Have you ever longed to run a kingdom? Do you want to oversee your very own factory? Perhaps start your own cult…if that's your thing? Well look no further! These eight city and development games range from medieval to evil overlord, so let’s get building!
In this article we’ll be covering everything city and settlement related, including games that:
In Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (the 20th anniversary edition of the game’s initial release), players must choose one of 13 civilizations and conquer rivals as they grow larger and more advanced. Over the time span of 1,000 years, players will collect resources, grow their civilizations, and go on conquests to expand their kingdom. The game features four “Ages” to move through: the Dark Age, the Feudal Age, the Castle Age, and the Imperial Age. Each “Age” comes with upgrades and newer technology and structures.
Some other aspects of the game that set it apart from other city and development games on steam are the use of civilians/villagers. Civilians are used to gather resources like food, wood, gold, and stone. The resources can then be used to train units, construct buildings, and research technologies, as well as a variety of other things.
Fans of the original will be pleased to know the game now features 4k graphics, improved troop and building visuals, a better zoom feature, and a new spectator mode. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is one of the best city and development games on Steam!
🎮Purchase Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition here
Prison architect allows players to build and manage their own maximum security prison. Players must find the balance between managing facilities, hiring staff, keeping track of income and payroll, as well as a plethora of other responsibilities. It’s crucial that you also meet the needs of your inmates as well, like building bathrooms and wash stations, implementing a cafeteria, having an area for recreation and more.
There are so many different additional conditions that can be added to your gameplay like gang activity or harsh weather conditions in order to more accurately simulate real life prison conditions. There are even five levels of security, going all the way up to death row. Each level comes with monetary benefits and certain pitfalls, bringing an added layer of strategy to the game. Without a doubt, this game makes its way onto our Steam wishlist!
🎮Purchase Prison Architect here
Oxygen Not included is a single-player survival simulation game in which players must create and grow a space colony. The game begins with three colonists (also known as “duplicants”) who have crash landed on an asteroid and now suffer from amnesia. Players are tasked with turning the asteroid into a livable makeshift space colony.
Your number one task is to keep your colonists alive by monitoring their hunger, waste, and oxygen levels. Your colonists also will be tasked with gathering resources by mining for ore, growing and harvesting food, researching new technology, and crafting equipment. Grab your oxygen mask and start your newest space colony with this great game!
🎮Purchase Oxygen Not Included here
Cult of the Lamb is about a lamb (you!) who must form a cult for a deity known as “The One Who Waits.” After saving your life, the deity tasks you with going on crusades and recusing lost or captured lambs to your following. The game contains four regions for your lamb to venture out into with each containing resources to gather, perks and weapons to collect, enemies to fight, and different animals to convert.
The different animals you can indoctrinate have appearances that can be edited and positive and negative traits that affect the way they act once inside your cult. At your cult’s home base, you can assign your followers tasks like building structures, worshipping, gathering resources, or sacrificing them, which comes with consequences. Make sure to keep your followers involved and please the deity in this great city and development game!
🎮Purchase Cult of the Lamb here
Dyson Sphere Program sends you, the player, to a nearby star cluster in order to source energy from the surrounding stars and planets. You must gather resources like iron, oil, and copper and build your factory using steel plates, gears, and electronic circuits. You’ ll need to expand your factory throughout the planet and ensure that everything is running smoothly!
🎮Purchase Dyson Sphere Program here
Thronefall is a minimalistic city and development game similar to Age of Empires in the sense that you will be growing your own kingdom and conquering other civilizations. You must defend your kingdom by building walls and defense towers while also creating a thriving village within the walls. Earn gold by protecting your kingdom from threats and surviving each attack. The more buildings left standing, the more gold you’ll earn, and the bigger your kingdom will grow. Thronefall is one of the best city and development games on Steam and definitely makes our list!
🎮Purchase Thronefall here
The final game on our list is Stacklands. Stacklands is a card-based development game where the player can drag and stack cards in order to build their village. By stacking cards, they interact with each other and allow you to gather food, build structures, and fight creatures. For example, if you dragged a villager card to a berry bush card, the villager would collect the berries and you’d gain some food! Cards can also be sold for coins which can be used to buy card packs and other items.
The game contains over 300 cards to collect, including recipe cards, weapons, villagers, resources, and more! After every Moon, a regularly timed interval, villagers will need to eat some of the food you’ve harvested. But be careful, if you don’t have enough food, your villagers may starve and perish. Villains and monsters will also appear regularly, which you will also need to defeat in order to maintain your village.
🎮Purchase Stacklands here
These seven games are some of the best on Steam right now, and with each occupying a different genre and interests, there’s bound to be something for everyone. Whether you’re into science fiction games like Dyson Sphere Program, something more realistic like Prison Architect, or even something simple like Thronefall or Stacklands, these games can satisfy each and everyone of your desires!