Highlights

• Cities: Skylines is praised for its depth and customization, but some players want city builders with more unique mechanics, themes, and settings.
• Games like Industries of Titan, Flotsam, and Going Medieval offer innovative takes on the city-sim concept, with elements like dealing with the criminal underworld, surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, and building settlements in medieval times.
• Players interested in realistic city sims with historical roots might enjoy Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic, Cliff Empire, Dyson Sphere Program, and Ostriv for their unique gameplay mechanics and settings.

Players who always wanted to create their own city will appreciate Cities: Skylines for the rather accurate and methodical take on storytelling. After all, unlike other games, Cities: Skylines has quite a deep level of customization that sets it apart from its contemporaries. However, while players may love Cities: Skylines for its depth and sheer relaxing vibe, a lot of players might be looking for city builders with more uniqueness in terms of mechanics, themes, and even their settings.

Thankfully, there are quite a lot of builders like Cities: Skylines that try to add some spice to the typical city management formula. In these games, players may sometimes have to deal with nasty elements of the criminal underworld, return to the past to see how ancient folks managed their own kingdoms, or even blast off-planet to establish colonies in other worlds.

Updated on 26 January 2024 by Rhenn Taguiam: With the recent release of Cities: Skylines 2, city-sim enthusiasts now have more opportunities to create the settlement of their dreams. However, fans who don’t want to always create realistic cities in environments close to the real world might want to take their dream cities to more unique and exotic locales. Thankfully, certain city-sims exist with exactly that premise: what if players are tasked to create settlements in environments with harsh climates, or even limited resources? With this in mind, fans of Cities: Skylines may appreciate innovative takes on the city-sim concept, including games that take place on extremely high surfaces, in the middle of the ocean while players recycle construction materials, and even during prehistoric times in the Iron Age.

25 Industries Of Titan

Steam Rating: 6/10

At first glance, Industries of Titan seems like an ordinary grid-based city builder set in outer space, but there’s more than meets the eye in this city sim. Industries of Titan places players in charge of starting a settlement in Titan at the behest of the mysterious Council. However, players now need to balance a city corporation while keeping it safe against rebels, as well as discovering the ruins of an ancient civilization that may help their city thrive.

Just like in any city sim, Industries of Titan expects players to keep track of resources through factories and other structures. However, what makes Industries of Titan more compelling is its internal minigame feature, where structures have internal grids that players can customize and expand to find new ways of optimizing their production process.

24 Flotsam

Steam Rating: 74%

Players who want to try a city builder that’s not as serious in terms of esthetics may appreciate the sheer vibrance of Flotsam. Despite similarities in vibe with Sim City, the water-centric mechanics of Flotsam immediately set it apart from city builders. At its core, Flotsam needs players to create a thriving community out of the trash in sea. Players take the role of the leader of Drifters, or the settlers of these sea towns, as they make sure they survive the horrors of the sea in the game’s post-apocalyptic era.

The sea setup of Flotsam adds water-based mechanics that add thrills to its city-builder gameplay loop. This time around, players need to gather resources at sea and then dry them, after which is the only time they can use them for building. The more intensive nature of working at sea means Drifters need rest often, and the lack of drinking water means players need to actively filter seawater for them to drink. These enhanced mechanics add an active survival component to Flotsam, contrasting its cartoony graphics in a compelling way.

23 Going Medieval

Steam Rating: 81%

Players looking into games set in medieval times may want to give Going Medieval a shot, especially if they want a more barebones colony sim. Set just after the Black Death, plague survivors need to create a new settlement they can finally call home, with many of the survivors having their own backstories as they slowly build settlements for players.

At its core, Going Medieval plays much like RimWorld but with more streamlined mechanics. The more freeform approach towards building structures alongside the prospect of building castles and fortresses make Going Medieval quite the compelling colony sim. Moreover, the active colonization component attached to the game also gives a quasi-RTS/4X feel to the simulator, making it more engaging compared to similar games.

22 Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic

Steam Rating: 88%

Players who want a realistic city sim with historical roots will appreciate Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic. The game asks players to manage a city from the perspectives of industrial and urban planning setups, dabbling on otherwise economic concepts that not a lot of games tend to explore. For instance, players have control over extremely specific circumstances, such as enabling or disabling electricity and heating requirements for buildings or setting fuel requirements for vehicles.

Players also control the educational system and how this can impact the way parents function in the workplace. In terms of construction, players can utilize money in the game or be more realistic via the use of construction offices, while production may have players send produce to the Warsaw Pact or make use of it in their city.

21 Cliff Empire

Steam Rating: 93%

When a nuclear war makes the planet's surface uninhabitable, Cliff Empire shows a future where survivors aboard an orbital station decide to finally return and attempt to remake human society. Unfortunately, the Earth’s surface being uninhabitable leaves them with no other choice but to rely on mountain peaks (or polished cliffs) to serve as the foundation of humanity’s new home. Despite gameplay being quite similar to the loop of other city management games, Cliff Empire adds an additional layer of challenge by forcing players to micromanage the relationships between the colonies they build across three nearby cliffs.

Much of the game’s unique challenges revolve around space management, an element that usually only happens at the endgame of Cities: Skylines when players eventually “fill” their city. This time around, Cliff Empire tackles this problem at the very beginning, forcing players to pay attention to which cliffs work best for their particular needs. The game also helps players in this regard, with Cliff Empire’s futuristic buildings being able to be positioned across different orientations and expanded across different dimensions. This added layer of geometry being a factor in city building makes Cliff Empire quite a unique take on the genre.

20 Dyson Sphere Program

Steam Rating: 95%

Lovers of simulation games looking for something more futuristic might want to check out Dyson Sphere Program. Building on top of the Dyson Sphere concept, where a machine is built to perpetually gather the sun's power, players of Dyson Sphere Program are then tasked to visit a random star system and begin the production of parts that would eventually lead to a similar structure. This time around, the civilization they’re supporting isn’t a colony but rather societies in a virtual space that need tremendous computing power to survive.

The premise of the game makes Dyson Sphere Program less like a city simulator with citizens and more like a production simulator. Players need to create various structures, such as factories and manufacturing stations, in order to create parts for the eventual Dyson Sphere. Throughout the game, players need to craft various supply lines on a planet that would eventually expand to cover all planets in their provided system.

19 Ostriv

Steam Rating: 96%

Players interested in building a quaint 19th-century town that follows the realism associated with simple village life may enjoy Ostriv. An indie game by a one-man dev team, Ostriv tasks players with creating a pre-industrial era town to manage and sustain.

Unlike other city simulators, the small-scale nature of Ostriv means players have a lot of control over the minutest details of their city. Building structures, for instance, need intricate materials such as wood and clay, both of which have separate buildings that need to process them. This level of complexity is matched with relaxing visuals, where players can see their citizens manually gather and carry materials. Not only that, but players can even see the delightful transition between packing up items from a tent and transferring them to a house.

18 OpenTTD

Metascore: 8.8 (User Score)

Despite its 2004 release, OpenTTD marvels players with its complex approach to a business simulation title. Unlike other tycoon games that have specific industries in mind, OpenTTD instead focuses on providing transportation services. The game tasks players with making money by transporting various things, be it commodities or people, all around various modes of transportation. The game has a lot of similarities with Transport Tycoon Deluxe but expands on its complexity.

Notable in OpenTTD is its multiplayer component, where up to 255 players across fictional transportation companies can either team up or compete to dominate the overworld. Moreover, the game is also available to play for free on Steam - making it a must-try for players who want to try older sims.

17 Townscaper

Metascore: 63

Perhaps one of the more interesting city builders out there, Townscaper isn’t one that focuses on city management but rather just the sheer thrill of building a city and seeing it grow. This makes Townscaper more of a relaxing casual title than a brimming complex one.

Townscaper is more of an experimental game. Players are given an irregular grid to populate with various colored blocks from a palette. After setting them down, just sit back and let the game’s algorithm “grow” these blocks into various parts of a city, including bridges, stairways, arches, and houses, all based on how they appeared in the grid.

16 Aven Colony

Metascore: 65

In Aven Colony, players lead the expedition to humanity’s first settlement outside the Solar System: Aven Prime. This alien planet has various ecosystems and terrains, ranging from jungles to tundras and even deserts. As with other sci-fi colonization games, Aven Colony will have players begin with a small settlement until they expand into large cities.

Players need to ensure that their colonies have the right kind of structures to survive in an alien world. Moreover, players need to micromanage various elements such as citizens and their happiness or employment, crime, and the commute, structures and utilities, as well as how drones work to help supervise the colony. Perhaps more interesting is the game’s expedition system, where players can plan expeditions with explorers to visit Aven Prime’s more exotic and unknown locations.

15 Banished

Metascore: 68

What defines a city — its location or its people? In Banished, people represent the city players are building, especially since they’re the primary resources in the game. In this simulation of a command economy, Banished puts the lives of a group of nomads in the hands of the players. As regular citizens, these nomads work, age, have children, and die – and it’s up to players to ensure their cities grow and thrive under these circumstances.

Unlike other games, Banished doesn’t have a tech tree, and all buildings are available for construction, provided players have the resources to do so. This is where the challenge begins, as players need to balance getting the resources they need to expand from farming, mining, and trading while ensuring they have enough stock of food and resources to last a long time. With people having an integral role in city management, Banished certainly adds a unique element that makes it all the more worthwhile to play.

14 Surviving The Aftermath

Metascore: 69

When a world-ending event transforms life on Earth as people know it, Surviving The Aftermath deals with the consequences of life after, well, life. Players need to create a brand-new colony from the ashes of a destroyed civilization, transforming it into a bastion of hope where people can resettle.

In addition to the game's city-building elements, players need to adjust their expectations with scarce resources and even make ways to protect their colonists, be it through gated walls, weaponry, and even fighting rival factions eyeing control.

13 Cities XL

Metascore: 69

Perhaps the closest analog to Cities: Skylines in terms of overall gameplay, Cities XL allows players to not just create a city of their dreams but also create multiple cities that they can link up all around the planet. While it doesn’t offer the same sophistication as Cities: Skylines, Cities XL offers more than 1,000 constructions and buildings to choose from on more than 60 maps, offering room for vast cities to rival those in the real world.

Not only that, but this early title is a great way for players to manage large-scale city economies that handle complicated matters such as housing, employment, recreation, and even taxes. Fans looking for a neat Cities: Skylines alternative may get a decent experience with Cities XL that is close to the real thing.

12 Medieval Dynasty

Metascore: 73

Although not entirely a city-building game, Medieval Dynasty takes both city-building aspects and RPG elements and combines them into a “best of both worlds” game. Set in Europe in the Middle Ages, players take on the role of a young man who fled a war and set out to make his own fate. The thing is, not only would this allow him to master various skills, but even let him become the head of a community and usher in a dynasty that would last generations.

However, given the freeform nature of the game, it’s up to players how exactly they want to approach these matters. Progressing through the main chapters unfolds a rather rich story while roaming around can help players not just make a family of their own but dictate the fate of their community, create buildings to transform a small settlement into a large village, and perhaps even cities that players can both manage and explore.

11 Railway Empire

Metascore: 74

With the rail system of Cities: Skylines redefining what it means for a game to have a railway level, fans of city simulators may have overspent their days designing not just their ideal town but the way traffic works. Those who want to focus solely on traffic, however, should consider Railway Empire. As the name suggests, players don’t build a city per se but rather railways that connect various towns.

However, where Railway Empire shines is how it lets players see how a simple idea of “putting tracks together” can become complex, considering the way traffic works in a railway-dominated world. Aside from just providing short trips from city to city, players need to consider building pit stops to help transfer resources and even universities to attract more people (and therefore, passengers) across various destinations.

10 Dawn Of Man

Metascore: 74

When players encounter humans at the very beginnings of society, such as in the Iron Age, the games that come to mind often only include humans in the opening minutes of a timeline-spanning title such as CIvilization. However, Dawn of Man turns this concept on its head by forcing the entire gameplay loop to revolve around the Iron Age. The impressive graphics and relaxing sound design work well with the game’s organic aesthetic, especially when players see their settlers graduate from building tents into creating huts as well as use what limited tools they have to create a wide assortment of furniture and implements.

What makes Dawn of Man a must-play is the flexibility of its controls. Players who prefer micro-managing their settlers are able to fine-tune their commands to them, allowing them to assign a specific member to a particular task. Likewise, players can simply assign zones for tasks and let settlers work according to specific limitations. This degree of freedom also helps players prepare for various hazards that range from weather conditions, deadly animals, and even raiders from other camps.

9 Surviving Mars

Metascore: 76

As with what scientists are doing in the real world, Surviving Mars will task players in finding a way to create a sustainable settlement on Mars. After choosing a space agency to finance the Mars mission, players head to the Red Planet to establish their first colony and survive at all costs. Unlike other sci-fi settlement games, Surviving Mars has quite a realistic approach regarding city management. Infrastructure becomes intermixed with citizen domes, as well as ensuring there are just enough resources to go around.

More importantly, the game does feature unique elements such as mysterious black boxes open for exploration and even a randomized tech tree to spice up gameplay. Not to mention, the game has colonists with individually simulated needs and strengths, giving players another layer of excitement during their management.

8 Anno 2205

Metascore: 77

Players who want the Anno series formula to have a sci-fi twist would appreciate Anno 2205, which takes place in the far future in the year of the same name. Now, players take on the role of a corporation exec and must compete with other corporations when it comes to developing future technologies. They do this by managing various metropolises on Earth, all featuring buildings that players can freely move around and restructure as they see fit.

What’s unique about Anno 2205 is its evolving geography, as players later down the line may be able to conduct research and build settlements in the Arctic regions. Its endgame takes players to the Moon, where they still have to race against other corporations when it comes to building a stable Lunar settlement.

7 Tropico 6

Metascore: 78

In reality, city management isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. As with other Tropico games, Tropico 6 would have players take the role of El Presidente, and they need to help the nation of Tropico rise to the top, beginning from the colonial era and advancing to the modern era. As with other games, Tropico 6 would have players focus on technological advancement, trading, renovation, research, and exploration - but this time around, players also have a dynasty to manage that affects the way they would lead the islands in the long run.

What’s amazing about Tropico 6 is the inclusion of unique strategic elements that would help players make the mark as a leader in their playthroughs. Players can manage multiple islands and even manage their secret agents to send to other nations to steal their secrets. Being a satirical game, Tropico 6 also forces players into humorous yet uncomfortable situations regarding their leadership, such as missions involving housing abolishment or even dealing with enemies in politics.

6 Anno 1800

Metascore: 81

The hit Anno series brings their iconic city-building game to the 19th Century, with Anno 1800 taking place just at the crux of the Industrial Revolution. At its core, Anno 1800 tasks players in creating a city that would outlast the Industrial Age, which now highlights factory labor with a backdrop of Victorian Era architecture. Citizens can become workers and artisans, and their participation becomes a key component in the stability of supply chains.

Players also need to balance their existence in the Old World and the wonders of the New World, which brings a lot of wonders to cities. The game now features new mechanics as well, such as blueprinting, tourism, and even showing the impact of industrialization on island inhabitants. Players with a keen eye for graphics would love Anno 1800 and its stellar approach to visuals, especially as players see the evolution of their city from even the smallest of houses.