Best Open-World City Builders, Ranked

Key Takeaways

• Open-world city builders offer captivating adventures and creativity-boosting games for gamers of all ages.
• Playable as beginners or seasoned gamers, these city builders challenge strategic skills and patience for an entertaining experience.
• Trend towards indie developers creating city builders promises a bright future for the genre’s fans.

Open-world city builders are the ultimate playground for those gamers who daydream about crafting bustling metropolises from scratch or ruling over a futuristic space colony. These creativity-boosting games take players on captivating adventures, where they can become space explorers as well as wander through captivating fantasy lands and meet magical creatures and beasts.

However, these complex city-building games also give players a fun mental workout since they’ll have to use their strategic skills, and patience, and practice their resource management abilities as well. These fascinating open-world city builders offer an entertaining time for newbies just dipping their toes as well as for seasoned gamers who are chasing the next challenge. Since the difficulty level and the complexity vary from game to game, these gems are perfect for gaming fans of all ages.

Updated on November 21, 2024, by Mehrdad Khayyat: Once RTS games were limited to combat-focused experiences, but peaceful city-builders gradually made progress over time and reached a peak with the likes of SimCity and Cities: Skylines.

Thanks to the growing popularity of this trend, more indie developers began to show interest in city-builder games, which resulted in some of the best experiences in this genre over the last few years, promising an even better future for all city-builder fans.

10 Townscaper

A Colorful City-Builder To Enjoy And Relax

Townscaper transports players to a vibrant and charming world where the sole purpose is to unleash one’s, inner architect. This colorful open-world city builder has a minimalist yet enchanting design, and it immerses players in a feel-good virtual world where they get to build quaint towns atop serene water bodies. Gaming fans will have to piece together their towns while enjoying a delightful array of sounds and visuals.

This calming city builder has no overarching narrative, it’s still highly enjoyable since every single town will be crafted from the gamer’s imagination. It’s a perfect choice for gamers who want to take a break from battles and challenging adventures and want to switch off, relax, and simply enjoy the process of creation. While it’s less about challenges and more about serene creativity, casual gamers can find useful guides and beginner tips for Townscaper.

9 Kenshi

A Survival Experience In A Brutal World With Rich Base-Building Mechanics

Kenshi is a gritty but beautiful open-world city-building game that’ll challenge players while taking them on an unforgettable adventure. This sandbox RPG city builder has a brilliantly crafted post-apocalyptic world where players will get to explore a merciless land while fighting for their survival.

What makes Kenshi special is that this game is not about building beautiful skyscrapers and picturesque towns but about survival, trading, exploring, and base-building while fighting against ruthless factions. Players will get to carve out their own narratives and become lone wanderers, traders, or leaders. While it can be a challenging experience beginners can find great guides and tips like the best Kenshi mods and more to make their experience more enjoyable from the start.

8 Dawn of Man

Build Bustling Clans And Bases In Ancient Times

Dawn of Man is one of the most thrilling games set in the Iron Age where they’ll have to ensure humanity’s survival. This complex game lets players learn about the earliest human settlements and about the ancient world while challenging them in a fun and entertaining way.

Gaming fans will have to guide their tribe from the Paleolithic to the Iron Age while helping them learn how to use tools are stones, and overcome challenges including hunting for mammoths and fending off wild predators, as well as protecting themselves from the elements. As players progress they’ll be able to unlock new technologies, and tools, as well as learn how to manage resources, and planned strategically to make sure their tribe survives and evolves.

7 Workers And Resources: Soviet Republic

What If Soviet Union Managed To Become An Industrial Superpower?

In most parts, Workers And Resources: Soviet Republic almost works like Cities: Skylines, as players are tasked with growing a small city into a rich industrial superpower while maintaining a good life for the citizens in every aspect.

What makes this game stand out, however, is its better economic system and unique Soviet Union setting. Workers And Resources: Soviet Republic also has a deeper focus on the transition system and industrial buildings, which makes it more enjoyable for traffic control nerds.

6 Farthest Frontier

Gorgeous City-Builder With Environmental Hazards

• Developer: Crate Entertainment
• Platform: PC
• Release Date: August 9, 2022 (Early Access)

Farthest Frontier is a beautifully designed and complex city builder with a gorgeous but dangerous world in which players will have to build their flourishing cities in completely unpredictable environments while also trying to protect them from all kinds of looming dangers.

During their adventures, players will also have to grow their crops, and raise livestock, but also look out for crop blight or sudden storms. All the while they always have to make sure that the townsfolk are happy and healthy. While it’s a more challenging open-world city builder, beginners can find great guides online and learn how to get gold in Farthest Frontier and find other useful tips.

5 Planet Zoo

Building Safe Habitant Zones For Lovely Animals

Animal lovers who enjoy zoo management games as well as city builders with stunningly designed open worlds should check out Planet Zoo. This gorgeous and family-friendly game is a virtual haven for wildlife enthusiasts and strategy buffs alike since they can dive into the colorful world of wildlife conservation where every animal is meticulously modeled to mimic its real-life counterpart.

However, this game isn’t just about cute animals because it offers a deep dive into the intricacies of zoo management. Players will also be able to plan and manage their very own zoo, curating exhibits, managing animal welfare, and ensuring that the virtual visitors are just as thrilled as the animals themselves. Gamers will also have to balance budgets, deal with unpredictable animals, and understand intricate ecosystems are all in a day’s work.

4 Dyson Sphere Program

Constructing Intergalactic Factories And Optimizing Them

Dyson Sphere Program is a beautiful and colorful space builder that takes its players on a cosmic adventure during which they’ll have to rely on their strategic skills and even learn a thing or two about intergalactic engineering. Gamers will get to explore a vibrant universe, that’s bustling with stars and resources and will have to harness the energy of stars by building a Dyson Sphere.

However, Players will have to do more than just slap on some solar panels and call it a day because they’ll get to design intricate supply chains across planets, manage resources, and lay down mind-boggling networks of conveyor belts.

3 Manor Lords

A Medieval City-Builder With Amazing Visuals

Manor Lords is one of the magical experiences that has been delivered by only a single developer. It is a brilliant, well-crafted indie project that manages to nail it much better than some big-budget titles when it comes to the gameplay loop and visuals.

While city-building is the core purpose of Manor Lords, it doesn’t limit itself to peaceful gameplay, as players can also get attacked or invaded by other regions, which is why they always need to be prepared.

Manor Lords features a deep economical management and it gives players total freedom on how they want to build their city.

2 Cities: Skylines Series

The Best Modern City-Building Simulation

Cities: Skylines has been the ultimate city-builder experience for a long time. Not only did the developers support it with loads of post-launch expansions, but it also received so much love from the community with a wide array of mods and creative content.

Paradox Interactive’s inspiring city-builder delivers a realistic experience of building and maintaining a modern city with all of its requirements. Players will need to control population, infrastructures, entertainment options, educational level, and emergency operations, all of which make it a challenging but enjoyable experience.

1 RimWorld

An Expansive Sandbox Experience Where Sky Is Limit For Creativity

RimWorld is undoubtedly one of the more complex and intricate city-building games with an exciting open world. However, this iconic indie sim game is not just about constructing buildings and managing resources because the game delves deep into the personal lives, relationships, and quirks of individual colonists.

It’s a perfect choice for players who are looking for a challenging but story-rich open-world city builder. Gaming fans will also have to manage moods, health, interpersonal relationships, and the occasional alpaca stampede while enjoying quirky character-driven tales and exploring a new galaxy filled with adventures, tragedies, and delightful surprises.