Do you love city builder games? Want to play one that’s serene and relaxing? Check out this amazing list of calming city builders on Nintendo Switch.
City building games can be a great way to relax after a hard day of school or work. They’re great if you love the strategy and planning aspect of most 4X games, but there aren’t very many that focus solely on the aesthetic aspect of building a beautiful urban space. Check out this list of serene city builders that start and end with what you make of them.
Dorfromantik
Dorfromantik takes what makes creating satisfying city scapes in 4x games fun and distills it down to a charming puzzle-like gameplay. There’s plenty of fun to be had in fitting the hexes together and seeing the sprawling city you planned come to fruition. There’s also a score mechanic that keeps those obsessed with perfection trying to build the best city the hexes can conjure–like strategically saving J and Q tiles in Scrabble.
It’s a great game to consider as a coffee break game that can picked up and put down as needed. There’s no combat, no strife, no issues to solve beyond placing hex tiles to expand your city as you see fit.
Townscaper
Want something a little bit more 3D, but just as relaxing as Dorfromantik? Check out Townscaper, which isn’t a game as much as it is a city-scape builder. You can build cities with unique shapes and architecture by experimenting with building and removing sections of the city. There are no concrete goals and most of the game feels like a canvas you’re meant to paint.
Islanders
If you want a smidge of actual strategy to your relaxing city-builder, you should check out Islanders on Nintendo Switch. The entire goal is to build up a civilization on a tiny little island with limited resources. Each island scenario comes with a series of limited tiles, which you have to arrange smartly and efficiently to build the society required for the scenario.
Carto
Carto isn’t so much a city-builder as a map builder with an immersive story that’s worth the experience. The game itself is quite short and the puzzles aren’t too hard to complete so those who like relaxing city builders may find a lot to like about this one as well.
Dice Legacy
Want a unique take on a city-building world with a unique system that governs it? Dice Legacy is more of a traditional city builder, but it takes place on a ring world where the dice in your hand determine the actions you can take each turn. It’s an interesting system that evolves strategy games beyond the typical start so many of them take.
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