Hello ladies!!
I've been into Banished again lately. It's a heavy resource management colony type game with some nice age integration (elders can't have kids, kids can't work, kids that go to school are harder workers etc)
I'm wondering if you guys like or know of anymore games, preferably on steam, that are similar? Or more realistic? I love building villages and towns etc.
I have Cities: Skylines but it's not installed. Let me hear your opinions!
I ADORE Banished. I return to it every few months because absolutely nothing hits the same for me. Have you tried the colonial charter mod for it? I haven’t yet, but I’ve heard it’s considered to be the best unofficial content patch for it, adding a lot of systems and complexity. Maybe I’ll give it a shot this week 👀
Surviving the Aftermath: Think banished but post-apocalyptic.
Surviving Mars: Think Banished but Mars colonization
Tropico: A very funny island nation builder, a little bit different from Banished but not dissimilar either.
There’s a game called Against The Storm that’s a rogue-light city builder where you’re trying to build settlements over the course of cycles, at the end of which your settlements are wiped and you start again with new buildings, technologies, etc. It’s a fun gameplay loop where you don’t have to anchor yourself to one city, and there’s enough variability and challenge to it that it doesn’t get old because you’re not going to be using the same build order everytime.
Against the storm
Rimworld
Frostpunk
I haven’t tried it yet, but Fabledom looks pretty cute.
I can think of Farthest Frontier from Crate Entertainment and maybe Pioneers of Pagonia if you like the Settlers type of games. I tried out the demo awhile back and enjoyed it.
A game that I haven’t seen suggested here is Anno 1800
It’s a city builder set in a fictional world undergoing an Industrial revolution. Its pretty basic when it comes to pop management (just some basics re happiness etc) but it goes in heavy when it comes to resource management with certain goods requiring a quite elaborate supply chain of resources and more exotic goods needed for higher class citizens requiring an intricate network of farms, mines and factories to produce
There is also some fun naval combat and a fairly complex trading system and to top it all off the game is really pretty visually and I personally loved seeing my small ramshackle farming settlement grow into a sprawling city with factories belching smoke and the likes
Give it a look I think you’ll enjoy 🙂
My favorite is Timberborn. Building a settlement with cute beavers and preparing for the inevitable drought that’s coming.
It’s not out yet but I loved the demo of Manor Lords. Check it out.
There used to be a game franchise called Ceasar that I adored for this game genre. It was for PC and you could build cities up by making sure all the resources could get where they needed to go. I especially loved the detail in the aqueducts and reservoirs, the tax collectors causing mor a e drop and the city suggesting we throw lavish festivals. Festivals in honor of certain roman gods would grant benefits.
It’s been years since it came out in the 90s but I wonder if it still holds up.
I’m eagerly waiting for Celestial Empire which will be released sometime this year. Building a Chinese empire and managing it 🙂
Maybe rimworld?? I just recently discovered it and have been hooked. DLC and a cool update are coming in April too!
If you like Banished then I highly recommend Ostriv.
I’ve sunk over a 1000 hours into it but it’s my go to game when I can’t muster the spell slots to play anything else.
It’s still in Alpha and is all done by one person in Ukraine but don’t let the fact it’s not finished put you off, they’re constantly doing regular updates and new content
It’s on Steam and GoG or you can buy it directly from the [website](https://ostrivgame.com/buy/) and you get a key for both Steam and GoG 😊
my wallet is sobbing as i scroll through this thread taking notes
Have you tried Tropico?
Settlement survival.
Omg banished is sooooooo good!!
Cities skylines is so good, you’ll probably like it.
Another great game for colony building is rimworld- there is so much detail to it, you have to try and build a colony while dealing with personality traits, mood, random weather events, etc. I play it so often on the peaceful/community builder difficulty settings when I just want to chill and build the community
BANISHED MY BELOVED
Loved Banished. Not similarly in style, but Rimworld. Graphics take some time getting used to but it’s a very fun and difficult futuristic colony survival game that’s super in depth. SO many mods for it, too!
I always thought that game was too hard.
Saw the title, saw the screenshot, and immediately thought, “That reminds me of ‘Banished’. I should suggest it to them in the comments.”
🤔😳🤣 /fail
Settlement Survival is a Banished clone that builds on the ideas it laid out. It’s my usual go-to when I feel like playing Banished again.
*saved thread for later steam sale spending*
Cities Skylines is the best damn game EVA. Just putting that out there.
Frostpunk. Steampunk Ice Age City Survival.
How about Rimworld? I don’t think it has schools or anything, but it is one of the best colony-management sims out there!
this is EXACTLY what i was looking for, thank you!!
I have SO many hours in Banished. Farthest Frontier is the only game that’s come close to scratching the same itch for me. I haven’t played in probably a year or so, but the devs were very active in updating and listening to players when I was playing.
I LOVE BANISHED AND I CAN’T BELIEVE IT TOOK ME THIS LONG TO SEE IT IN /r/girlgamers ! It’s so good!!!! i was addicted to that game for so long…now i wanna play it again!
Cities Skylines is Great but i really wanna check out the new one 😀 but i feel like its very buggy sometimes.
Also another great one is Planet Zoo! The creators spent a lot of time researching each animal’s conservation efforts and habitual behaviours and its one of the more accurate simulators out there! I highly recommend!
I also really enjoyed Northgard, if you were into the early ages of empires that is definitely a game for you.
I have a lot of this kind of games 😄
1) settlement survival
2) patron
3) foundation
4) forest village
5) farthest frontier
6) fabledom
7) ancient cities
8) emperies and tribes
9) kingdoms and castles
10) land of the vikings
There is more of village management simulators, they are just a little bit different, but if you want i could share😁 my favourite for example ist “medieval dynasty” with the 1st person point of view)
FROSTPUNK. FROSTPUNK. FROSTPUNK.
YOU ARE GONNA LOVE IT. BANISHED AIN’T **** IN COMPARISON. TRY FROSTPUNK. TRUST ME.
Not the same, but I love base builders as much as I love city builders. Red Alert 1-3 are on origin, and probably other places, for dirt cheap.
If you like Banished you’ll love Foundation, it has excellent mods too that really add to the gameplay
I love these kinds of games! one that I didnt see recommended here is ostriv. I think it’s very similar to banished.
Ark is a good one if you also like dinosaurs
Dawn Age: exactly like banished but harder and in the Stone Age.
Rimworld: less city management and more community management.
Caesar and CivRome: old 90s games.
Anno 1800: medieval to industrial settlements.
Civilizations VI: way more complex than previous games but worth it.
Humankind: very similar to Civilizations.
Victoria III: Industrial age. Politics, laws and government play big roles besides just city-management.
Next Cycle: very similar to Banished.
Medieval Dynasty: before you get to the city-management (technically village-management) part, you need to build the actual village by yourself. You’ll collect the material, make or buy the tools, and build each building from the ground up. Then recruit the villagers to work in your village. Then you can manage.
Manor Lords: not out yet but extremely excited for it!
It is most definitely not for everyone… but the ‘ur’ game for many games in this genera is Dwarf Fortress.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/975370/Dwarf_Fortress/
The steam release has made it a bit more approachable than the previous 20 odd years of development, but it is still quite inscrutable, however if you dig in then you can really get a ‘feel’ for the lives of your dwarfs, they build, have wishes, get into relationships, drink beer, love their cats (cats are pretty indifferent to this) and fight!
I think that Gita Jacksons writing probably gives the best overview of the game.
for example a review for gamers
https://kotaku.com/dwarf-fortress-the-kotaku-review-1834600921 (2019)
and for a more general audience (with steam version graphics)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/reviews/dwarf-fortress-review/ (2022)
If you can handle the ascii then it is free for always direct from their website https://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/ and I think feature complete with the steam version, just no pretty graphics or music.
“Foundation” is a great little city builder that’s actually gridless. Very chill.
My favorite is a game called Outlanders, originally Apple Arcade but now on Steam. It’s less in-depth than other economy mgmt games but I really like the art style and playability. You might also like Oxygen Not Included.
I think I have a recommendation that fits pretty well. [Life is Feudal: Forest Village](https://store.steampowered.com/app/496460/Life_is_Feudal_Forest_Village/)
I suspect that it’s a pretty blatant clone of Banished (including the UI, even), though for some reason it worked much better for me. It’s a lot simpler, simulation depth is not as deep, but the vibes are just perfect for me. 1500 hours in, and I still can’t resist going back occasionally.
Complexity can be actually increased with some mods, Steam Workshop for this game is pretty active, but even the base game is a solid experience, and it’s a perfect brains-off comfort game for me.
Needs some attention first few hours, when you figure things out, but then it just flows, perfect for listening to something long-form in the background. Absolutely love the game soundscape, the seasons and the forests. And the ability to just go crazy with weird mega-projects, like a marble highway across several islands.
Also second someone mentioning The Farthest Frontier. Great game, love how it looks, very pretty, and it has some interesting mechanics, with the trading and town planning. Raiders are getting really annoying eventually, though, but I played it a year ago last time, and there were some updates since then.