Recommend an city/empire building game.

[brandonb]

Hi all,

I've recently had an itch to play some sort of building game. Be it a city building or colony/empire type game.

Games like Civilization are pretty close, but they focus a bit too much on combat. I'd hoping maybe to find something with less combat and more building. I love 4x games, but I have more fun building my empire than I do blowing things up.

Does anybody have a recommendation? It doesn't need to have a plot necessarily, but if it does that's ok too. The only requirement: It has to be offline entirely. My internet at home has barely functioned at all in the last month or two. So the newest Sim City is out of the question.

I tried CitiesXL a few years ago when it was an MMO but it seemed a bit too 'spreadsheet' for lack of a better term. Once you knew certain things and strategies, you could always win because there was nothing random or 'game' about it. It was simply a number cruncher with a pretty interface.

I was thinking maybe even roller coaster tycoon or something where you build roller coasters and try to make some money but I've never tried it out so I dunno if that would work or not.

I've been playing Cities in Motion 2 for a fix, but I'd like a little more substance. That suffers from a lot of the same problems as CitiesXL has.

 

[The Green Bean]

Zeus or Pharaoh

 

[JamesV]

Tropico 4.

Haven't played Cities XL or in Motion, but Tropico has the best city-building anywhere. Long campaigns which are fun, or just go to town in sandbox mode where you can set everything (resources, foreign aid, etc).

 

[magomago]

Maybe look into Zeus which is a sequel; I never played it because I know it was just a theme on Pharaoh (which is just a Theme on Ceaser...)

Anyways in Pharaoh once your city gets big enough you'll run into major problems regarding distribution of resources; this was actually a huge issue in Ceaser, and Pharaoh tried to fix it with the equivalent of logic gates that can be placed on roads to dictate where the resource distribution gets directed; the problem is that it doesn't work perfect/well. I never got it perfect, but I remember years later going back and finding out there were guides and recommendations of exactly how to build the blocks of your city. I suppose it takes away the fun when you have to urban plan every detail but that is way it goes

There is some battle in Pharaoh but IMO its tacked on and not elegantly done. The game is far more city/economy focused than it is a military game. Think of it more like a Sim City with the ability to raise a small army

I'd hope that Zeus fixed some of those issues! That said Pharaoh is still incredible and I sunk an amazing number of hours into it; even other games like Tropico which looks more beautiful doesn't really hit the depth and style that Pharaoh pulls off.

 

[brandonb]

Thanks guys. I'm going to look those up on steam right now.

 

[Maximilian]

Prison architect.

 

[crownjules]

Dawn of Discovery (Anno 1404) and Anno 2072 are the spiritual successors to the Pharoah/Caesar/Zeus games. Same basic idea of you plop down houses and then they build up based on the amenities and items they can access. And various items can have 2-3 stages of industry to produce (raw material -> combine raw materials -> final product). But on modern graphical engines.

 

[schmuckley]

Pharoah,Sim City 4

 

[magomago]

Dawn of Discovery (Anno 1404) and Anno 2072 are the spiritual successors to the Pharoah/Caesar/Zeus games. Same basic idea of you plop down houses and then they build up based on the amenities and items they can access. And various items can have 2-3 stages of industry to produce (raw material -> combine raw materials -> final product). But on modern graphical engines.

i did not know that...and anno 2070 is a daily deal...haha soollld ;-)

 

[The Green Bean]

i did not know that...and anno 2070 is a daily deal...haha soollld ;-)

I tried Anno 2070 and while it looks gorgeous I feel it lacks the charm of Pharoah/Zeus. Trading and distribution was my favourite aspect of those games but in Anno it feels too mechanical. As long as you have a particular commodity in a warehouse, the game assumes it's been distributed. I just didn't get the same thrill in upgrading dwellings that I got in Zeus and Pharaoh.

 

[alangrift]

The new sim city game creator that came out is pretty good.

 

[Martimus]

Tropico 4.

Haven't played Cities XL or in Motion, but Tropico has the best city-building anywhere. Long campaigns which are fun, or just go to town in sandbox mode where you can set everything (resources, foreign aid, etc).

I second that Tropico is quite fun. While combat with rebels is possible, it is exceedingly rare, and only occurs if you have been horribly mistreating your citizens.

 

[brandonb]

I ended up buying Tropico 4. I'm on mission 4 now I think. I just finished the Tourist mission.

I really don't like the natural disasters. Tornados, Earthquakes, Tsuunami. I can live with it, but they happen a bit too frequently. At least you can repair most things pretty easily with a click of a button.

I'm starting to get the hang on how to keep everybody happy. The first mission I never bought an armory and nearly lost the election due to all the rebels and what not. But won out with a 51% vote.

Anno looks cool but I'm leary of Ubisoft DRM. My internet sucks, so I know it's just going to be a recipe for disaster. Granted the rumor is that they always online portion isn't there or has been patched out, but the forum for that game is just complaining about the DRM non stop, so I figured I'll go with Tropico instead. A shame that Ubisoft DRM is making them lose a valid sale, but that's DRM for you.

I couldn't find the older games on Steam. No big deal. Tropico will be ok for now.

 

[Skott]

I have Tropico 3. Is T4 better?

 

[shortylickens]

Pharaoh.

 

[Via]

I tried Anno 2070 and while it looks gorgeous I feel it lacks the charm of Pharoah/Zeus. Trading and distribution was my favourite aspect of those games but in Anno it feels too mechanical. As long as you have a particular commodity in a warehouse, the game assumes it's been distributed. I just didn't get the same thrill in upgrading dwellings that I got in Zeus and Pharaoh.

I think this sums it up pretty well. There's something "mechanical" about the whole series. I felt it in 1701, I felt it in DoD, and I'm get the same impression in 2070 (the only game I've bought so far during the sale). The funny thing - I think the only game I really enjoyed was the first one (1603, I think?). I've only done 2 scenarios in 2070; I will play more when I have time.

My favorite city builder/supply chain game is Settlers 3. There's something immensely satisfying completing all of the steps it tales to finally create an upgraded army. I've never gotten that feeling in the anno series.

The Impressions series is full of classics; you can't go wrong there if you enjoy that type of game.

I've been messing around with some of the Stronghold games. They're not bad, I think.