- #1 Farthest Frontier
97% matchVery Positive87% of 23,648 reviews2025
Dev: Crate Entertainment
Windows
Median: 9.6 hrsMean: 26.7 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Protect and guide your people as you forge a town from untamed wilderness at the edge of the known world. Harvest raw materials, hunt, fish and farm to survive. Produce crafted items to trade, consume, equip and fight with as you battle for your survival against the elements and outside threats.
Why similar: City Builder 16.1%, Colony Sim 13.1% ★, Building 9.3%, Agriculture 9.3% ★, Historical 9.2%
Why You'll Like It: It offers a similarly deep, survival-focused city-building experience with complex farming and production chains.
- #2 Foundation
96% matchVery Positive86% of 23,481 reviews2025
Dev: Polymorph Games
Windows
Median: 11.0 hrsMean: 26.3 hrs≥1hr: 89%
Foundation is a grid-less, laidback medieval city-building game with a focus on organic development, monument construction and resource management.
Why similar: City Builder 31.6%, Colony Sim 8.8% ★, Medieval 7.1%, Economy 6.8%, Resource Management 6.4%
Why You'll Like It: Its organic, grid-less building system and focus on natural village growth perfectly mirror the design philosophy of Ostriv.
- #3 Manor Lords
95% matchVery Positive85% of 85,453 reviews2024
Dev: Slavic MagicPub: Hooded Horse
Windows
Median: 9.3 hrsMean: 21.5 hrs≥1hr: 89%
Manor Lords is a medieval strategy game featuring in-depth city building, large-scale tactical battles, and complex economic and social simulations. Rule your lands as a medieval lord – the seasons pass, the weather changes, and cities rise and fall.
Why similar: City Builder 15.7%, Colony Sim 15.2% ★, Historical 10.5%, Base Building 9%, Economy 8.2%
Why You'll Like It: It combines historical accuracy with organic village expansion and detailed production management in a medieval setting.
- #4 Banished
96% matchVery Positive90% of 42,988 reviews2014
Dev: Shining Rock Software LLC
Windows
Median: 7.8 hrsMean: 26.9 hrs≥1hr: 78%
In this city-building strategy game, you control a group of exiled travelers who decide to restart their lives in a new land. They have only the clothes on their backs and a cart filled with supplies from their homeland. The townspeople of Banished are your primary resource.
Why similar: City Builder 30.7%, Colony Sim 28% ★, Survival 6.8%, Strategy 5.9%, Sandbox 4.6%
Why You'll Like It: As the spiritual predecessor to many modern survival city-builders, it shares the core focus on resource management and harsh environmental survival.
- #5 Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
94% matchVery Positive91% of 25,183 reviews2024
Dev: 3DivisionPub: Hooded Horse
Windows
Median: 6.6 hrsMean: 73.0 hrs≥1hr: 77%
Build a soviet republic from an impoverished country into a rich industrial superpower in a city builder with intricate production chains and a fully simulated global economy. Manage the lives of your citizens from education to work and party loyalty to criminal activity.
Why similar: City Builder 17.7%, Colony Sim 15.1% ★, Historical 10.5%, Base Building 9%, Economy 8.2%
Why You'll Like It: For those who love the complex logistics and deep supply chain management found in Ostriv, this is the ultimate challenge.
- #6 Life is Feudal: Forest Village
94% matchMixed66% of 5,984 reviews2017
Dev: MindillusionPub: Bitbox Ltd.
Windows
Median: 2.5 hrsMean: 30.8 hrs≥1hr: 63%
LiF:Forest Village is a city builder with survival aspects in a realistic harsh medieval world. Shape, build and expand your settlement, grow various food to prevent your villagers from avitaminosis and starvation. Possess them for additional micromanagement or simply to wander around.
Why similar: City Builder 31.7%, Colony Sim 29.2% ★, Resource Management 8.6%, Building 6.4%, Survival 5.6%
Why You'll Like It: It features a similar blend of survival mechanics and medieval town management that requires careful resource planning.
- #7 Clanfolk
93% matchVery Positive92% of 3,737 reviews2022
Dev: MinMax Games Ltd.Pub: Hooded Horse
Windows
Median: 3.8 hrsMean: 17.3 hrs≥1hr: 68%
Clanfolk is a colony sim set in the Scottish Highlands. Harness your environment to survive - fish, gather, hunt, and farm as you prepare for the winter. Build an inn, trade with other clans, have children and marry them off - live life and prosper across the generations.
Why similar: Colony Sim 26.1% ★, Agriculture 19.1% ★, Farming Sim 17.9%, Building 12.6%, Sandbox 11%
Why You'll Like It: This simulation captures the struggle of survival in a harsh historical environment with a heavy focus on family and community management.
- #8 Ancient Cities
92% matchMixed63% of 2,108 reviews2023
Dev: Uncasual Games
Windows
Median: 1.9 hrsMean: 11.2 hrs≥1hr: 64%
Ancient Cities is a realistic, survival city builder in an immersive procedural environment. Lead the fate of your tribe through ancient times!
Why similar: City Builder 22.5%, Historical 11.9%, Colony Sim 11.3% ★, Survival 7.6%, Economy 6.6%
Why You'll Like It: It focuses on historical realism and the slow, deliberate development of a settlement through ancient eras.
- #9 Going Medieval
90% matchVery Positive89% of 20,287 reviews2026
Dev: Foxy VoxelPub: Mythwright
Windows
Median: 7.9 hrsMean: 30.8 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Build and manage your own castle settlement in a land reclaimed by wilderness. With detailed management, survival strategy, and a moddable sandbox world, Going Medieval challenges you to build the mightiest colony this side of the apocalypse.
Why similar: Colony Sim 17.5% ★, City Builder 17.1%, Historical 11.2%, Base Building 10%, Economy 9.1%
Why You'll Like It: It offers a detailed colony-sim experience with a focus on architecture and surviving the challenges of the Middle Ages.
- #10 Dawn of Man
91% matchVery Positive87% of 17,635 reviews2019
Dev: Madruga Works
Windows · Mac
Median: 10.9 hrsMean: 29.7 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Command a settlement of ancient humans, guide them through the ages in their struggle for survival. Hunt, gather, craft tools, fight, research new techs and face the challenges the environment will throw at you.
Why similar: City Builder 35.4%, Colony Sim 27.9% ★, Survival 8.3%, Historical 8%, Strategy 5.8%
Why You'll Like It: This game emphasizes the progression of a society through historical ages with a strong focus on survival and resource gathering.
- #11 Settlement Survival
91% matchVery Positive86% of 7,842 reviews2022
Dev: Gleamer StudioPub: Team17
Windows · Mac
Median: 4.0 hrsMean: 10.8 hrs≥1hr: 80%
In this city-building game, you will lead a group of survivors in their search for a new home. Manipulate the landscape, manage limited supplies, plant crops, hunt wildlife, gather resources, and develop trade routes to build a bustling and unique town.
Why similar: City Builder 20.8%, Colony Sim 16.9% ★, Building 8.4%, Management 7.1%, Agriculture 6.6% ★
Why You'll Like It: A classic survival-focused city builder that emphasizes managing the needs of your population against environmental threats.
- #12 Timberborn
89% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 38,007 reviews2026
Dev: Mechanistry
Windows · Mac
Median: 9.8 hrsMean: 40.3 hrs≥1hr: 84%
Humans are long gone. In a world struck by droughts and toxic waste, will your lumberpunk beavers do any better? A sandbox city-building game featuring ingenious animals, vertical architecture, water physics, and terraforming. Contains high amounts of wood.
Why similar: City Builder 23.8%, Colony Sim 19% ★, Base Building 9.6%, Farming Sim 9.4%, Building 8.3%
Why You'll Like It: While featuring beavers, its innovative water physics and vertical building mechanics offer a fresh take on complex resource management.
- #13 Patron
89% matchMostly Positive72% of 3,136 reviews2021
Dev: Overseer Games
Windows
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 6.7 hrs≥1hr: 81%
Patron is a survival city builder with a unique social dynamics system. Gather and produce resources, build your fledgling village into a prosperous city and navigate the intricate social tensions before they reach boiling point.
Why similar: City Builder 21.1%, Colony Sim 19.8% ★, Survival 7.2%, Historical 6.7%, Economy 6.5%
Why You'll Like It: This game balances city-building with social management and survival, requiring careful attention to the needs of your citizens.
- #14 Kingdoms Reborn
88% matchVery Positive91% of 9,531 reviews2020
Dev: Earthshine
Windows
Median: 10.0 hrsMean: 24.2 hrs≥1hr: 87%
A city builder with simulated citizens, set in a procedurally-generated world map. Grow your kingdom through the eras from a tiny medieval hamlet into a prosperous global empire! Cooperate or compete in real-time with your friends in multiplayer mode.
Why similar: City Builder 29.8%, Colony Sim 18.7% ★, Base Building 10.6%, Management 7.7%, Economy 7.2%
Why You'll Like It: It features a similar management loop to Ostriv but adds a layer of multiplayer and unique biome-specific challenges.
- #15 Captain of Industry
87% matchVery Positive91% of 10,408 reviews2022
Dev: MaFi Games
Windows
Median: 9.7 hrsMean: 80.7 hrs≥1hr: 81%
Build an industrial empire on a remote island. Mine resources, reshape terrain with excavators, grow food, construct factories, lay train tracks, and trade with the outside world. Research 100+ technologies to advance from basic metal smelting all the way to nuclear power and space flight.
Why similar: Base Building 16.8%, Resource Management 14.5%, City Builder 12.7%, Colony Sim 12.1% ★, Economy 11%
Why You'll Like It: While more industrial, its focus on intricate logistics and production chains will appeal to fans of Ostriv's management depth.
- #16 Bellwright
86% matchVery Positive81% of 18,990 reviews2024
Dev: Donkey Crew
Windows
Median: 13.0 hrsMean: 41.1 hrs≥1hr: 90%
Establish and expand your own settlements, liberate the land and assist its villagers, and recruit others to your cause while learning more about a life you had to leave behind. Command your forces, prove your valor through combat, and cement yourself as the hero of your people.
Why similar: City Builder 39%, Survival 18.2%, Building 14.7%, Medieval 13.8%, Strategy 6.3%
Why You'll Like It: It provides an immersive, third-person perspective on medieval village management and survival that feels grounded and realistic.
- #17 Norland
86% matchVery Positive82% of 9,662 reviews2024
Dev: Long JauntPub: Hooded Horse
Windows
Median: 6.4 hrsMean: 17.2 hrs≥1hr: 84%
Lead your noble family in this medieval colony sim, facing off against class conflict, religious struggle, and political treachery. Tend to your people’s needs, uncover the lost knowledge of a fallen empire, and engage in nefarious plots against your enemies.
Why similar: City Builder 16%, Colony Sim 15.6% ★, Historical 10.3%, Base Building 9%, Economy 8.1%
Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the social and political dynamics of a medieval society, adding a layer of depth to the standard city-building loop.
- #18 New Cycle
85% matchMostly Positive79% of 2,783 reviews2024
Dev: Core EngagePub: Daedalic Entertainment
Windows
Median: 4.8 hrsMean: 7.9 hrs≥1hr: 86%
New Cycle is a city building game with focus on survival. After an apocalyptic series of solar flares, human society has been thrown into disarray. Establish a settlement and develop it all the way from humble beginnings to industrial metropolis.
Why similar: City Builder 21.4%, Colony Sim 19% ★, Base Building 10.5%, Building 9.3%, Resource Management 8%
Why You'll Like It: A survival-focused city builder that emphasizes resource management and the struggle to maintain a society in a harsh world.
- #19 Of Life and Land
84% matchVery Positive86% of 351 reviews2025
Dev: KerzovenPub: Metaroot
Windows · Linux
Median: 1.6 hrsMean: 4.9 hrs≥1hr: 60%
Of Life and Land is a charming settlement-building strategy game paired with a rich simulation experience. Every animal and plant strives to find its place in nature while you lead your villagers to their future. Expand to different regions and trade with local factions to gain needed resources.
Why similar: City Builder 15.3%, Colony Sim 14.2% ★, Base Building 8.5%, Historical 8.2%, Farming Sim 7.1%
Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the relationship between your settlement and the surrounding ecosystem, requiring careful environmental management.
- #20 Songs of Syx
83% matchOverwhelmingly Positive95% of 7,777 reviews2020
Dev: Gamatron AB
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 14.9 hrsMean: 41.2 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Songs of Syx is a fantasy city-builder with vast battles simulating thousands of citizens and soldiers. Start off as a small village and build, scheme, and fight your way towards a mighty empire. The mechanics are deep and true to life, where tiny events can spiral into the collapse of kingdoms.
Why similar: City Builder 21.4%, Colony Sim 20.5% ★, Base Building 10.5%, Economy 9%, Building 8.7%
Why You'll Like It: This game allows for massive-scale colony management with deep simulation of individual needs and complex production chains.
- #21 Lords and Villeins
84% matchMostly Positive71% of 951 reviews2022
Dev: Honestly GamesPub: Fulqrum Publishing
Windows
Median: 1.2 hrsMean: 15.5 hrs≥1hr: 54%
Build a prosperous settlement in a unique simulation of a feudal economy - each family runs their shop, owns their goods, and trades with other villagers in a free market. You will manage the land, build houses, organise events, set taxes, and balance supply and demand while engaging in diplomacy!
Why similar: Colony Sim 22.3% ★, City Builder 21.1%, Management 9.3%, Building 8.5%, Economy 8.2%
Why You'll Like It: This game offers a unique perspective by focusing on the management of individual family units within a medieval village.
- #22 Sumerians
82% matchVery Positive88% of 322 reviews2023
Dev: Decumanus GamesPub: Melqart Games
Windows
Sumerians is a city building game set in ancient Mesopotamia. Attract new citizens and grow by expanding your irrigation system, building walls, palaces, temples and ziggurats. Research new technologies, manage your production, hire workers, and trade.
Why similar: City Builder 21.6%, Historical 11.5%, Strategy 8.3%, Base Building 8.1%, Economy 7.1%
Why You'll Like It: It provides a historical city-building experience with a focus on irrigation and resource management in ancient Mesopotamia.
- #23 Blacksmith Master
81% matchVery Positive84% of 2,485 reviews2025
Dev: Untitled StudioPub: Hooded Horse
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.1 hrsMean: 12.4 hrs≥1hr: 92%
Manage your own medieval smithy in Blacksmith Master and supervise the entire process from mining ores and gems to designing and selling finished products. Forge everything from weapons and armor to tools and cooking utensils to fund your craft and become the Blacksmith Master.
Why similar: City Builder 17.1%, Colony Sim 16.7% ★, Base Building 9.8%, Economy 8.3%, Building 7.9%
Why You'll Like It: It offers a deep dive into production chains and economic management, focusing on the craft of blacksmithing within a growing town.
- #24 MEMORIAPOLIS
81% matchMostly Positive77% of 1,686 reviews2025
Dev: 5PM Studio
Windows
Median: 3.9 hrsMean: 6.5 hrs≥1hr: 84%
In Memoriapolis, you're not just building a city, you're shaping a living, evolving civilization. Travel through five major eras, from Antiquity to the Industrial Revolution. Leave your mark on history by navigating the power struggles between rival factions.
Why similar: City Builder 24.6%, Colony Sim 19.9% ★, Historical 10.9%, Base Building 9.6%, Building 9%
Why You'll Like It: This game focuses on the evolution of a city over time, emphasizing historical growth and political management.
- #25 Founders' Fortune
82% matchVery Positive80% of 2,168 reviews2020
Dev: Dionic Software
Windows · Mac
Median: 1.6 hrsMean: 9.9 hrs≥1hr: 57%
A fantasy village builder focusing on creative building, colonist psychology and base defense. Handle resources, farming, production, tools, diplomacy, families, trading, defense, and research, as well as the wishes, expectations, thoughts, and equipment of every villager.
Why similar: Colony Sim 27.9% ★, City Builder 18.8%, Base Building 11.4%, Building 7.6%, Sandbox 5.4%
Why You'll Like It: A colony-sim that emphasizes the needs and happiness of individual settlers while managing a growing village.
- #26 Settlements Rising
80% matchVery Positive82% of 412 reviews2025
Dev: The Catalyst Crew
Windows
Settlements Rising is a medieval city building and colony management game. It offers a lively colony experience with simulated villagers, dozens of professions and resources, natural disasters, and raids, while providing full control over the colony through trade, production chains and datas.
Why similar: City Builder 21.1%, Colony Sim 19.5% ★, Resource Management 7.9%, Base Building 7.6%, Building 7.1%
Why You'll Like It: A solid colony-sim that focuses on the classic management loop of gathering, processing, and expanding.
- #27 Urbek City Builder
79% matchVery Positive90% of 1,808 reviews2022
Dev: FridusPub: RockGame S.A.
Windows
Median: 3.1 hrsMean: 10.0 hrs≥1hr: 74%
Urbek is a city building game where you can build your own neighbourhoods: from nightlife district to industrial district. Don't exhaust your natural resources before you have an educated population to build more efficient structures.
Why similar: City Builder 25.7%, Agriculture 11.8% ★, Building 11.4%, Economy 11%, Management 10.5%
Why You'll Like It: It focuses on organic growth and resource-based development, requiring players to think about how different buildings interact.
- #28 Whiskerwood
77% matchVery Positive93% of 2,769 reviews2025
Dev: Minakata DynamicsPub: Hooded Horse
Windows
Median: 9.0 hrsMean: 15.3 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Establish a home for your industrious mice under the oppressive paw of your cat overlords in this city builder featuring complex simulations, intricate production chains, and the age-old rivalry between cat and mouse.
Why similar: City Builder 16.2%, Colony Sim 15.6% ★, Historical 10.3%, Base Building 9.1%, Economy 8%
- #29 Sapiens
78% matchVery Positive84% of 2,103 reviews2022
Dev: Majic Jungle
Windows · Mac
Median: 6.4 hrsMean: 18.0 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Create your own prehistoric civilization and lead your tribe in a world you shape. Start with nothing, build towns and industry, and advance through thousands of years of technological breakthroughs in this intimate yet expansive colony sim.
Why similar: Colony Sim 23.6% ★, City Builder 23.4%, Base Building 12.2%, Building 9.3%, Management 8.2%
Why You'll Like It: It offers a unique, early-human perspective on colony building with a focus on exploration and primitive technology.
- #30 Humanica
76% matchVery Positive95% of 121 reviews2026
Dev: PanfachDev
Windows
Humanica is a city-builder game about an ancient settlement, featuring vast technological development. Experience the journey from sticks and stones to iron tools and windmills!
Why similar: City Builder 18.9%, Colony Sim 14.6% ★, Historical 9.8%, Base Building 8.8%, Management 7.9%
- #31 Town to City
75% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 5,836 reviews2025
Dev: Galaxy GrovePub: Kwalee
Windows
Median: 3.8 hrsMean: 7.0 hrs≥1hr: 80%
Build an idyllic 19th century Mediterranean town and help it flourish into a prosperous city. Freely place and customise each element to create the perfect home for your growing population in this cozy city builder from the creators of Station to Station.
Why similar: City Builder 44.2%, Building 13.1%, Economy 11.6%, Management 9.3%, Strategy 6.4%
- #32 Land of the Vikings
77% matchMostly Positive74% of 2,203 reviews2023
Dev: Laps GamesPub: Iceberg Interactive
Windows
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 9.6 hrs≥1hr: 75%
Land of the Vikings is a survival colony sim game. Build and lead your village, and expand it into a thriving city. A wise Jarl must manage resources, survive harsh conditions, and guide their fellow Vikings to work together through social conflict. Skál!
Why similar: Colony Sim 18.5% ★, City Builder 18.5%, Historical 8.1%, Base Building 7.2%, Economy 6.9%
- #33 Depraved
79% matchMixed61% of 1,237 reviews2019
Dev: Evil Bite
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.9 hrsMean: 9.3 hrs≥1hr: 94%
Depraved is a city builder game with survival aspects, settled in the Wild West. Build towns and establish important outposts to supply your residents with food and other raw materials. Resist the seasons, dangerous animals, and bandits and conquer the Wild West.
Why similar: City Builder 18.4%, Colony Sim 17.3% ★, Historical 8.7%, Economy 8.7%, Base Building 8.6%
Why You'll Like It: A Wild West-themed city builder that requires balancing survival, resource gathering, and defense against outlaws.
- #34 Laysara: Summit Kingdom
75% matchVery Positive83% of 1,314 reviews2026
Dev: Quite OK GamesPub: Future Friends Games
Windows
Median: 2.1 hrsMean: 4.5 hrs≥1hr: 67%
Build and expand your very own settlements in high mountains! Carefully plan production chains and satisfy various needs of your three-caste society while dealing with mountain hazards such as weather breakdowns and avalanches. Are you skilled enough to make your town thrive?
Why similar: City Builder 20.4%, Colony Sim 18% ★, Base Building 9.9%, Resource Management 8.7%, Building 8.6%
- #35 Surviving the Aftermath
78% matchMostly Positive71% of 4,513 reviews2021
Dev: Iceflake StudiosPub: Paradox Interactive
Windows
Median: 4.4 hrsMean: 17.8 hrs≥1hr: 74%
Survive and thrive in a post-apocalyptic future — resources are scarce, but opportunity calls! Build the ultimate disaster proof colony, protect your colonists, and restore civilization to a devastated world.
Why similar: City Builder 30.2%, Colony Sim 21.8% ★, Base Building 10.6%, Survival 9.7%, Strategy 9.2%
Why You'll Like It: It brings the survival-focused city-building genre into a post-apocalyptic setting with a focus on managing unique specialist units.
- #36 Primitive Society Simulator
76% matchVery Positive83% of 687 reviews2024
Dev: YSH BigDovePub: YSH Games
Windows
Median: 3.8 hrsMean: 9.0 hrs≥1hr: 74%
A colony-building game combined with grand strategy elements. Play as a tribal leader, guiding your people from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. Survive, multiply, and compete for territory among ancient nations.
Why similar: City Builder 17.3%, Colony Sim 17% ★, Agriculture 11.3% ★, Historical 10.5%, Base Building 9.7%
- #37 Roman Triumph: Survival City Builder
74% matchVery Positive85% of 729 reviews2025
Dev: Coreffect InteractivePub: Forklift Interactive
Windows
Median: 3.9 hrsMean: 7.2 hrs≥1hr: 72%
At the farthest reaches of the empire, a new Roman city is born! Manage and grow your city, please the gods, and survive against barbarians and mythological threats to achieve Roman Triumph!
Why similar: City Builder 19.2%, Colony Sim 18.7% ★, Base Building 10%, Building 8.4%, Management 8%
- #38 Nova Roma
71% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 670 reviews2026
Dev: Lion ShieldPub: Hooded Horse
Windows · Mac
The glory of Rome is at your fingertips in this city-building game where you must appease the gods, enact laws, and develop complex supply chains to meet the needs of your citizens.
Why similar: City Builder 16.3%, Colony Sim 14.7% ★, Historical 10.6%, Base Building 9.2%, Economy 8.2%
- #39 Anno 1404 - History Edition
74% matchVery Positive82% of 3,444 reviews2020
Dev: Ubisoft MainzPub: Ubisoft
Windows
Median: 3.3 hrsMean: 31.4 hrs≥1hr: 64%
Relive the captivating gameplay of a true city-building classic with Anno® 1404 History Edition.
Why similar: City Builder 34.1%, Colony Sim 15.8% ★, Building 12.6%, Strategy 9.9%, Management 9.8%
- #40 Farm Manager 2021
73% matchMostly Positive79% of 2,341 reviews2021
Dev: Cleversan GamesPub: PlayWay S.A.
Windows
Median: 4.6 hrsMean: 12.3 hrs≥1hr: 80%
Farm Manager 2021 is an indie game that lets you relax and immerse yourself in farm management. A casual but grounded builder game that combines management and farm maintenance in one package. Grow and expand your farm into a thriving estate or enjoy it as a delightful escape from everyday life.
Why similar: City Builder 21.4%, Farming Sim 11.8%, Agriculture 11.3% ★, Management 10.2%, Building 8.9%
- #41 Orrstead
72% matchVery Positive81% of 77 reviews2024
Dev: IndividualKex
Windows
Orrstead is a relaxing city builder that combines resource management and incremental game mechanics. Unlock technologies, complete quests, and adapt to the changing seasons.
Why similar: City Builder 21.3%, Colony Sim 19.6% ★, Base Building 9.5%, Building 9.2%, Management 8.5%
- #42 MicroTown
73% matchVery Positive95% of 472 reviews2019
Dev: Snowy Ash Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Build and manage your own settlement! A relaxing village construction and management simulator.
Why similar: City Builder 21.3%, Colony Sim 20.1% ★, Base Building 11.1%, Economy 9.1%, Resource Management 8.9%
- #43 Havendock
69% matchVery Positive80% of 1,861 reviews2025
Dev: YYZ StudioPub: Pretty Soon
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.2 hrsMean: 10.5 hrs≥1hr: 66%
Breathe easy and thrive in this cozy colony sim. Build a haven for castaways, manage resources, live your best life on the ocean. Lead your humble settlement into a high-tech society.
Why similar: City Builder 15.9%, Colony Sim 15.8% ★, Agriculture 10.8% ★, Farming Sim 9.3%, Base Building 8.8%
- #44 City Tales - Medieval Era
68% matchVery Positive90% of 542 reviews2026
Dev: Irregular ShapesPub: Firesquid
Windows
Median: 3.8 hrsMean: 8.8 hrs≥1hr: 79%
City Tales is a medieval city builder, allowing you to unleash your creativity and shape vast cities that break outside a traditional grid. Plan each district for your citizens needs and aid your companions in their tales, creating a city to be proud of!
Why similar: City Builder 29.4%, Economy 13.7%, Building 13.5%, Management 10.5%, Resource Management 10.4%
- #45 Kingdoms and Castles
70% matchVery Positive93% of 30,837 reviews2017
Dev: Lion Shield, LLC
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.1 hrsMean: 16.0 hrs≥1hr: 88%
Kingdoms and Castles is a city-building simulation game about growing a kingdom from a tiny hamlet to a sprawling city and imposing castle. Make trade agreements, alliance, and war with neighboring AI controlled kingdoms. Each villager and resource is individually simulated.
Why similar: City Builder 28.4%, Colony Sim 23.4% ★, Building 7.8%, Medieval 6.4%, Base Building 6.1%
- #46 Medieval Dynasty
69% matchVery Positive91% of 49,970 reviews2021
Dev: Render CubePub: Toplitz Productions
Windows
Median: 11.7 hrsMean: 35.7 hrs≥1hr: 91%
Hunt, survive, build and lead in the harsh Middle Ages: Create your own Medieval Dynasty and ensure its long-lasting prosperity or die trying! Play alone or team up with friends to enjoy the ultimate medieval experience.
Why similar: Building 16.8%, Base Building 12.7%, Agriculture 12.4% ★, Historical 12.4%, Survival 9.4%
- #47 Empires and Tribes
71% matchMixed67% of 419 reviews2023
Dev: White Vertex Studios
Windows · Mac
Empires and Tribes is a unique hybrid of a medieval city builder and a role-playing game. You will undertake the duties of a mayor in the 13th century and manage the expansion of your city, ensure the production of resources and raise a powerful army to protect yourself from rival principalities.
Why similar: City Builder 31.6%, Base Building 15.5%, Building 14.6%, Colony Sim 10.2% ★, Medieval 10.2%
- #48 Planetbase
71% matchMostly Positive80% of 10,262 reviews2015
Dev: Madruga Works
Windows · Mac
Median: 8.2 hrsMean: 26.2 hrs≥1hr: 90%
Guide a group of space settlers trying to establish a base on a remote planet. Grow food, collect energy, mine resources, survive disasters and build a self-sufficient colony in a harsh and unforgiving environment.
Why similar: Colony Sim 26.6% ★, City Builder 26.1%, Base Building 13.8%, Survival 7.5%, Strategy 5.5%
- #49 Cities: Skylines II
70% matchMixed54% of 86,513 reviews2023
Dev: Iceflake StudiosPub: Paradox Interactive
Windows
Median: 23.8 hrsMean: 72.6 hrs≥1hr: 94%
Raise a city from the ground up and transform it into a thriving metropolis with the most realistic city builder ever. Push your creativity and problem-solving to build on a scale you've never experienced. With deep simulation and a living economy, this is world-building without limits.
Why similar: City Builder 35.1%, Building 12.1%, Economy 10.3%, Management 9.6%, Sandbox 8.7%
- #50 Bastide
72% matchMostly Positive73% of 346 reviews2020
Dev: MedievalNexus
Windows
Bastide is a 13th-century city-building strategy game where you lead a village of peasants toward survival and prosperity. You must contend with bandits, starvation, disease, and brutal winters as you work to develop your settlement into a fortified town.
Why similar: City Builder 56.7%, Strategy 24.9%, Simulation 18.4%
- #51 Anno 117: Pax Romana
67% matchMostly Positive70% of 11,270 reviews2025
Dev: Ubisoft MainzPub: Ubisoft
Windows
Median: 13.4 hrsMean: 23.5 hrs≥1hr: 94%
Shape the Roman Empire in this genre-defining strategic builder game. Build cities while expanding your influence through Roman provinces. Govern using your economic prowess, diplomatic skills, or military might.
Why similar: City Builder 28.6%, Historical 12%, Economy 11.4%, Building 10.3%, Sandbox 9.3%
- #52 The Universim
67% matchVery Positive80% of 10,483 reviews2024
Dev: Crytivo
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 7.3 hrsMean: 33.9 hrs≥1hr: 89%
Jump straight into managing your own planets as you guide a civilization through the ages. Build the ultimate empire in The Universim, a new breed of God Game in development by Crytivo.
Why similar: City Builder 25.5%, Colony Sim 25% ★, Building 10.5%, Sandbox 9.1%, Management 8.2%
- #53 Anno 1800
69% matchVery Positive81% of 30,897 reviews2019
Dev: Ubisoft MainzPub: Ubisoft
Windows
Median: 9.7 hrsMean: 39.6 hrs≥1hr: 88%
Anno 1800™ – Lead the Industrial Revolution! Welcome to the dawn of the Industrial Age. The path you choose will define your world. Are you an innovator or an exploiter? A conqueror or a liberator? How the world remembers your name is up to you.
Why similar: City Builder 43.3%, Economy 14%, Strategy 9.5%, Resource Management 7.9%, Simulation 6.1%
- #54 Hearthlands
70% matchVery Positive82% of 414 reviews2017
Dev: Four White Cats
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.4 hrsMean: 7.1 hrs≥1hr: 58%
Hearthlands is a medieval/fantasy city-building real time strategy game in which you take a role of a king in a procedurally generated world. You can not control your subjects directly; instead you focus on city-building, resource management, diplomacy, magic, etc.
Why similar: City Builder 27.6%, Colony Sim 22.5% ★, Management 9%, Resource Management 7.8%, Economy 7.1%
- #55 Celestial Empire: Prologue
66% matchVery Positive85% of 370 reviews2025
Dev: President Studio
Windows
Embrace your duties as a new provincial governor. Experience the beauty of ancient China, design the city of your dreams, and take care of your people’s needs. Earn the Gods’ favor to maintain the Mandate of Heaven for the ruling dynasty.
Why similar: City Builder 17.3%, Colony Sim 16.8% ★, Historical 10.1%, Base Building 7.7%, Building 7.5%
- #56 Colonize
67% matchMostly Negative38% of 168 reviews2026
Dev: RembrosoftPub: CreativeForge Games
Windows
Colonize is a relaxing 17th-century city-builder. Establish a settlement in the New World, manage resources, and ensure your people thrive across three unique levels. No combat, just pure strategy and management in a peaceful isometric world. Build your legacy at your own pace!
Why similar: City Builder 30.5%, Colony Sim 29% ★, Agriculture 9.8% ★, Strategy 8.4%, Medieval 5.7%
- #57 Pioneers of Pagonia
63% matchVery Positive82% of 5,204 reviews2025
Dev: Envision Entertainment
Windows
Median: 3.6 hrsMean: 7.7 hrs≥1hr: 76%
Rebuild hope in a world that was lost in the fog. Lead your Pioneers across the isles of Pagonia, unite scattered tribes, raise thriving communities and discover the history of your people as you reclaim your world in the new story campaign.
Why similar: Colony Sim 18.6% ★, City Builder 18.4%, Base Building 10.6%, Economy 9.7%, Resource Management 8.7%
- #58 Celestial Empire
64% matchVery Positive89% of 615 reviews2025
Dev: President StudioPub: PlayWay S.A.
Windows
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 9.0 hrs≥1hr: 65%
Forge an empire under the watchful eyes of the gods! Take care of your people, develop efficient production chains and trade with other landlords. Ensure their survival through harsh winters and disasters.
Why similar: City Builder 23.3%, Historical 15%, Economy 12.2%, Building 10.7%, Sandbox 9.2%
- #59 Cliff Empire
67% matchVery Positive87% of 4,340 reviews2019
Dev: Lion's Shade
Windows · Mac
Median: 4.0 hrsMean: 15.2 hrs≥1hr: 79%
After a nuclear war life on the surface became impossible. A 300m thick radioactive fog covered the Earth. We are looking for bold active people to manage the process of restoring life on Earth. Join!
Why similar: City Builder 22%, Colony Sim 17.5% ★, Economy 10.3%, Resource Management 8.2%, Base Building 8.2%