demo last year and instantly fell in love with it. It was amazing how detailed everything was.
And after 3 hours you notice there isn't much to do. It has a lot of work if it wants to stand out for anything besides the looks.
@@ThaGamingMisfit Nah, it took me 20 hours to finish a game and there was plenty of managing to do.
@@ThaGamingMisfit I I agree. It's very overhyped and released very barebones with very slow updates. It will take years to become at least a decent game. Now it's very good looking but empty and shallow game compared to Ostriv and other games in the genre. I think it gets too much attention that is not deserved. Now it only sells on visuals and bunch of promises and borderline false advertising of solo dev story.
@@ThaGamingMisfit It's been slowly but steadily adding features and subsystems since its pre EA days. It still feels somewhat incomplete to be honest but at the same time there's enough now to warrant several playthroughs, especially with how fleshed out the combat system is.
This is indeed a great list! I could also add to it Banished and even Zeus & Poseidon Master of Olympus!
A really good list. My favorites (according to hours played): C:S, Foundation, Workers&Resources (and Ostriv, but I bought it on GOG). My favorite Tropico is the original one but No.4 is also very good. I loved Anno 1800 "age of sails" part but not later ones. Against the Storm must be a good game but not for me. Still sniffing around Frostpunk.
ETA: Frostpunk is on sale ATM (-85%), so I stopped sniffing.
i think success of Againt The Storm is partially due to mix of genres, it's not just City builder. It's technically a Roguelite with City builder framework and 4X Strategy game elements
Glad to see you back with the same great quality. Since I saw the rant vid, I've started to see others talking about "hostory or ancient places, etc. Just like you and S***** tha tyou mentioned. It's a trend to keep am eye on. Now. Back to watching what you've offered!
Awesome vid, couple of games suggested ive not played yet (Timberborn, Farthest Frontier), everything else is in my Steam List and Ive played the crap out of them all.
Just to comment on some of the early access stuff.
Foundation is AWESOME. The organic growth of the city/kingdom just puts it in this special tier that other games can't sit in. Once you learn how to manipulate the population using buildings etc, you can make incredibly nice looking towns.
Kingdoms Reborn is lowkey one of the best "empire builders" Ive ever played, it can go from very easy to very hard depending on how you start out, and even if you are sitting pretty, a population boom can cause your city to just fail. Its a lot of fun.
I'd like to add one I think you missed but it just entered early access recently.
Memoria Polis.
It is a organic style city build/resource management simulator....that also involve factions and "politicing" kind of like Frostpunks systems, basically you are building an Empire to stand the test of time, as you play through various ages of civilization. Ive had a blast with it so far, granted it is very early and does have some crash/bugginess, the core gameplay of it is actually very enjoyable though. Keep this one on your radar.
Caesar 3, been playing this game since 1998, can't stop, won't stop 😂
Zakh are you ready for the internet to tell you YOUR list of PERSONAL choices is incorrect :D
I'm always ready for that lol
Tbf they’re not his favourites, they’re THE best of ALL TIME.
@@Islacrusez And I'm prepared for that too, because although all curated lists have subjective elements, I use a lot of objective indicators when curating too. Playercount, sales numbers, review scores, user tags, modding situation, etc. I give reasons why I chose these 8 games through the video, and some argue against the objective points too. For example, Manor Lords being the 4th most played city builder in the world, I have people saying "the community has woken up and realised it's a terrible game" when it's still literally in the top 5 city builders in the world.
You can name a game that you think deserves to be in the list instead of these top 8, and I have objective and subjective reasons why it's not. To disagree with the subjective point, you have to be just as subjective. To disagree with the objective point, sometimes it's being silly or it goes back to just feelings. Like you can say Cities Skylines is 'boring, soulless, pointless', but a decade after release and it's still the most played city builder in the world. To say it shouldn't be in the list doesn't make sense considering what the list is about.
@@GamerZakhI can also say that Anno is a buggy mess with an AI-upscaled cover image (or perhaps upscaled by an employee that doesn’t get paid nearly enough).
The first time I played it the campaign broke and dumped me into a full armed conflict without unlocking the relevant building options, and the second time it locked up prior to unlocking basically any buildings making it entirely unplayable. Or you can look at the background image in the steam library and see if there’s anything up with the text. Looks like maybe AI upscaling to me, but could also be a woefully underpaid employee. Best of all time it really shouldn’t be. An older Anno may have been a better pick, but I wouldn’t know.
I’d also question your Soviet Republic pick but far more tongue in cheek. It’s a hell of a game but it’s a decent citybuilder without everything turned on, and with everything turned on it’s barely a citybuilder at all - it’s a logistics game. Probably the best one there is. While it did knock CS2 off my wishlist, it actually eliminated several games from the logistics and transport genre off my list.
And I’d put C3 and Pharaoh in there as a single item, they’re functionally alike and both very good.
Mostly pulling your leg though. These top x lists can be very pretentious, especially if they have a spicy pick, but hey it drives engagement. You’ve got some solid picks and even the ones I’ve not played I at least recognise. If anything the biggest failing of the list (apart from Anno, zing!) is that it didn’t bring anything new to my attention.
@@Islacrusez Haha well it's only half about my experience, the rest is more objective. Right this second, Anno 1800 is the 5th most played city builder in the world half a decade after its release. Part of the longest running city building series, a solid 8/10 or higher based on various ratings, top 5 most played. Your personal experience is understandable, but it's not enough to override all that.
As for C3 and Pharaoh, it's why I talk about the entire Impressions series in the video. However, there is no Julius or Augustus equivalent for Pharaoh. Also, a number of game breaking bugs plagues Pharaoh. Caesar 3's game breaking bugs have now been fixed by the community. To note, Caesar 3 and Pharaoh weren't even made by the same people. After C3, most of the team left and founded Firefly Studios, Pharaoh was made by a completely different group.
And these are the best in the world, of course if you're a city-building aficionado you'll already know them. If you want unknown stuff, watch upcoming or underrated lists. Best of lists aren't going to be hidden gems, the best games don't fly under the radar. Only people without radars miss them. Having said that, I made a 'best of 2024' city builder list that rules out everything older. You might find something new in there.
I've been playing Anno since 1602 and I never noticed all the numbers add up to 9 😅
A personal favorite, but not well known one is Lords and Villeins. That and Tropico 6 are my favorites.
Manor Lords has been very interesting. I love how it looks and hope the full launch comes out in reasonable time. I remember hearing it was a one man project, which in and of itself is incredibly cool, but I also temper expectations on a single person being able to do everything as quickly as we might like.
I'm so happy to see Timberborn on this list!!! I love that game so much
There may not have been a Roman city builder in a long time, but there was one Roman grand strategy recently
I love less known Cliff Empire. Definitely recommend this one to everyone. Don’t get confused by its simplistic look. It’s a pretty refined game with many cool features.
Thank you for reminding me that I have Tropico 6 in my Steam library. It's been a long while since I played it. Started in Tropico 3.
This is a great list thank you! I loved tropico pirates Cove. I don't think many played that I have never seen it anywhere on you tube. Anno 1503 is my fav. I guess I love the underdogs so to speak.
Tropical pirates cove was in a category of its own. Just so much fun!
If you talk about early access also, you should mention Ostriv. It has really deep production and economical simulation. (Of course, games listed in video are great, I've been playing a lot in most of them)
That's a darn good list. I can't believe I've played most of them. Who the heck has time for all that?
Lovely list, I agreed with most of it... and seeing it reminded me how much I love and play these kinda games =)))
For me, the best sierra/impression/bullfrog are Caesar II, Zeus and Children of the Nile :D
And, in the Tropico series, the first one (for nostalgia) and the 4 (for gameplay!)
I missed an Ostriv mention
Thanks! I've talked about Ostriv for a decade. Although it's commendable, for obvious reasons it's taking a very long time in development and I don't see it crossing into the 'best' category in the foreseeable future. Maybe more down the line yes, but after 10 years it's literally still in Alpha. In 5 years I could make another list like this and it's likely that Ostriv would still only be a bonus mention as I don't see it fully releasing by then.
@@GamerZakh yes, as frequent in this kinda "always in EA" games, I guess Ostriv is in continuing building state, altought I think now it's getting ready for a 1.0 launch (the dev showed another game he's working too), but the war in Ucraine affected the developer...
It's very hard indeed to choose from this multitude of games (and kinda hard to pinpoint the exact "city" status of some xD)
Thanks for your work and curation! =))
Simcity snes will ALWAYS hold me mostly for nostalgia. Trading for rent basically with my neighbor growing up.
OMG Zakh! Incredible stuff!!!!!! The. Mos sttill reliable youtuber when it comes to city builders? I do have mistakes at times but so much love your games!!! You're the best!!!!
I have played all of them from your list. My top 3 city builders are:
1. Frostpunk
2. ANNO 1404
3. Against the Storm
I love banished, I never tough it was outdated, I played to nowdays, but I love the recomendations, I will try them out.
I´m that addicted to Workers and Resources that I even found ways to build cities like in Cities:Skylines, f. exp. building complex highways by using the ground-lift-tool.
Timely video - finally beat Caesar III yesterday! So many restarts on the last level. 😬 Might have to try something new.
interesting, for me it will probably have to be Caesar III, even though I've played more of those your mentioned, thanks for the effort and upload
Pharaoh, Sim City 2000, and Tropico 1 are at the top of my list, probably due to nostalgia. I like that for your list you considered the ongoing community updates, rather than just old favorites.
I'm a little resistant to some of the recent games being called "survival city builders". For me, banished and frostpunk are solidly in builder category (relative placement of the buildings matters a lot) but others play more like tower defense games in that there is too much combat, like defense building and unit micro. IMO a city builder should still be fun to play even on maps without combat, like the impressions, simcity, tropico games.
at some point i'm gonna play every single Anno ever released, been on my bucket list for a while.
i must say
im at the third minute of this video ,
i already like it
i may return to simcity 4
Great video, Zakh, as always! I have a suggestion: when presenting a game, could you show real gameplay footage instead of just random clips? Especially since these are your favorite games, it would be great to see you play, so we can get a feel for the UI and gameplay. Thanks!
Thanks for the list! We need a legit cyberpunk city builder.
check out Dytopika, looks beautiful, maybe it's exactly what you wanted.
Great video as always Zakh!.
Ostriv deserves a nod : )
Zeus Master of Olympus was my first experience with city builders and a true epiphany for me. I understand your point about Caesar 3, taking longevity in mind, but I can't look past it when thinking about best of all time.
I totally understand. I mentioned that I used to call Pharaoh or Emperor the 'best' one, but personally I just liked Caesar 3 way more than those. If I was calculating merits Pharaoh beat base Caesar 3 easy, so I couldn't really justify calling C3 the best. But it was the one I enjoyed the most by far. Me labelling Augustus the best now, it's also based on me trying to be objective.
Thanks for the list im suprised Cities Skylines 1 is still played more than 2. I was playing Anno 1404 when 1800 came out, even watching people playing Anno 1800, i didn't believe I would like it more than 1404, until i played 1800😊, now i only play 1800 haha, but 1404 is definitely still great just leaves me desiring so much of what was added in 1800
I was surprised that Surviving Mars was not on the list. It's an amazing city/colony builder with tons of ways to play it, lots of great mods (Silva's even got rolled into an official DLC for the game with even more improvements), and a bangin soundtrack just like in Skylines (which has a Mars Radio station too :) )
Shut the front door! Anno coming out with a new one I missed that announcement so excited!
I loved Caesar 3 and Pharao too ❤
Good list. I think mine would look very similar. Personal favorites (but this isn't saying they are the best) would be Urbek (for being very different from other city builders) and possibly Settlement Survival (for being a more sophisticated Banished ... talking about that spiritual successor theme).
I probably wouldn't have included the more survival-themed ones because then I'd have to think whether Songs of Syx or possibly even Dwarf Fortress or such shouldn't also count. But tough to say where city building stops and colony survival starts.
Thanks! I have a pretty good line that works 99% of the time when it comes to 'city builder or colony sim'. It's just "do you place beds"? If you place beds, it's almost always more colony sim.
Little note about Tropico: The seventh game is in development at Gaming Minds Studios, which previously developed Patrician 4, Port Royale, Grand Ages Medieval and Railway Empire.
Amazing list I love all of your videos!!!
I know it’s too early to tell and too young a young game to add to the list but what are your thoughts/conclusions on Citadelum?
First I was sponsored to cover it, so keep that in mind for anything I say about this. Besides that, it's only just released with no time to prove itself. People are enjoying it and it's at 82% positive on Steam. The map making tools are robust, which opens up a long lifespan, but it depends on whether the community wants to make content for it. It might get updates, maybe DLC, but unsure on those. There are also like 3 more Roman city-builders that are supposed to release in the next 6 months, so there's a lot still left to be seen.
this is a great list!
_Surviving Mars_ and _Endzone_ have unique settings, I've enjoyed those as well.
Lol I played all these games but 1 ^^ (The Russian city builder, it's on my list though)
Would definitively recommend Against the Storm to both city-builders and colony-survivor games. Because the game is both, and is more one genre or the other depending on your difficulty settings :) You can also play custom games to really match your style.
Thanks Zakh, very nice vid :)
You remember SimCity but not a word about the Settlers series? I know under current Ubisoft the series is kinda DOA but back then there were awesome Settlers games that people deserve to know and remember.
@@mikebobihov I'm being strict on the definition of the genre here, many don't consider Settlers as a city-builder. You don't really build houses for citizens to live in and the primary objective is conquering land. Outside of this, I talk about not just Settlers but Pioneers of Pagonia a lot.
Also the most recent Settlers game is a pile of manure, so that makes it hard to put it on any list.
Settlers is a lot more of an RTS than a city builder.
Farthest frontier is one of the best games that is coming out. Real fun
I still haven't find any other games that scratch that itch like Caesar 3, and not for lack of looking. It was so ahead of its time. Really wish I could find a modern city builder that has all the same features.
Love your propositions. IXION is maybe missing. ;) It's a fabulous game.
Definately Caesar 3 is an all time classic, however Caesar IV is now my fave and users have created alot of their own custom levels which has kept it alive a bit longer.
Yes, agreed with your list. But there are some definitely great city builder games which you didn't mention: Endzone, Surviving Mars, Surviving the Aftermath..
I've been making city-building lists for 10 years, there's a lot of good games I didn't mention lol. I listed 35 city-builders for 2024 alone: ruclips.net/video/2oYMqZinXok/видео.html
I remember I was super disappointed with sc4 when it first came out. Glad it’s got a great modding community and is still alive.
Augustus has elevated C3 to the top in my opinion. Of the original Impression Games I would rank Zeus and Pharaoh at the top, but they're all incredible.
With Anno I wished they gave us more goal options, My friends and myself would love to play a game where victory is based on museum, botanic garden and zoo, completing sets hence more focused on exploration and culture ! Shame they missed on that ...
Firstly, Manor Lords is amazing. Secondly, no best city building list can exclude Pharaoh + Cleopatra. P + C as well as Emperor are superlative.
For me, Zeus is the best city builder of all time, hands down.
I talk about the whole Impressions series in the video. I say Pharaoh used to be the 'best', Augustus has overtaken that in my eyes.
wdym? Cleopatra, Pharaoh, Emperor and Zeus were all mentioned in Caesars panel as a part of Impressions Games legacy, if You want to pick either one of them then more than half of this list would be just Impressions games
@@GamerZakh ehhhh, I dunno. I've been keeping on top of the discussions in the discord, and it feels like Augustus has a problem with "too much content" in it, and also being too balanced towards the hard-core players of the game. I would say Pharaoh is still the better game for being just hard enough for most players, but not so extremely hard that casual or average players can't complete the game on the balanced difficulty level.
Pharaoh is the more "complete" game out of all four of them, excluding any modding on Caesar 3 (since the Augustus project is unrepresentative imo: I would say a modern C3 experience is that of Julius since it fixes bugs without changing the original mechanics), mainly because Zeus is an extremely simplistic game and Emperor has all sorts of random bugs and isn't particularly balanced. C3 is also balanced to just one difficulty level and has various issues that are well known. Pharaoh is the most replayable out of all the games for me.
@@SuperSajuuk Sure it's just in my eyes. I just can't replay Pharaoh on Very Hard anymore because of the wild military balance. Plus the 'dancer glitch' made a lot of my runs unfun. I still have Pharaoh as a close second to Augustus.
Workers and resources is head and shoulders above every other title in that clip
Foundation amazing game. I keep going back to it!
This was a refreshing change from the usual infomercials posing as "best of" reviews. I felt I was viewing a genuine gamers opinions with all the associated credibility. Loved the presentation.
As with all opinion pieces there are disagreements. I was surprised by your last choice. I hated Frostpunk. It seemed to me to be a "create your own adventure "game with added city building, but hey, we're all different. Great video. Thank you.
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. And in my attempt to be objective I often list games that even I don't really like, so just because I list something it doesn't mean I personally enjoy it. I have my experience and opinions, then I combine it with data and consensus in the bigger picture. Frostpunk 1 was fun for me but the main point is that it's over half a decade old and still in the top 5 most played city builders in the world. 95% Overwhelmingly Positive recent reviews on Steam too, it's actually the second highest rated game in the list. To include or exclude any game I need to balance reasons and even if I wanted to exclude Frostpunk it'd be hard to justify.
@@GamerZakh I wasn't suggesting you drop Frostpunk from your list. I know it is popular and I tried to "get it", but it wasn't for me. I guess "surprised" was the wrong word, but I was trying to convey my reaction. I was enjoying the video. making mental notes as to what I might buy next and anticipating the last rated game. If you had included it earlier I wouldn't have had that feeling of disappointment, because somehow the last choice feels important.
This is absolutely not a criticism of your choices. You do you. I really enjoyed the video, but I did cry out "Oh no, not Frostpunk" at the end" because we are all different and I guessed there may be others out there who disliked Frostpunk. A minority obviously ;)
Keep up the good work. I have subscribed and liked.
@@markhosking1882 Ah yeah I get it, sorry I wasn't super clear either, I was just sort of explaining the curation process. Thanks!
4:47 when you said Cities Skylines was the biggest city builder the first thing that I thought of was the number of DLCs XD
Can't get away from that lol. I got it on massive sale, base game and almost every DLC for $20. Only way it seemed worth it.
I just had a look. My goodness that is a lot of DLCs!
@@WhitefangGreytail It is par for the course for the publisher, Paradox. Any Paradox game you can expect to have a ton of DLCs released for sometime.
I agree with simcity 4, thats my immediate thought. I tried to get into anno series but I don't like it...its not just a city builder, you can't relax and build a city, it has like campaign/story and objectives that takes away from what I enjoy. Idk, the space one was adding too much for me to enjoy too
Great picks, even greater commentary. Hearing why these games either stand the test of time or quickly rose above the rest is exactly what I love hearing you talk about.
I've tried most of these games and, I must say, I never realised how diverse they really are.
Cities: Skylines is just an entry point to a vast selection - and, even though it's the most popular, C:S kind of sucks, in my opinion. It's not that it lacks anything - quite the opposite, it has too much! In fact, it feels like some parts of it are just to fill in features that would be relevant for a real city; emphasis on "fill" - it's *filler.* What I really love about all the other games is how crazy they get, *focusing* on a few aspects to the best degree. I'll comment more in replies about specifics.
But first, I'd like to highlight 2 recent games. They're very out there but I think they're similar enough to include in the same "city builder" bucket - after all, they do revolve around making inhabitants prosperous by addressing their needs.
- Factory Town: as the name suggests, it's a factory game... with very toy-like inhabitants that honestly feel more like bots than people. Zero immersion but hey, the actual gameplay loop of getting more autonomous bo... ahem, people, by supplying more varied and more highly-valued needs in _any_ order, it always feels like you're making progress in a world where nothing is threatening you and every corner feels so polished that I don't think I ever felt _frustrated_ playing it - quite a breath of fresh air, considering most city builders. It's like "mindless fun" without the "mindless" part.
- Terra Nil: once marketed as a "reverse factory game", it's very moody and thematic but, as all games I play, I particularly like the gameplay as well - it's a quite simple progression where you're only really transmuting tiles from one kind to another, using nearby catalysts, like some sort of bio-alche-artifice-mancer, but it's a very good system and it _feels_ great, especially as the world comes alive. Since this year's update to the animal system, it does feel like a proper city builder in the sense that you provide a sort of "amenities" to various inhabitants - just in rather short levels. Oh but the levels are great and keep building up one step at a time introducing more trickery or taking away things you took for granted and replacing them with other systems... sometimes in the middle of a level!
Zakh's video doesn't feature this year's transformative update but shows the gist of Terra Nil quite well. I love the new "recycling when out of resources" setting: allows you to play on the most challenging difficulty with the most forgiving safety net - best of both worlds.
I'm not just mentioning Factory Town and Terra Nil - I truly believe they deserve top 5 among these games. They are stretching what a "city builder" is a little bit but I wouldn't put them in any other box. Speaking of other categories, I also have a lot of transport tycoon, automation and strategy game recommendations for some other time...
*Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic*
Do not underestimate this game - it goes _hard!_ From the resource chains having branches to the intricate, yet minimal, transport systems, to the highlight of them all: construction being an industry.
We all have played that game where you make money to build more buildings that make more money and then resources are no longer a problem - you're just maximizing the city. Workers & Resources has a lot of settings relating to difficulty (that can be changed mid-game!) and the most interesting by far is the "always build from resources" option - this suddenly makes money a very obscure resource only used at a customs house and pivots to every single building, utility, pipe and street being built by construction workers over many months using refined resources delivered by trucks and set in place by dumpers, pavers, rollers, cranes, using the hands of workers walking to the build site, others delivered by bus from a city centre and other foreign workers paid to enter your nation for work. Really, I'm just scratching the surface of what that single setting entails.
...unfortunately, the game is also clunky and inflexible across the table. Interacting with the overly rigid road and building placement system (god forbid you've made an _intersection_ - now nothing else but roads can touch it) proved too frustrating for me to bare with it... after enjoying it for like 40 hours :'D
In short, I think it's an absolute gem but I wouldn't exactly recommend playing it, weirdly enough.
*Anno 1800*
Really solid. It's extremely resource-oriented and cuts out a lot of city planning, like transport within an island is barely a factor and you can mostly place anything anywhere and nothing can ever clash - only boost each other (which is fun, not going to lie!) Trade between islands, however, completely reinvigorates the city building - as you progress through implicit technology tiers, your people require goods that only some islands have the capacity for so you either need to expand and connect up other islands, or you have to hope your diplomatic trade routes with other factions can help you, OR you can acquire rare items that allow island access to those rare goods (only for crops; usually at lower efficiency)
The inhabitants are a bit lifeless and mostly just consume goods and poop out money but the theme, visual design, friendly faces representing each building, dynamic events (mostly pleasant surprises!), and all of the campaign really spice it up to feel like a place with real people.
*Against The Storm*
My personal favourite, _by far!_
It's hard to describe - nothing compares to it. It has city builder elements with a major colony sim flavor, it has roguelike elements like drafting and "runs", it has a metagame with unlocks and progression - but none of that would be sufficient for me to like this game. (also, yeah, that's probably why it's not for everyone - it's a mix of genres)
What I really love is how intertwined it is. The resource system is next level - you have anywhere from 2 to 3x3x5 = 45 ways to make a single type of good, depending on the alternatives and substitutes you choose to craft it from. It's not "production chains", it's a whole production _net_ that you can tug and pull in so many directions. Except you don't have the full "net" available: you start only being able to gather limited raw stock and produce building materials, and then, as you explore the forest and satisfy your people and the queen (her orders are ever changing), you unlock more and more parts of the net - one "blueprint" at a time, unlocking 3 wildly different recipes for you (for example, a Bakery can only make Biscuits, Pottery and Pie... hope you have Flour to bake with!), filling in more and more of the "net" while sustaining yourself with various temporary solutions. In fact, it's all quite temporary - as soon as you're self-sufficient and provide what your people need, you just win and move on to the next challenge (...or stay, nobody's rushing you - but the fun ends here: you've bootstrapped the settlement successfully and it doesn't need you to function anymore)
The result of this is that no "run"/settlement is the same - you're always playing a different game as the rules are never exactly the same. 400 hours later, I'm eager to try something new and I know I will find it here.
I don't have a paragraph for Frostpunk (it's what it says on the box) but I also really liked it :'D
i played Caesar III, good old Pharaoh, and Olympus :)
Not much of a city builder.
But love watching your videos on it non the less.
Absolutely commenting for the algorithm 🫶🏼
@@Tclans Hey thanks!
Take a look at Tlataoni...brand new, and in the spirit of Caesar. Very good game!
Good one Zakh!!!!!!🤩
Banished is also a top-tier city builder, and it founded an entirely new genre where you have to combine city building with survival.
Yeah I talk about it in the video.
@@GamerZakh Oh, sorry! I have skipped some games, apparently one with that section.
I loved playing Settlers 2 as a kid.
Caesar 3, to this day, is one of my all time favorites.
I still think Pharaoh IS the best- because it introduced the monument system which has been a staple of many city builders since. I'll certainly have to look into Augustus, I hope it adds monument building. it is really special.
Edit: I see that Augustus does add monuments, woo, i'll have to give it a full go.
Great list!
I'm curious what list you'd put Medieval Dynasty on.
It starts off as a first person survival crafting game, sure. It's a quest-based narrative RPG, sure.
But the way most people play it, the internal core gameplay loop is... building and managing a city.
Just on a massively smaller, and first-person, scale.
The only game that I immediately thought of for my Hono(u)rable Mentions list that you didn't include was Land Of The Vikings. It has some rough edges, but overall it really was innovative and fun!
I generally put that on a survival list, maybe colony sim. The fundamental difference between a city-builder and colony sim is:
- Build houses as wholes?
- 20 population is small?
- Main camera is from above?
If 'yes' to all 3, generally speaking it's a city-builder. Colony sims typically:
- Place beds
- 20 population is a lot
- Main camera is anything (can still be from above but city-builders must be from above)
I originally didn't consider camera perspective as part of genre definitions, besides of course things like FPS. But after looking into it, city-builders are always viewed from above. If it's got another camera perspective as the primary method of playing, or even as a viable alternative, it's a mix of genres at least but in almost every case I'd call it not a city-builder.
@@GamerZakh I *THINK* I fully agree with you. It's a fascinating mix and a fun discussion. Usually the mix of colony/city builders is more clear in terms of the primary genre, like Sid Meier's Colonizations. It definitely has "building a city by parts" in it, but that's not the core gameplay loop.
Also, I'm not sure how much you've played (from what I can tell you haven't streamed it) but in Medieval Dynasty, the largest city rank is "city" at 70 people, FWIW. I've had cities of about 150 or so, but I definitely indulge.
@@yondie491 Yeah there aren't any hard lines, and genre definitions change over time as games change. For now, I'd consider 70-150 being a soft maximum of population and considered to be very high would make it a colony sim rather than a city-builder. For example, 150 in Oxygen Not Included would be massive (and I think impossible?). 150 in SimCity and you've barely built anything.
@@GamerZakh Oxygen Not Included is a great comparison, thanks!
And, again, fully agree.
It's why stuff like Banished *STARTS* out small and intimate feeling, where you can know your entire population as individuals, but eventually grows to where you see them as numbers or cogs in your city machine.
Thanks for all these videos, and for always engaging with the community!
My list:
1. Caesar III + all other Impressions games
2. Townsmen series (Java mobile)
3. Settlers V and VI
4. Tropico 3
5. Cultures II
i like how you put alll impression games in the same place. they are so different that it's very hard to pick a "best one". sure, we all have our favourite, but each one had their own niche
I'm looking forward to a city builder that can accomplish true, accurate scale of a modern mega-city. No game comes close to what one sees when they hop into google earth and browse real world cities like Manila, Tokyo or the Pearl River Delta. Even relatively small cities of "just" 2-3 million people are often bigger than anything you see in cities skylines or sim city.
That idea is sort of coming along in the concept of a 'grand city-builder'. Memoriapolis is sort of an execution of that as for that scale you really have to zoom out more.
actually does what everyone should do in this type of videos. Say the name of the game, says what u do in it in 2 small sentences and move on. Beautifull
workers and recources is the best game by far for any city builder / managment game
Hyped for Anno 117 Pax Romana!!! 😮😮❤
I really hope Ubisoft releases a complete edition of Anno 1800 with better pricing. I’ve been wanting to play the game (and get all the DLCs), but even on sale, the total cost is pretty high. I absolutely loved Anno 1404, so I was hoping to dive into this one soon.
Sequels tend to trigger big sales for earlier games, when 114 is releasing keep an eye out for 1800 sales.
It's Ubisoft... Heck they might even cease to exist in the coming years with all the massive disappointing releases they've had in recent years.
Populous creaded the city builder genre. Timberborn and Manor Lords for me.
Populous was a very unique and great game. However, it is not really a city builder in the sense of the other games imho: it is more like settlers in the sense that you need to defeat the enemy.
I've played Farthest Frontier for almost 500 hours at this point, and it's just got me hooked. Sadly, I think the poor performance will be its biggest issue even after launch. They're working hard at it, and they will continue to improve performance, but being this late in development, and still adding more to the game, I don't see it becoming much better. I do have my fingers crossed though!
I must say, Banished really deserved a spot on the list besides just a small mention. It's still a game that to this day makes me want to rip my hair out because I made a mistake 15 years ago that is now coming to bite me in my ass, and I fucking love it for that fact. Without Banished, FF, Manor Lords and many others simply wouldn't exist today.
There's Tlatoani in early access as well, it's basically finished already
Tropico 1 best version of Tropico and you can't change my mind.
For me it's Tropico 2 the Pirate cove