City Builders have been around for years, and people can’t get enough of them. While it’s fun to play MMORPGs and First Person Shooters, many like to sit back and create a thriving civilization that will take shape over time. Most of the time, it’s just nice to sit back and relax while workers make you money and you can focus on the big decisions. Here are a few of the absolute best Xbox One city-builders available today.
#15 Constructor
Being in control of a construction company is hard work! But the aim of this game is to take over the construction industry and knock other players out of the way in order to be at the top of the food chain. Hire workers to complete tasks, such as building their own manufacturing facilities like a sawmill and concrete factory.
The neat part of the game is the ability to grow and completely eradicate the competition by building homes and facilities for the ones they call the undesirables. The game features buildings such as wood cabins, mansions, apartments, and even just regular single-family homes. Once built, tenants will then move in and pay you rent, which further funds your company to build even more houses that you can charge more for.
#14 Townscaper
Townscaper is a wonderfully quaint city-building game. The idea of Townscaper isn’t to meet any sort of objectives or linear path. Players can just sit back, relax, and build the world they want to build. If a game like Cities: Skylines is the Civilization VI of city-building games, Townscaper is the Animal Crossing of city-building games.
#13 Islanders
Islanders is another indie darling in the city-building genre. Set on a variety of colorfully artistic islands, players construct cities in a minimalistic fashion. All building, no micromanagement. The game has received overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam and is a testament to what small indie development teams can achieve.
#12 Dawn of Man
Dawn of Man is a city-building game set 12,000 years ago. Players will manage a community of some of the first humans as they hunt, craft, and fight their way to survival. Although the game starts out 12,000 years ago, it covers a full 10,000 years of human history, all the way up to the iron age. Players will be able to guide their communities through all of the trials and tribulations that early humans faced.
#11 Northgard
Northgard is technically a city-building game. Only because it’s about building and managing a clan of Vikings. So there are no skyscrapers and public transport systems here. Northgard is all about building your clan into a successful and prosperous early community. Along with building the community, players will be able to take their little Viking family on hunts and assign jobs to individual members of the clan.
#10 Astroneer
Played from a third-person perspective, Astroneer is centered around terraforming and crafting. Players control an astronaut that travels and traverses the new planet. Create new and exciting ways to get around by crafting buggies, spacecraft, and rovers.
There really is no right or wrong way to play the game, as the devs really left it up to the player to make their own choices. With no set storyline, players can craft whatever they please, and really just relax and enjoy what the game has to offer.
#9 Surviving Mars
Ever wondered what it might be like if we attempted to start colonizing Mars? Well, this game is here to show you what that may be like. The simulation game is just like every other city-builder, but with a twist; you’re on Mars. Since there is obviously no oxygen on Mars, you will need to figure out exactly what to do in order to create a livable and thriving habitat for your colony.
Players can do so by using resources from Earth in order to help amp up the building process, which is a pretty neat addition to the game. Bring electronics, food, concrete, and even drones from planet Earth to help create the perfect city for civilians to live on for years to come.
Before you can place people on this planet you have colonized from the ground up, you will have to make sure the basic necessities are in place such as food, water, and most importantly oxygen!
#8 Jurassic World Evolution 2
Dinosaurs and humans have been attempting to live in harmony for eons, and this is the perfect game to help scratch the itch for not only city building, but business building as well. As the brand new owner of your very own Jurassic theme park, you will need to add safety measures, habitats, and shops for visitors to hang out in. With over 75 different species of dinos available within the game, you will have no problem creating a thriving business of a zoo, but with dinosaurs instead of elephants.
The main difference between this game and the previous segments in the series is the AI within the game. Dinosaurs no longer just roam around aimlessly, they now have instincts you will need to keep at bay such as hunting in packs and even interacting with other dinos more realistically than in the other games. Make sure you have ample veterinarians on staff to take care of each species’ needs.
The main objective is to keep the needs of the visitors met by having a wide array of destinations for them to visit. Visitors are broken down into different categories, some like plants and nature, and some just want to see the gift shop. Make sure you cover all your bases to make the most money possible.
#7 Tropico 5
The Tropico series is well known, and heavily played, but the fifth addition to the series comes with several updates and features that really keep the players wanting more. One of the main features that players enjoy in this game is the ability to reach a new era once certain requirements have been met,
This way, players can advance just like we do in the real world and find new and improved technology to keep their city thriving, not just surviving. With all of the trading options available, the research that can take place, and the upgrading of buildings and machinery the game never stops growing, literally. The game also features a multiplayer co-op mode if you’d rather hang out and play with some friends or foes.
#6 Aven Colony
Another really cool strategic building simulator would be Aven Colony. This game also takes place on an Alien planet that is lightyears away from the ever-populated Earth. The entirety of the colony must be built completely from the ground up, as players begin in a desolate area that contains no oxygen whatsoever. Create living quarters, humongous towering skyscrapers, and even airships to advance technology and travel for your thriving new economy.
You will even have to keep crime within the city contained in order to keep your civilization safe, and the game even goes as far as bringing politics into the picture that are all set up by you, the player. There is a day and night cycle that is already implemented in the game as well, so if you decide to cultivate crops, keep in mind that things will freeze overnight and solar panels will only work at about 50% capacity.
Just like in real life, the game also features different natural disasters that you will need to prepare for in full force in order to enhance your chances of survival.
#5 Prison Architect
This is a top-down 2D simulation game where players have been hired to take control of the building and running of a prison, as the name suggests. Players will need to carefully choose who they take on and hire within the prison, as each person will unlock certain aspects of the game to further make progress. If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of the prison’s finances, you would need to hire an accountant.
The depth of this game knows no bounds, as players will also need to take the well-being of their prisoners into consideration in order to keep order within the walls. By keeping a set schedule in place, you can keep the prisoners on track and following guidelines as they should.
#4 Frostpunk
Any fan of city-builders and survival games will feel right at home with Frostpunk. This 2018 title has players manage the citizens and infrastructure of the last city on Earth. Frostpunk is a single-player game that is strongly influenced by players’ decisions. The strategy game takes place in a frozen world where people have only recently developed steam-powered technology to stay warm. It’s a terrifying and fun adventure. Check out Frostpunk and the recently announced Frostpunk 2 on Steam!
#3 Cities: Skylines
Here, all you start with is a small plot of land and a few bucks in hand to really get things going. Adding roads, residential neighborhoods, shops, and more to keep people coming and wanting to make your city their home. As you progress, you will be able to add more and more to your city such as schools, hospitals, and even waste management systems.
This game’s intricacy will keep players engaged for months at a time, if not longer. Players are able to make public transportation free to help keep traffic under control, raise or lower taxes to keep your residents stress-free, or even make the city Green in general and promote less usage of fossil fuels.
There are several different plots of land and terrains to choose from nearby, making the expansion of your civilization a breeze!
#2 Planetbase
This game just has a very cool look and feel to it all around. Planetbase is a space-themed simulation and strategy game where you are in complete control of the group of settlers that have made their way to an isolated planet. Basically, the gameplay is pretty straightforward; build your base to its maximum potential. This is done by growing crops, finding materials, building new structures, and keeping everyone within the base as happy as can be.
The most important aspect is keeping up with the healthy supply of oxygen unless you want everyone on the base to slowly but surely asphyxiate. There are 4 separate planets that can be colonized, so the game has hours upon hours of gameplay available.
Each planet does come with its own set of challenges and difficulty levels to keep the game fresh and exciting instead of mundane and overly repetitive. Keep in mind that at any given second, all of your hard work can be swept away by a devastating sandstorm or frigid blizzard.
#1 Tropico 6
Yet another Tropico game makes this list, and for good reason. Much like all of the others in the series, it just contains a vast amount of building abilities and features that make for a phenomenal experience. Players take on the role of “El Presidente” and control and oversee every single aspect of their thriving city.
Unlike the other games that came along before in the series, this particular game allows players to finally branch out away from one singular island. Players have the ability to now venture to other islands and also build them from the ground up as they so choose. The game even goes as far as allowing players to build large bridges from island to island, keeping them all together like a chain linked together.
This segment in the series even contains fully automated citizens, who will react to actions that you, El Presidente take. Make them unhappy, and productivity will go down significantly, making the game even more in-depth than its predecessors.
