Hidden Gems: Underrated City Building Games You Should Try

City building games have long been a beloved genre among gamers who enjoy creativity, strategy, and management. While blockbuster titles like Cities: Skylines and SimCity dominate the spotlight, many fantastic city building games fly under the radar City building games  . These hidden gems offer unique mechanics, fresh challenges, and captivating worlds, often overlooked by mainstream audiences. If you’re a fan of urban planning games looking for something new and exciting, this article explores underrated city building games you should definitely try.

Why Explore Underrated City Building Games?

Discover Unique Gameplay and Mechanics

Mainstream city builders often follow familiar formulas, but underrated games frequently introduce innovative mechanics or settings. These titles can surprise you with fresh approaches to resource management, city layout, and social simulation.

Support Smaller Developers

Many hidden gems come from indie developers or smaller studios, meaning your purchase helps support passionate creators who bring diversity and creativity to the genre.

Avoid Oversaturation

Popular games often come with massive modding communities and a heavy player base, which can feel overwhelming or repetitive. Underrated games usually provide a more intimate experience with tight-knit communities and focused gameplay.

Top Underrated City Building Games Worth Your Time

1. Banished

Overview: Banished is a survival city building game where you manage a group of exiled travelers starting a new settlement in a harsh wilderness.

• What Makes It Special: Unlike traditional city builders, Banished focuses heavily on resource scarcity, weather, and seasonal changes. Players must carefully balance food production, housing, and health to prevent their settlers from perishing.
  
  

• Why It’s Underrated: The game’s minimalist graphics and punishing difficulty have kept it niche, but its deep simulation and unique challenge appeal to hardcore strategy fans.
  
  

• Platform: PC.
  
  

2. Tropico 4

Overview: While the Tropico series is known for its humor and political satire, Tropico 4 remains a hidden gem due to its balanced gameplay and engaging campaign.

• What Makes It Special: It combines city building with political maneuvering, where players act as “El Presidente” managing an island nation’s economy, infrastructure, and political factions.
  
  

• Why It’s Underrated: Tropico 4 often gets overshadowed by its successor Tropico 5, but it offers a smoother difficulty curve and more focused mechanics.
  
  

• Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3.
  
  

3. Surviving Mars

Overview: A sci-fi city builder focused on colonizing Mars, Surviving Mars challenges players to create self-sufficient habitats in an alien environment.

• What Makes It Special: Resource scarcity, terraforming, and managing colonists’ morale add complexity and depth to the city building formula.
  
  

• Why It’s Underrated: Despite good reviews, it hasn’t reached the same popularity as other space-themed games. Its niche setting and slow pacing limit its mass appeal but reward patient players.
  
  

• Platform: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4.
  
  

4. Anno 1404 (Dawn of Discovery)

Overview: Part of the long-running Anno series, Anno 1404 focuses on medieval city building, trading, and exploration.

• What Makes It Special: The game excels in balancing city management with complex trade routes and diplomacy, creating a rich economic simulation.
  
  

• Why It’s Underrated: While Anno 1800 has brought recent fame to the series, Anno 1404 remains a beloved classic that newer players often overlook.
  
  

• Platform: PC.
  
  

5. Foundation

Overview: Foundation is a medieval city builder with an emphasis on organic, gridless city layouts and monument building.

• What Makes It Special: Its grid-free building system allows more natural and aesthetically pleasing city designs. The game focuses on community happiness, resource management, and architectural beauty.
  
  

• Why It’s Underrated: As an indie title still in early access for some time, it hasn’t yet captured mainstream attention but offers a refreshing alternative to traditional grid-based builders.
  
  

• Platform: PC.
  
  

What Sets These Games Apart From Mainstream Titles?

Unique Challenges and Settings

From surviving harsh wilderness in Banished to managing political intrigue in Tropico 4 or colonizing Mars in Surviving Mars, these games introduce themes and challenges not always explored by major titles.

Different Art Styles and Atmospheres

Many underrated city builders have distinct visual styles—whether it’s the minimalism of Banished or the futuristic yet grounded look of Surviving Mars. These aesthetics contribute to unique atmospheres that immerse players in their worlds.

Emphasis on Specific Aspects of City Building

While mainstream games tend to offer broad city management, these hidden gems often focus deeply on specific mechanics like survival, trade, political management, or community happiness, giving a more specialized experience.

Tips for Trying Underrated City Building Games

Be Patient with Learning Curves

Many underrated games have steeper learning curves due to their unique mechanics. Take time to explore tutorials, watch gameplay videos, or read community guides to get started.

Embrace Their Unique Styles

Don’t expect every city builder to follow the familiar patterns of popular titles. Enjoy the fresh perspectives and challenges these games offer.

Join the Community

Smaller games often have dedicated forums or Discord servers where you can get advice, share builds, and connect with fellow players. Engaging with these communities enhances the experience.

Conclusion

If you love city building games but are tired of the usual titles dominating the scene, these underrated gems offer exciting, fresh, and challenging experiences. From the survival-focused Banished to the politically charged Tropico 4 and the futuristic colonies of Surviving Mars, these games prove that the genre still has plenty of unexplored corners.

By giving these hidden gems a try, you’ll not only discover unique gameplay and settings but also support creative developers pushing the boundaries of city building games. So why stick to the familiar? Dive into these underrated titles and start crafting your perfect cityscape today!