Chains are the heart of the genre
City builders are about chains. Lumberjacks feed the sawmill, the sawmill supplies planks for houses, houses bring residents who want bread – which needs fields, a mill and a bakery. Keep the chains in balance and your town grows. Misjudge them and you stare at empty warehouses.
Our simulation follows exactly that logic. Workshops produce and consume goods per in-game minute; if an input is missing, production stops and an icon tells you why. Residents have needs, pay taxes and move up to the next population tier when they are happy. Buildings cost upkeep. And you can only build within reach of a warehouse or market, so roads and distances matter.
What the AI designs for your world
- Goods: 3 to 16 of them, from timber and fish to wine, honey or spices.
- Buildings: 4 to 28 – homes, producers, warehouses, a market, services like a school or tavern, and decorations.
- Population tiers: up to five, each with its own needs and tax rate.
- Level goals: “reach 300 residents”, “store 50 bread”, “build a harbor”.
- Events: storms, festivals, visiting traders, fires, bumper harvests and droughts.
- An advisor who drops short, useful hints.
The map is generated from your seed – island, valley, coast, desert or snow, in three sizes. Every map is generated with forest, a buildable mountain, a shoreline and enough open land near your starting point, so every production chain can be completed.
Ideas to start from
- a monastery brewery with hops, malt and pilgrims
- a Mars colony where water is worth more than gold
- a tea plantation in the highlands with trading ships
- a classroom economy: which goods does a town really need?
Price and requirements
City builders are world projects and are always built at the “World” size, with 10 to 30 goals and two to six hours of play. The price is 1,920 credits. World projects are available from the Studio plan, up to 5 per month per account; because a project needs more credits than the plan includes each month, you top up the difference with a credit pack. As always, you see the price before anything is built.
Prefer streets and steering wheels to fields and mills? Take a look at the open-world game maker. New to the builder? Start with make your own game.