The Best Games Like Cities Skylines
Cities Skyline has been regarded as one of the best city building games that you can play right now with its highly expansive world, real time and dynamic traffic conditions, as well as a comprehensive toolkit that you can use to customize your city. However Cities Skyline may not have the best graphics or it could be missing personality that you would want in your game. In this Top 15 Games Like Cities Skyline, we'll show you different city building games that not only make you build a city but manage your own colonies, have a more varied setpiece, and even feature deeper mechanics. Here’s our own list of 15 games that are better than cities skylines in their own way!
15. SimCity (2013)
SimCity 2013 gameplay
SimCity 2013 is the long awaited sequel to SimCity 2000 that time fans like me have been waiting for. With the new addition to the franchise, it promised to bring in real time traffic that reacted on how you created your cities, better road and zoning tools, and the ability to experience the life of each Sim, following them throughout their day!
Unfortunately as it would turn out, SimCity 2013 was affected by some issues such as the inability to play single player without having to connect to the Internet. Another turn off is the limited plot space they give you which can be a pain as your intention to build gigantic sprawling cities would be cut short by the city limits.
Regardless, SimCity 2013 is a beautiful game that even when you compare it to Cities Skyline it featured a better art style, a more vibrant color scheme, and just looked way better. In a way, SimCity 2013 improved upon the original SimCity 2000 with the added ability to customize buildings to add that personal touch, vibrant graphics design coupled with a beautiful soundtrack, and with better city building tools.
Your space maybe limited but when you put your heart into it, you can create beautiful cities
SimCity 2013 truly made it easier to manage zoning as well as connecting power and waterlines
14. Frostpunk
Frostpunk gameplay
Ever wondered what would happen if climate change happened but in the 1800s? Frostpunk is a reimagining of that world where you’re set to build the last cities on Earth that has been devastated by another ice age caused by the abrupt change in climate. It sprinkles in story elements that helps you set the tone of the game and the need for you to not only manage your cities’ resources but the different events that might happen as you play. It gives you not only the choice in how you would shape your cities, but its story elements crafts in a compelling experience that gives you an emotional attachment to your city.
At the center of it all is the very power source that keeps your citizens warm. Keep it safe!
Frostpunk is more than just city building, it’s about making compromises as your city grows in order to keep its development sustainable
13. Planetbase
Planetbase gameplay
If planet Earth was a little too safe for you then Planetbase has you covered. Planetbase is a colony management game where you land in a barren planet and it is your task in creating a sprawling city out of that barren planet. You are the leader of the colony and it is your task to guide them in their journey to the unknown. In this city building game, not only do you manage the important resources such as Oxygen, Food, and Energy, you also have to keep your colonists happy and well-fed as this could mean success or the end of your city! Could this be how humanity colonizes Mars in the near future? I don’t know but it seems pretty legit for me
Bio-Domes provide the perfect atmosphere and area for your colonists to live in the barren planet
You’ll initially have a skeleton crew when you begin but as your base becomes more stable, you’ll be sent more and more capsules containing people to help you develop your sprawling colony on Mars
12. Anno 1404 Dawn of Discovery
Anno 1404 Dawn of Discovery gameplay
In case that the modern and futuristic themes weren’t to your liking, Dawn of Discovery takes on a different approach to the city building games as it puts you into the shoes of early 15th century explorers- think Renaissance era and the time where Holy Knights embarked in their Crusade.
What makes Anno 1404 stand out from the rest of the city building games are its real time strategy elements that incorporate the base building mechanics that you would find in StarCraft and Warcraft while making sure you create well thought out network of roads that connects all of these buildings. The combination of these elements bring a deeper complexity in the game.
In Anno, you can play peacefully or send them an emissary to inform of your intentions to go to war
The early game consists of optimizing your core resources while sending scouts to find more desirable resources that can help you research better technology
11. Imagine Eath
Imagine Earth gameplay
Working for corporations can be quite nerve-wracking but with Imagine Earth, you’re put into the shoes of a colony manager who chooses the desired planet to expand to and dominate your opposing city factions. Your task is to create the most profitable colony as possible as your colony’s parent corporation dominates the entire market.
Building your cities or colonies can be done with flexibility as you can preserve the planet’s current wildlife while making sure that you reap the resources or you can just go the easy way and destroy its environment to acquire them. As you progress you’ll be researching new technologies that will enhance your production capabilities, make It easier for you to make deals in the market, or even your own army. Enemy cities won’t be your only threat though as you’ll be harassed by alien forces that will hamper your progress. To succeed, you’ll have to balance your colony’s time and energy in not only making profit but in keeping out external threats.
As your cities grow, you’ll find yourself sending even more explorers in order to dominate the competition
With Imagine Earth, you’re given a blank canvass to create the perfect world. How will you design it?
10. The Universim
The Universim gameplay
Sometimes, cities just aren’t enough to quench your thirst for your desire to fully control everything in your cities. Universim is a different take on the city management as this brings you to the god-game genre that will enable you to guide the people of the planet to an eternal lasting peace or let planets feel the might of your wrath.
In Universim you’re assigned your own civilization where you can nurse them from their stone age beginnings to a space faring civilization and have them expand your influence throughout the universe. The world you’re in is a dynamic, living world which means that it won’t always be happy times as natural disasters could appear out of nowhere. Beat the storm with your people and you’ll be able to do research that will make your civilization better. Your people won’t always follow you though which brings you to two important game mechanics: Power & Wrath. Power gives you the ability to change the weather and is obtained when your people complete their assigned tasks however if they won’t follow you, you’ll incur more Wrath and scare your people into action!
Manage your planet and your people as you guide them from their barbaric roots to a modern civilization
And that my friends is how wolves became man’s best friend
9. Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadsville
Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadsville gameplay
For a more lighthearted city building game with that touch of dark humour, you have Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadsville. It’s set in a time where zombies have taken over the Earth and only a few remaining survivors left to rebuild. For this though, you’ll rebuild civilization one building at a time and whether it’s choosing from creating fortifications, housing, or hospitals, you’ll have to keep your guard up as you fight off rival NPC forts, cure illnesses, manage starvation, and stave off the madness your survivors will feel. To add spice to your gameplay, the game also features missions that range from killing zombies, scavenging for food, to wide range of research options that will aid you in your struggle!
A user friendly interface will help you manage your survivors in Rebuild 3 and make it easier for you to survive in this zombie filled wasteland
Rebuild 3 takes in cues from different mobile city management games and takes it a step further by incorporating some thoughtful mechanics to make it easier to retake the city
8. Prison Architect
Prison Architect gameplay
For a different take on your city management games, Prison Architect brings you into the shoes of a Prison Warden who is in charge of creating the best private prison to help Uncle Sam the growing crime rate while making the most money out of your government contracts. Inspired by Dungeon Keeper, Dwarf Fortress, and Theme Hospital, you’ll be in charge of taking care of the cities’ most dangerous syndicates. Will you be able to keep them in their cells?
Prison Architect takes on a playful art style that carries with customization tools to make your perfect maximum security prison. Added in its current iteration are numerous add-ons are Prison Tales that tell the story of inmates sent to your prison and Escape Mode which puts you into the shoes of an inmate who will do everything to achieve his freedom.
If however you just want to brew chaos and discord into your prison while your prison guards try helplessly to control the situation then Prison Architect might just be your cup of tea.
The inevitable mess hall riot will always be bound to happen and it’ll be your job to supply enough men to keep them under control
With Gaben in Prison Architect, how are we even gonna get Half-Life 3 now??
7. Judgment Apocalypse
Judgment Apocalypse gameplay
Now if a zombie apocalypse wasn’t your thing or it just couldn’t catch you, maybe Judgment Apocalypse will. It’s a city or colony management game that takes in cues from tactical combat genres and puts you in the middle of a demon apocalypse. It’ll be your main task to lead a group of survivors to traverse the world filled with demons to build their safe haven.
In order to survive you’ll be gathering important resources, creating your own equipment, while defending your safe haven from demon attacks and sending teams to scavenge the apocalypse for even more supplies. To further aid your colony, you can research better equipment and building time to make sure that you keep the demons out of your base!
As your colony grows, so will the intensity of the demon attacks that would happen to your safe haven
Plan your defenses carefully as any weak points in your base will be exploited by the enemy!
6. Rimworld
Rimworld gameplay
Rimworld shares a light hearted art style with Prison Architect with its cartoonish graphics and vibrant colors. It features a top-down view of the world where you control three characters that have crashed landed in a planet. Faster than light travel and superluminal communication hasn’t been invented yet so it’s going to take a while before rescue will come to you.
In Rimworld it’ll be your job to create the necessary tools and build the infrastructure to help you create your own colony and choose to stay or escape the planet you’re stranded in. Your characters will have unique personalities too so it’ll be important to do the things that make them happy while avoiding those that don’t. As your colony grows, so will the people that will be joining you in your quest to build a spaceship. Will you build that spaceship or will you play around with the different personalities that calls your colony home?
Sometimes you just don’t want to save the colonists. Sometimes, you just want to watch the world burn or fall dead on the ground
With some well thought out planning and proper room management, you can make the best out of your colony in Rimworld
5. Anno 2205
Anno 2205 gameplay
Anno 2205 is set into the distant future where you take the mantle of one of the pioneers in creating a new bustling city on Earth and beyond. It shares the same gameplay mechanics in Anno 1404 Dawn of Discovery but it packs in an improved A.I. and a more streamlined user interface to make it easier for you to manage your buildings.
You’ll get even more in-depth customization tools for your buildings and the logistics between it as well as limitless expansion for your cities with the option to control different cities simultaneous on multiple locations of Earth and the Moon. Finally, Anno 2205 brings to the table eye stunning graphics that can will give a tear to your eye as you see your megacities sprawl from humble origins.
The smoothness of building construction gives ease to the OCD in me
The future looks bright with its blue and green color scheme with an emphasis on clean lines and glass roofs that what agriculture can be in Anno 2205
4. Tropico 4
Tropico 4 gameplay
Ever wanted to be the dictator of a South American nation? Ever wanted to be called “El Presidente” of a banana republic? Tropico 4 happily fulfills all of your dictatorship desires by giving you the necessary tools to shape your country whether the people want to or not. The changing times and the rise of geographical powers present interesting challenges for you to overcome.
Tropico 4 builds upon the foundations set by the previous Tropico games and adds more depth to your dictatorship from making sure your cronies get what their share of the profits while also talking to international superpowers of the world. You’ll have to keep an eye out for everyone under your cabinet not everyone may not be as loyal to you. Battle through the occasional turmoil in your political career while battling out natural disasters that may hit your beautiful country!
Just another day in the life of a dictator where you can fill the skies with hot air balloons that spread propaganda for your regime!
When you’re the President, anything you say happens and if you really want to send a man on the moon, then you can do it yourself here!
3. Oxygen Not Included
Oxygen Not Included gameplay
Oxygen Not Incuded brings in new things to the table with its gritty cartoonish art style that brings in that false sense of security and you just know that something horrible will happen. You’ll be helping space colonists in their mission to build a subterranean asteroid base where you can manage resources such as Oxygen and the Sanity of your workers.
You start off inside an asteroid and you’ll have to start digging in order to obtain necessary resources to help you figure out what happened while also improving the quality of life your Duplicants have. Each Duplicant will have their own unique personalities ranging from natural miners to miracle cooks who can make everything taste good. Keep them stressed out for long though and you’ll see your duplicants crying or even vomiting which helps in spreading germs. Watch out when digging too as you might come across water deposits and flood your entire base!
The game takes in cues from Terrarria and you’ll be wise to take caution in digging areas in your asteroid as you never know what could be underneath it. Your asteroid may contain deposits of water and if you fail to properly plan, you could soon find your base flooded by it. You’ll also enjoy the beautiful animations of your workforce as they clench their teeth with their growing anxiety and some just straight cry as they miss their homes. Keep your feet dry and your workers happy and you’ll be on your way to a beautiful asteroid base. Just remember that Oxygen is not included.
Working 24/7 deep inside an asteroid can be a pretty taxing thing for your workers. Make sure you keep them happy!
Water is a vital resource but if you dig out the wrong part of the asteroid and your once accessible water supply may now flood your colony and create even more problems like Hypothermia
2. Surviving Mars
Surviving Mars gameplay
Surviving Mars is Paradox Interactive’s (the makers of Cities Skylines) take on the colony building management games where they put you into the shoes of the pioneers of humanity as they land in Mars and slowly build their cities. You’ll initially choose the corporation or space agency you’ll work with as they offer different bonuses and difficulty. You’ll soon be building domes, connecting important energy and oxygen generators, and expanding your reaches into the Martian planet.
You’ll face challenges that may hinder your progress such as wind storms and solar flares but don’t falter as your people have experienced worse. Formulate your game winning plan and improve your colony’s chances of survival in revealing the mysteries of the new world. At least this time, you know you won’t have to live off of Potatoes.
Bio-Domes will be the gleaming beacon of humanity’s resilience in the barren desert that is Mars
Surviving Mars has its moments of serenity and beauty that could very well signify how far humanity will go
1. SimCity 4
SimCity 4 gameplay
Dip your toes into the water with the arguably best version of SimCity. SimCity has thrived over the years of turmoil that SimCity 2013 experienced. It brought in a new generation of graphics that featured better 3D models, a more comprehensive land editing tools, improved traffic and Sim A.I., and a streamlined user interface. The added freedom enables you to build large sprawling cities for your sims to thrive- or just do the opposite and have a giant meteor land on your city.
When playing SimCity 4 you can definitely say that Cities Skyline took inspiration in this game as its mechanics feel familiar yet just right. It also brings some new challenges too as with the load of data that you’ll be given, you’ll soon learn on how to balance low income and high income residents on how you zone their homes and their jobs. Manage traffic smartly too but encouraging more use of public transportation that is subsidized with their tax money. SimCity 4 was the city building game you always wanted and even until now, it has survived and evolved, thanks to the community that unconditionally supports this beautiful game.
An active volcano in the middle of the city?? Seems like the perfect place to build your beautiful city, what could go wrong?!
SimCity 4 was where most of us started our careers as city builders. It brings happiness to me that even ‘till this day, its community of dedicated city builders keep the game alive.
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