The hustle and bustle of city streets and the cacophony of modern vehicles can be stressful, even in a video game world. Such is the case even for modern city builders with their complex economics and citizen satisfaction system. If players want something simpler yet colorful, then they'll be pleased to know that there are fantasy city builders.
We're not referring to those semi-historical medieval city builders, but rather those with full-fledged fantasy elements. These can be anything from orcs, fairies, wizards, and even gods thrown into the logistics of planning out settlements and molding economies from scratch. These following fantasy city builders ought to make one's digital mayoral duties a lot more imaginative.
8 The Settlers 7: Paths To A Kingdom
- Release year: 2010
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, macOS, Classic macOS, Mac operating systems
The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom and its predecessors are no strangers to combining different genres in gaming. In the latest sequel's case, the developers combined RTS and city-building and management gameplay. It can often feel quite similar to games like Warcraft and Age of Empires.
The fantasy elements are somewhat low and muted, but there's a dragon in the lore and other subtle fantasy creatures and lore bits. In any case, The Settlers 7 is a good introduction for newcomers looking to ease themselves into the complexities and managerial duties of city-builder games.
7 Valhalla Hills
- Release year: 2015
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Classic Mac OS
Valhalla Hills is one of the most unique city builders out there since its setting is Norse mythology. Its developers are also the same veterans from bonafide city-building and RTS titles like The Settlers 2. In terms of gameplay, players will need to raise up their little Viking town from their group of survivors.
The twist is that players and all their citizens have died already and are waiting to be taken into Valhalla. Issues arise when the doors to the shiny, sacred halls didn't open, and the players and their people have to fend for themselves in the Norse equivalent of purgatory.
6 Against The Storm
- Release year: 2022 (early access)
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Against the Storm has no reservations about its fantasy elements. It's a full-blown dark fantasy city builder where the players must rebuild their civilization after an apocalypse. There are several factions vying for survival and supremacy here namely, humans, lizards, harpies, and beavers— yes, the beavers (whose bases tend to be dam good).
Despite only being in the early access phase, the game is already one of the well-received titles under its own genre due to its inherent uniqueness and charming art style. Each race has distinct qualities that set them apart from one another and to keep the gameplay even more interesting, there are also roguelite elements thrown into the mix.
5 Noble Fates
- Release year: 2021 (early access)
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Noble Fates puts players into the shoes of a demigod where they must lead a group of fantasy deserters and survivors in a rags-to-riches story of their own making. Like Against the Storm, Noble Fates has some overt fantasy elements and doesn't shy away from incorporating them into the gameplay.
Likewise, Noble Fates doesn't settle for just settlement building; it also dabbled into survival territory and a bit of RPG and simulation since players need to go off on their adventures during exploration runs while also shoring up their town defenses against demon attacks.
4 Kingdoms And Castles
- Release year: 2017
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, Classic macOS
Kingdoms and Castles is one of the more relaxed games on this list. While other fantasy city builders put a lot of pressure on survival or victory, Kingdoms of Castles lets players pick the intensity of their settlement's existence.
Players can disable dragon attacks, storms, or Viking raids if they want something more peaceful. And normally, players would want to start that way since the game has a rather adorable and calming visual style similar to Minecraft. Once players get the hang of raising a hamlet into a castle, it's time to up the challenges.
3 Timberborn
- Release year: 2021 (early access)
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac operating systems
Apparently, beavers are the animal kingdom equivalent of dwarves since they stop at nothing when it comes to industry and expanding their domains. So games like Timberborn dedicate their artistic effort to giving beavers the justice ad recognition they deserve.
Suffice it to say, this whole city builder is about beavers who graduated from building dams to building kingdoms on top of those dams. And it's not just termite fodder they're building; these beavers are capable of running farms, factories, and even generators. Humans better watch out for their spot in the food chain.
2 Dwarf Fortress
- Release year: 2006
- Platforms: macOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac operating systems, Classic MacOS
Speaking of dwarves, Dwarf Fortress is another fantasy city builder that highlights, well, dwarves and their uncontrollable penchant for tunneling and digging for treasure. To that end, Dwarf Fortress is also a city and construction management, among many other things.
Players will need to oversee the dwarven effort to expand their colonies while digging around the dangers and the horrors of the deep as much as possible. It's one of the oldest simulation and city-building games to date that still has an avid following— a testament to its originality and fun gameplay.
1 Songs Of Syx
- Release year: 2020 (early access)
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac operating systems
Songs of Syx follows the same design philosophy as Dwarf Fortress. It's not flashy or aesthetically gorgeous per today's standards, but this fantasy city builder is a complex delve into the depths of city and kingdom building. Players start off small with their group of colonizers.
They must then build, scheme, and fight to the top. The game mechanics are set up in a way where the players' empires can even collapse under their own weight. To add variety, there are different races, cultures, and even pantheons to choose from in this cross between grand strategy and city building.