The year 2025 is shaping up to be exciting for city-building and management simulation games, which flourish on PC. Many games will focus on historical themes, fantasy, and even the stars above. Players will need to manage resources, plan economies, and navigate political issues while creating vast cities that reflect their chosen time period. Some games require clever infrastructure planning to guarantee smooth resource flow, while others highlight social and religious aspects, such as keeping citizens happy and managing potential unrest.

Some of these games will bring in new mechanics that change the usual rules of city building. One exciting game will focus on automation and managing resources in a sci-fi setting, where players need to build and keep efficient production systems using technology. Another game will take players to a fantasy world with unique creatures, where tackling challenges is essential for the city to survive and grow.

10 Ratopia

Become Rat Royalty

Ratopia is a city-building and survival game where you play as a rat leader, trying to build and grow a thriving community of rodents. The game combines resource management, city planning, fighting, and exploration, making it fun for players who appreciate strategic gameplay and cute visuals. It has three main stages: early, middle, and late game, each with its challenges.

Players start with a small rat settlement in the game, gathering resources to build structures and maintain stability. As they progress through each stage, players manage crime, find rare resources, and trade with other cities. Later, there's a focus on technological advancements, automation, and strategic planning to secure the Ratopia community's success.

9 Night Is Coming

The Dawn Isn't Coming Anytime Soon

Night is Coming is a survival and building game set in a dark fantasy world influenced by Slavic folklore and the Carpathian region. Players act as leaders who must create and manage a community in a challenging environment. The main gameplay revolves around managing resources, constructing buildings, and asg tasks to help citizens stay alive. It's important to ensure that settlers have enough food, clothing, and shelter, as each has unique traits and skills that influence gameplay.

Night Is Coming was supposed to be released in 2024, but it's not likely since an official release date has not been set.

The game includes dropping temperatures, severe weather like blizzards, and dangers from mythical creatures based on Slavic legends. Banshees, Leschies, and Werewolves grow stronger every winter, so players must prepare defenses and build a military to protect their community. This might involve creating protective structures, training settlers for battle, and possibly relocating to safer areas. The game features beautiful visuals that change with the weather and seasons and a great soundtrack.

8 Celestial Empire

A Great Empire To Build

Celestial Empire is a city-building game set in ancient China. Players take on the role of governors, responsible for building and managing a thriving city. The game involves planning the city layout, managing resources, and exploring cultural elements. To be successful, players must make smart decisions about resource use, trade with others, and develop infrastructure.

Celestial Empire will be released into early access before a full release.

The game features unique maps with beautiful landscapes and some fantasy elements. Seasons change, affecting the environment and how cities develop. Players also need to follow the Emperor's commands to keep citizens satisfied and avoid unrest. With its good visuals and detailed environments, Celestial Empire will give a unique experience that highlights ancient Chinese culture.

7 Orc Warchief: Strategy City Builder

Become The Orc

Orc Warchief: Strategy City Builder is a city-building game where players take the role of a young Orc Warchief looking for revenge against humans who have mistreated their people. The main goal is to rebuild their village and turn it into a strong Orc settlement. Managing resources is crucial, as players have to balance the needs of their growing population with expanding the village and military.

Additionally, there’s a unique worship system where players can honor Orc gods to gain special abilities. These powers can help strengthen the village or unleash devastating attacks against enemies. Success as a Warchief depends on how well players manage resources, train fighters, defend their home, and use the powers of the chosen god to reclaim their lands and take revenge on humanity.

6 Desynced: Autonomous Colony Simulator

It's A New Way To Manage

Desynced: Autonomous Colony Simulator is a sci-fi strategy game where players create and manage a colony on a new planet. Instead of using conveyor belts like many other automation games, Desynced uses customizable drones to move resources and complete production tasks. The player's main job is setting up mining operations, building factories, and growing their logistics network to handle more complex production processes.

One of the standout features is how customizable the drones are; they can be equipped with different tools and be programmed to work differently using an easy drag-and-drop system. The game has a detailed technology tree that unlocks new units, structures, and research opportunities as your colony advances. This game is currently in early access but is likely to be released in 2025.

5 Nova Roma

Rome Wasn't Built In A Day

Nova Roma is a city-building game set when the Roman Empire was declining. Players take on the role of city planners, working to build and grow a new city called Nova Roma from scratch. They need to manage resources and supply chains carefully to meet the varied needs of their growing population. This includes constructing different types of buildings, from basic homes to impressive temples, all of which help the city's economy and community.

The game is more than just managing resources; it also involves social and political elements. Citizens have changing needs, so players must provide entertainment, jobs, and religious services to keep them happy and prevent unrest. It looks kind of cartoony but very colorful, and overall, it feels more like a calming game than a challenge.

4 Beyond These Stars

Going Above And Beyond

Beyond These Stars is a city-building game with a unique twist: your civilization lives on the back of a giant, smart space whale named Kewa, traveling through the galaxy. This setup means players must care for their city and the whale. There's only so much space on Kewa's back, but players can change the environment to create farmland, forests, and other important areas.

Resources are limited, so players have to be careful not to use up what Kewa has, or it could harm both the whale and civilization. It's a unique take on the city-building genre and definitely hasn't been done before. Not many developers could think of this, and the unique setting will definitely get it a cult following.

3 Builders Of Egypt

Build The Old Empire

Builders of Egypt is a game in which players create and manage a city in Ancient Egypt. Players start as the governor of Memphis and can build their civilization from the time of early kings like Narmer to Cleopatra’s reign. Players need to manage cities, resources, and trade while making important decisions about how to grow the economy and defend their people.

The game includes famous landmarks like the Great Pyramids and the Abu Simbel Temple. Building these structures requires a lot of planning and resources, as they can be both expensive and affect how happy citizens are. In addition to the main story mode, there will also be a sandbox mode where players can build and create their own city layouts freely.

2 Manor Lords

There's So Much Hype Here

Manor Lords is a city-building and strategy game set in medieval times, focusing on realistic historical details. Unlike many other city builders that use a grid layout, Manor Lords allows players to place and rotate buildings freely. This makes city development feel more natural, similar to how real medieval towns grew based on their surroundings and available resources. There's no Manor Lords roap, but it's expected to be coming soon.

Manor Lords has already been released into early access but will likely have a full release in 2025.

Players start with a small village and need to manage resources, production, and infrastructure to develop it into a bustling medieval city. They also need to meet the needs of their citizens, balancing food supplies, housing, and jobs while seeking to expand. Visually, the game draws inspiration from late 14th-century Franconia, creating an immersive medieval atmosphere. Manor Lords is easily one of the best games on this list.

1 Pax Augusta

Hands Down The Best In The List

Pax Augusta is a city-building game set in the Roman Empire where players act as governor. They start with a small village located along an important road and work to grow and manage Roman settlements. The game focuses on being historically accurate, featuring buildings inspired by real Roman ruins and historical records.

To succeed, players need to manage resources wisely, attract new residents, build infrastructure, and meet the different needs of their population. This includes constructing important places like harbors, forums, baths, theaters, and gladiator schools, which provide entertainment, create jobs, and strengthen the economy. Pax Augusta appears to be incredibly historically accurate, rivaling Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Pentiment, but offering very different gameplay from both.

The game offers a sandbox mode where players can design their city freely and a story mode based on the writings of the historian Tacitus, which adds a narrative layer. Players will need to navigate fires, construction issues, popular uprisings, barbarian attacks, and the unpredictable decisions of Roman Emperors. It's on PC via Steam and getting closer to release by the day.