Nebuchadnezzar
While inspired by the classic Impressions city building games, it would be inaccurate to say Nebuchadnezzar is just a reskin of Pharaoh. The game has its own mechanics that are distinctive such as the beautifully worded caravanserai or the planned market/bazaar walking routes (as opposed to the annoying random wandering of sellers in the Impressions games that required the use of roadblocks). There are a ton of resources in the game and the tiered housing levels have an interesting intertwined dependence on how these resources can be collected.
– Real player with 62.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best City Builder Building Games.
Probably the closest any game has come to recapturing the old Impressions City builders (Pharaoh, Zeus, Emperor, Caesar etc).
This type of city-builder game focuses very heavily on production and distribution of goods to supply your population, where a mistake in logistics management can cause the whole city to come crashing down. If you’re expecting something more like a SimCity or Cities: Skylines, you might end up frustrated with the strong presence of logistics management aspects and harsh penalties for making mistakes in that department.
– Real player with 61.4 hrs in game
Hexagon World
No. Just no. Do NOT pull the trigger on Hexagon World.
It’s pretty feature-free. The only controls are to 1) add land; 2) add water; 3) make a set of hexes desert; 4) make a set of hexes snow. That’s it. Nothing else. If you play this for 5 minutes, you’ve done everything you’re ever going to do with it.
Two menus (house and bomb) aren’t even implemented. No way to change the speed. No way to change the sound volume. No way to scroll the map – you can only zoom in and out on the center point. The cool airplanes? Just dots on the screen; you can’t even see what they’re doing unless it’s happening near the screen center. Switching from flat earth to globe view often results in just a black screen.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best City Builder Nature Games.
Entirely feature free “god game”
Actual trash, do not buy
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game
StarScraper
I have loved watching this game grow and can’t wait for it to grow even more.
I love the variety of rooms,
The music is kinda cute,
I love that there is a management side to it,
The requirements of the rooms give it a bit more of a challenge.
I do feel like there are some improvements to be made but they all seem like minor things.
It would be nice to not have to click so much. The option for a tutorial would be helpful too.
And the option to customize the over all color of your tower to give it the aesthetic I would want.
– Real player with 10.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best City Builder Building Games.
StarScraper is a fun chill game. It’s feels sandboxy. There is some progression, you unlock rooms and amenities. There’s not campaigns or scenarios. It gives you a lot of room choices up front rather than having to unlock a bunch, which I think is what gives it the sandbox feel. I haven’t tried the Speedrun Mode yet though.
I’ve never played SimTower, but I’ve played a lot of Project Highrise. Very cool to have another tower builder game to play.
I’m not into making the most optimal money farm, so I’m not playing it that way.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
Block’hood
For a 3 dimensional city builder; the game is remarkably devoid of depth. It’s very pretty, but as a simulation or a strategy game, Block’hood falls flat where it matters.
I love city builders. Creating a carefully balanced, tightly operating system of checks and balances that eventually bloom into a series of new gameplay mechanics and challenges, is a joy, whether it be Anno, Simtower, or Simcity/Skylines. What Block’hood brings to the genre, is an ingenious sense of 3D verticality. Both Simcity and Simtower were fine games, but in both you were stuck between either the directions of a compass, or to the left side / right side dichotomy of of a vertical slice of your ascending tower. Let’s face it; both games pinned you down upon a flat sheet.
– Real player with 60.4 hrs in game
An acquired taste.
Summary
Don’t buy this game based on the assumption that it’s a tower-building sim, because this game’s heart is clearly in the strategy-puzzle genre once you get to playing it. If you already enjoy resource-management see-saw puzzle games, you’ll immediately love the depth and complexity of this game behind it’s simple, pleasant looking facade. Those who don’t enjoy the hectic, non-stop balancing act of games like this, steer clear, this game is a 1-trick pony. Those who aren’t sure, pick this up on sale and tool around with it, you’ll either love it or hate it.
– Real player with 29.8 hrs in game
Diplomacy is Not an Option
In the RTS-game “Diplomacy is Not an Option” you will become a medieval feudal lord in a midlife crisis. Due to your position you must constantly make hundreds of decisions a day related with city management and economic development. You are tired of this monotonous and, so it seems, meaningless existence. But things are about to change: hordes of bloodlusted enemies, swarms of scary monsters and crowds of rebellious peasants at any second can bring some life to your working schedule.
War-time laws
The country is going through difficult times. King’s greed and wastefulness led to the economic crisis and widespread peasant riots. You are a feudal lord. It happened so that, being fed up of routine and everyday problems, you’ve lost a taste for life. When an angry mob besieges your castle you perceive this news with an extraordinary enthusiasm, personally lead the defense and win a glorious victory.
Your role in the riots suppression is noticed at the court. The crown sends you on a responsible mission. Rumors are, there are deposits of gold and other precious materials on a poorly explored continent. The task is to take control under foreign land, obtain its treasures in order to replenish the king’s coffer. Though they forgot to warn that the natives won’t be glad to see you. In addition, there are monsters on the continent, and local mages are actively practicing necromancy.
What sacrifices will you make for the sake of survival and victory? Or maybe you should stop this suicidal campaign and overthrow the king? Don’t you deserve to rule the world?
Physical laws
The laws of physics are thoroughly reproduced in Diplomacy is Not an Option to maximize player immersion in a medieval war action. Tens of thousands of units can fight on the screen at the same time.
Here are several helpful tips:
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Every gun has its certain range, and medieval shells fly by an arc trajectory.
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Arrows do not pierce stone walls. On contrary, arrows bounce off the walls.
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Archers on the towers have blind spots. Closed gates can become an obstacle not only for the enemy, but also for your retreating units.
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You may discover other interesting facts about the nature of things that may become useful for combat operations.
Social laws
Surviving hostile environments is an important part of the gameplay. Even the most loyal of your citizens tend to die from time to time. From various causes, such as illness, old age, depression, or being seriously hurt on the battlefield. When this happens, it is strongly recommended to bury the dead in order to avoid epidemics and the moral decay of society.
Economical laws
Economic processes in “Diplomacy is Not an Option” are visible. You will see how walls are being built stone by stone. Or how a fallen tree is cut into boards, from which the city will then be raised. The feudal lord does not need to take part in the affairs of his subjects. However, such visibility will help you to manage human resources with more efficiency. As a ruler, you will lead people, give them specialization and, so to say, the meaning of life. Every member of the society is important, from a lumberjack or a carpenter to an undertaker or a swordsman. Once set up, with a proper support the economic process will become a key to survival and also will let you to focus on mission objectives.
Magical laws
What do we say to the gods of death, whether they are on an uncharted continent or in our own reach? “Bury the bodies immediately!” – we answer to these gods. Otherwise every fallen warrior and every lumberjack died from overstrain has risk to join the enemy forces. Also the dead are a very wayward. If you demolish a cemetery and disturb their sleep, they shall rise and begin to wreak havoc, reducing the population of the living.
Life laws
We sought to create a game without unnatural limitations. From the very first task, you will be given the entire available arsenal, and all the in-game mechanics will be unlocked. It depends on you which strategy to choose for your city to survive and prosper. Knowledge of the all listed laws will help you to complete different missions with various ultimate goals and types of enemies. During your campaign you will face moral dilemmas. You will see human stupidity and shortsightedness, leading to fatal consequences. Just like in real life. The only difference is that conflicts cannot be avoided.
Outer Space Shack
Plan your space program, and send your precious rockets to the Moon or Mars. Build a small space base at first, and ensure the well-being of your astronauts. Feed them, protect them from hazards and radiations, and keep them happy.
Progressively, use more and more local resources, and make your settlement sustainable.
NEW Kickstarter campaign has started.
Space Center
Prepare your ‘rocket’ missions in the space center. Optimize every kilogram of payload of your precious rockets, and launch engineering projects to improve your rockets and the base hardware.
Base Building
Plan an efficient layout for your base, and increase its capabilities through new buildings and machineries. Start doing all the heavy work with a few rovers, and when ready, make your first astronauts come. Grow from an uncomfortable shack to a small village. Develop businesses on your base to make it sustainable
Astronauts
Feed your astronauts, ensure they have proper living space, protect them against hazards of space: radiation, space dust. Make sure they stay sane in the complex environment
SimCasino
I honestly am upset giving this game a thumbs down because as the game progressed through the early access releases, it honestly looked like the structure of this game was going to build up into something great. Sadly, the dev team have taken this project into full release much too early and I worry that everything that at first glance might seem like placeholders are, in fact, here to stay.
There is no variety in guest appearances; just the same pallet swaps of hair, skin, shirt and pants. This also includes any entertainers you hire or VIPs you invite to your casino; they all just blend together without any kind of visual differences to make looking at your casino population grow from a few dozen people to thousands all that interesting. And it just feel like a massive shame that the magician you hired to preform on stage is dressed the same as everyone in the audience.
– Real player with 74.3 hrs in game
For an early release this is pretty good. It has it’s issues and needs a lot more content but it’s definitely worth giving a try if you enjoy sim tycoon style games.
That said currently (12/31/2020) there are some things that could be improved and I’m going to give a list of suggestions below in case the developers actually read these reviews:
- My clock display is set to a 12 hour clock but peak hours are still listed in military time.
*The minimum pay out for a slot machine grand prize is 10 dollars but we default to penny slots. If they are paying a penny one dollar is a huge return, minimum payout should be based on the cost per pull. Also, why is the AI spending ten dollars a pull for a game with a 25 dollar grand prize? That’s insane.
– Real player with 52.2 hrs in game
Towns
I adore Towns. I know it’s not the popular opinion here, but I have spent a happy 300+ hours building and exploring and fighting. It was well worth the $10 or so that I spent on it a few years ago.
In Towns, you are in charge of an idiotic band of Townies who you instruct to gather resources, build buidlings, craft luxuries, cook food, and defend the town both as soldiers and civilains. In addition to keeping you populace well-fed and happy, you must defend against raiding bands of villians while delving deep into the dangerous underground to find more stone, iron, and gold. You can entice heroes to come and help you or instead swarm the monsters with well-armed townsfolk. The gameplay is heavy in resource management and building but has a satisfying amount of fighting and exploring.
– Real player with 322.0 hrs in game
Ok, I have a lot of hours in this game so maybe you could say that I got my money’s worth - or maybe I just have a penchant for watching little pixel people go about their business(dying of starvation or eating everything in sight, dry-humping monsters to death or walking straight into a village full of hostiles) .. actually, I also go afk a lot and hang out in the kitchen.. that might be why :p
Anyway, I do not recommend buying the game in its current state:
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very buggy
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rough and unpolished(for example, last time I played the little pixel people had like 2 frames of animation when walking and looked like they were dry-humping monsters upon attacking them).
– Real player with 176.9 hrs in game
Citizens
Citizens is a turn-based hybrid of a city builder and strategic puzzler where you create beautiful cities, manage resources, plan long term investments, trade with foreign civilisations and look after your subjects. Explore beautiful islands, deal with difficult problems, and think about your next move very carefully, for it could be your undoing!
Planning your expansion is extremely important. Play through a challenging campaign which puts you into a large variety of scenarios, focusing on economy, trade, and warfare. If you prefer a more sandbox experience, try Challenge and Free build modes, where you are given more freedom to explore and experiment.
If you feel you don’t need to know anything else, just try the demo! Six challenging islands are all yours to conquer. Be weary though, for you’re not alone in this world; there are others who already inhabit it… and they won’t let you take their land without a fight.
Our demo offers you a taste of what Citizens is like. It presents you with early-game mechanics and showcases the basics of the grid-based combat system, which is greatly expanded upon in the full release.
Your feedback is super important to us. Join our discord, pop us an e-mail or even write a message on the community board; let us know what you think, what you like and what you don’t like, so that we can make the game even better. The Demo will be continuously supported along with the main release.
As an architect of your settlement, you need to carefully exploit the resources around the area. With a limited number of turns to achieve your goal, every move counts. Explore over 50 different buildings spread over several production chains and extract or process over 30 different resources, including but not limited to Timber, Pottery, Cheese, Wine and various forms of Weaponry. Collect tax from your Citizens as they pay for luxury goods, provide your people with jobs and build a glorious civilisation. Along your journey you will meet other civilisations with whom you can trade, or wage war.
Citizens offers:
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New approach to city-building games
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Campaign with challenging quests
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A ton of replayability!
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Combat and Trade
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Endless fun with random level generation
Meet various civilisations along the way. Sightsee the Aztec pyramids, trade with the people of the Orient, and defend yourself from plunderous Vikings! Focus on trade or combat depending on which path you take in the campaign. Certain civilisations might even have some interesting resources for sale, unobtainable by your own hand!
Citizens offers a grid-based combat system; it’s designed to feel familiar to strategy veterans, and to be easily picked up by newcomers. If battles are not your thing though, that’s fine. Diplomacy is always an option! Well… most of the time.
Be mindful… Other civilisations are not your only enemies. Fire and Plague can be as dangerous as the Sword.
With all this doom and gloom above, just keep in mind this…
If all you want is a peaceful and soothing experience, then try out Free-Build mode! Place buildings without any restrictions on a randomly generated island, or try out economy mode for something more challenging: that’s where anything can happen! You’ll never run out of new lands to explore. Something will always be different.
Citystate II
Don’t buy.
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Unfinished game
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Bugs
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The “realistic economics” in this game leaves a lot to be desired and calling it realistic is laughable.
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The dev has been MIA since early October (within weeks of release).
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Developer is either a huckster or lacks any sense of professionalism.
The misrepresentation that you are buying a finished game on the store page and the fact that the developer just disappeared makes me feel as if I’ve been had. The excuse on discord by some person who is not the dev is that he has a family and he takes long breaks. Make of that what you will, but I will not buy another product from this developer.
– Real player with 65.1 hrs in game
You simply can’t play more extreme ideologies anymore (Left & Right) which Is kinda where alot of the fun came from. Everything needs to be balanced. It’s okay but at some point you’ll run into bugs that remove zones not just buildings and tank everything. Tbh it gets boring after it happens a few times. Oh and after many hrs my political leaning instantly went from 47-53 to 100-0 to the left which sent everyone into a riot and the whole city was destroyed. That right there is a game breaking bug. I’d honestly say buy the first one. I’m not hating btw, I actually really wanted to like it.
– Real player with 25.3 hrs in game