What are your favorite city/base builder games?

[Carpet_pissr]

Seeing the Timberborn thread on here among others made me realize just how numerous the current games in this genre are, and the ones coming down the pike. It's seems like a possible golden age for the genre currently, which is great.

What are your favorites? I will open this to be as broad as possible, so I would even include something like Planet Coaster in this genre...maybe it's better to call it "builder" games.
Base builders like Rimworld (?), Fallout Shelter, Oxygen Not Included, Evil Genuis etc.
Walkers like Impressions games (Caesar, Pharoah, etc)
And literal city builders like the Cities games, the Annos, etc.
Other names in this umbrella: Frostpunk, Timberborn, Tropico...so many others.

You could make an argument that Minecraft would go here, but that to me is more in a separate genre..."crafting"? I know you build bases/houses in Minecraft, but it just doesn't seem to fit into the city/base builder category for some reason (maybe due to 1st person view as well).

Let's hear your top three or five!

For me, until I read other games listed here that I've forgotten... in no particular order:

Caesar III - this was probably the city builder I put the most time in, and it still remains untopped to this day as far as I am concerned, in terms of sheer fun and amazement and the scale of going from lierally NOTHING to a grand, beautiful, flourishing Roman city. It's beautiful even today since it was never 3D.
The Anno games. Have not played all of these enough, but I will play them all...some day! What I have played I have loved.
I REALLY loved Fallout Shelter for the casual game that it was...but it was ALMOST more than a casual game. They could have (and should have IMO) added a few more game elements and depth and it would have easily been a full blown (non-casual game).
Frostpunk...never finished it, but I loved what I did play. Will be picking this up again soon no doubt.
Stronghold (and if we go wayyyyy back..."Castles")

[LordMortis]

SimCity holds a dear place as it was first for me
Populous holds a similar place for similar reasons, where city building was more of means to the end of being a "god game"
It was sort of bland for me for a long time thereafter
Then the next one to come along that I truly loved was Tropico II, Pirate Cove, whose soundtrack alone just kept me playing forever.
After that came many many games I wanted to love but just didn't. That includes the walkers, where I wanted to like Zeus but again it fell flat. The best walker for me was Children of the Nile, where there was something to building the monuments while managing the cities that set it apart.
I bought a lot of city builders after that and they fell flat again until Banished. I can't say why that one pulled me in but it did. That also seemed to kickstart the genre again. And I bought a lot games after that, usually in pre release and none of them did it for me except for
Rimworld, Oxygen Not Included, Factorio, and Surviving Mars.

Rimworld was a great Story Teller and really is the way to go for story telling.
ONI is Klie and their sense of art made in to game.
Factorio defined better automation for better scale.
Surviving Mars had variety to play again and again using different factions to encounter different "mysteries" as well as a great soundtrack.

I can still go back to these games if I choose. I've tried going back to others and... not so much...

The game that totally should have gotten there and just didn't. Foundation, which allows you your own artistic touch to building your town.

[Carpet_pissr]

I really need to try Banished. It's been on my wishlist for years seemingly.

[Anonymous Bosch]

The superlative digital version of Vlaada Chvátil's strategy classic, Through the Ages:



Also, as a longtime fan of the original games, the digital version of Race for the Galaxy or the free Keldon's Race for the Galaxy AI:

[Unagi]

Rimworld
Prison Architect
Dwarf Fortress
Project Zomboid
Factorio
Terraria

[DOS=HIGH]

I REALLY loved Fallout Shelter for the casual game that it was...but it was ALMOST more than a casual game. They could have (and should have IMO) added a few more game elements and depth and it would have easily been a full blown (non-casual game).

Elder Scrolls: Castles might be available on Android & Apple. I got in within a week after I pre-registered. However, I still haven't tried it yet so not sure how much they changed it from Fallout Shelter.

[LordMortis]

Dwarf Fortress

Totally forgot about this one. The first free game I ever threw money at. Brought back all of the memories of the Mines of Moria, only as a city builder.

I really need to try Banished. It's been on my wishlist for years seemingly.

It set the wheels back in motion for the genre. Others have since done things way better, though they all sort of end up not so much at the end. I think that's why I like Surviving Mars, it turned away from just a survival game, as there were milestones that you loved hitting and then there were mysteries to solve. Banished and it's like just see you get so far until you go, meh.

[Carpet_pissr]

I REALLY loved Fallout Shelter for the casual game that it was...but it was ALMOST more than a casual game. They could have (and should have IMO) added a few more game elements and depth and it would have easily been a full blown (non-casual game).

Elder Scrolls: Castles might be available on Android & Apple. I got in within a week after I pre-registered. However, I still haven't tried it yet so not sure how much they changed it from Fallout Shelter.

Wow, that looks great! Can’t wait to try that.

[Kraken]

I'm a little biased toward the Impressions citybuilders, having worked on most of them. Pharaoh was my favorite.

Tropico 2 was the best of that series, with its feedback between building and raiding.

I was never able to really get into an Anno game despite trying a couple of them. It seemed like you spent a lot of time building and managing fragile trade networks that the AI liked to screw with.

The early Sim City games were amazing in their day, but that series lost its way after the first couple of iterations.

I loved Afterlife for its sense of humor.

I'm also partial to the Railroad Tycoon games, although that's stretching "city/base builder." Was it RRT3 or 4 where cities evolved in response to rail service? I think RRT2 had the best empire building.

Which game was it that required you to mine ore deposits, farm arable land, and fish fertile zones? Ore/oil deposits were limited and would eventually run out. Was that the Tropico series or Anno? It's been a long time since I played either. I always enjoyed the resource-gathering aspect.

[Alefroth]

Which game was it that required you to mine ore deposits, farm arable land, and fish fertile zones? Ore/oil deposits were limited and would eventually run out. Was that the Tropico series or Anno? It's been a long time since I played either. I always enjoyed the resource-gathering aspect.

Serf City?

[Kraken]

Which game was it that required you to mine ore deposits, farm arable land, and fish fertile zones? Ore/oil deposits were limited and would eventually run out. Was that the Tropico series or Anno? It's been a long time since I played either. I always enjoyed the resource-gathering aspect.

Serf City?

I never played that one. I think it was one of the later Tropicos.

[Alefroth]

The series eventually became The Settlers, but the first ones are some of my favorites in the genre.

[Jaymann]

i really love Nightingale, but it's hard to argue with Timberborn.

[Kraken]

No love for Afterlife?

[Carpet_pissr]

I really need to try Timberborn. Recently tried Against the Storm and wasn’t enthralled considering its crazy Metacritic score (pretty rare for me).