City Building Casual Downloadable Games

I am a city building FANATIC. I just wanted to get that sentence out there. Let me tell you, these games are totally addicting for me. Even though, in general, they have typically the same kind of gameplay, I don't get bored. Each game has its own unique challenges and I like the fact that I already know how to play the second game after I've learned the first.

Are you a city building fanatic? If you're not sure, let me list a few characteristics about myself and these games. If you can see yourself described in some of these statements, chances are, you'll love these strategy and time management games, too.

• I like games with many different levels so that I can start and stop playing the game whenever I want.
• I like games where each level has well defined goals.
• I like games where the defined goal can be reached in a variety of manners.
• I like challenging myself with a time limit.
• I like puzzles.
• I like creating a sense of order and success.
• I don't mind replaying levels just to get the top star rating.
• I like games with predictable game mechanics and shallow learning curves.
• Sim City was a ridiculously fun game for me

Does this sound like you?

The storyline is that you're looking to make it big in the real estate business. To do so, you'll build up cities all over the US, pretty much the same way Build-a-Lot goes. In fact, the games are nearly identical. After each level you beat, you return to your huge HQ where you can spend the stars you get beating the levels on various upgrades for your company. These are things like garage or financial department or recycling center, etc. I have no idea why the "foundation" upgrade that allows your company to do charity around the world or something allows you to accept "donation" checks from tenants that go directly to your building cash. Hmm.

Unlike many other city building games, you don't have to manage resources. You don't have to wait for materials to show up before you build houses. All you need are available workers (wagons) and cash. Along the way, decorations near houses help boost rent payments, build shops and workshops to generate additional income and keep houses in shape, respectively. Some cities also have unique needs like building roads (SimCity style) or stadiums and things like that.

The game does give you more freedom than Build-a-Lot in terms of where you can place your buildings. There are specific areas that are available. Since the areas are finite, it does take a little thinking or pre-planning to figure out what is the most efficient configuration houses/shops/decorations. You can also sell buildings for quick cash. Of course, you can also buy pre-built houses that you don't already own (they are greyed out).

Why I Like It: I enjoy the variety of bonus-type goals with the stadiums and bridge-building and things like that. I also like the bonuses the special buildings provide, especially the shop. It's just so cute; you can hold a sale!

Why I Don't Like It: Is it just me or is meeting the requirements for expert a little easy?

Would I buy the game? Undecided. I like the graphics but it feels easy. Perhaps good for players just getting into the genre.

Try the free trial on Big Fish Games.

This game takes place in the olden days with... kings. You're tasked with building up a couple of villages and cities. The main issues to keep in mind while your building your cities is to house your people, feed your people, and protect your people. In fact, you need to build housing, farms, and barracks simultaneously to make your village attractive. Citizens will not move in if any of those are lacking.

One cool part of the game is the fact that there is a real-time action component to the game. Once in a while, monsters will come to attack your town. If you have sufficient barracks and soldiers, they are no problem. Your buildings will automatically shoot them down. In addition to hiring workers to build buildings, you can also hire heroes. If you have a hero, you can send the hero to go out to personally attack the monster.

Another aspect of the game are the various events that pop up. These events are kind of like bonus missions. Actually, they don't take much work on your part. In order to take part in an event, you need to have the right resources (a hero or wood or money). Then you just click to accept and after 10-15 seconds, the results will be revealed. Oftentimes, you will gain resources or gold, which is especially nice since you have to wait for rent to be collected.

So other than those points, the game plays much like other city building games. Build housing to attract citizens to collect rent. Rent is collected at regular intervals. You can play the game in timed mode or untimed mode. Placement of the buildings is not critical in this game. The graphics are nice, but I have a gripe where it's not really obvious when you try to build a building and you don't have enough resources. I've found that many times, I was focused and frantically clicking in several spots to build buildings in parallel only to realize that nothing built. It would have been easier with another cue, I think. Or at least a more obvious cue.

Why I Like It: Events and real-time monster killing really sets this game apart from the typical city building games. These things make it a much more multitasking game and makes the game more challenging.

Why I Don't Like It: There's no obvious cue for not being able to build because you're missing resources. Maybe they could have just grayed out the box.

Would I buy the game? I like it. The real-time component really feels like a bonus!

Try the free trial on Big Fish Games.

Wonderburg brings the typical theme city building game to a new whimsical level. Like the typical city building game, the tutorial walks you through how to build buildings to increase your population and rent income and so on, there are several different levels that are loosely tied together in a storybook form, but those are all generalities. And that's where similarities end, really.

In Wonderburg, you are Alisa, a witch with a pointy hat and gloves. Your fellow villager friends are plagued with giants and pirates and trolls and more. Each of these nuisances cause buildings to get out of shape and lose rent. Some, like pirates, cause more trouble. They can take over a house, scaring away peasants (and essentially eliminating rent income), until you use your witchy powers to perform an exorcism. As a bonus feature in this city building game that I haven't seen in other games, there are some mini-game type features. Like in one early level, after you meet the level goals, you have to use your wand to zap 15 pirates. The pirates scramble across the roads and you have to catch them. If you zap a fellow villager, they yelp but no apparent harm is done. Pretty fun, I think.

This game can be played in both timed and "relaxed" modes. After you beat one section of the story, a bonus level is unlocked where you can play endlessly to "hone your skills." Not necessary, in my opinion, but a bonus.

If you've played Build-a-Lot, this game is very similar. You buy plots of land, build and upgrade houses, sell houses for quick cash, and so on. The big difference is the fantasy theme and the extra bonus games in the storyline. All in all, very cute.

Why I Like It: Quick play, whimsical theme, fun to watch. The game is easy to learn and the relaxed mode takes the pressure off. "Mini-games" within levels are a fun break from the typical city building game.

Why I Don't Like It: Why do the workers have to walk along the roads to get to the build site? I swear they don't take the shortest path. If they didn't have to walk, I could save a few seconds and everything would get built just a little quicker.

Would I buy the game? Yep, if you like the cutesy theme. Otherwise, it'll really be distracting to play.

Try the free trial on Big Fish Games.

Plan It Green (a play on "planet" of course) is a game produced by National Geographic. The premise is that you've become the mayor of Greenville, which unfortunately, is currently only green in name. Each level puts you at some small portion of the town with dilapidated old buildings or debris or some pollution. The goals are clearly stated and you're given an unlimited amount of time to complete the goals, though the longer you take, the fewer stars you will earn.

The premise is to learn about going green. This game "discusses" many green technologies and ideas such as solar panels, eco-gardens, recycling, wind power plants, organic farming, etc. I say "discusses" because well, it's more like a 3-line paragraph describing the building/technology with a couple of small symbols at the bottom that gives you game details about increase in taxes, energy credits, and environmental health. I barely read through these descriptions because I was racing the clock.

Speaking of taxes and energy credits, these act as the currency in the game. Taxes are collected daily, which occurs every couple of seconds, as are energy credits. When you accumulate enough energy credits, you can sell them off for some extra cash. Oftentimes, your daily tax and energy income are listed as goals for the level.

In addition, there's the environmental health and happiness factor. Both can be boosted by upgrading the buildings in your town to make them more environmentally friendly. In general, they seem to go up together. In this game, however, plots of land are already pre-zoned for residential or commercial or parks. Especially in terms of parks, there's none of that proximity happiness bonus or anything like that that occurs in other games. There's a bit of a planning puzzle when building utilities such as wind power plants or solar power plants. Some squares will allow you to get more energy production than other squares. In the early levels, you're allowed to move the structures without penalty.

Why I Like It: Pretty fast paced game, very easy to learn, clever way to teach "green," has a good variety of buildings to build, building upgrades allow for some customization (paint).

Why I Don't Like It: Major pet peeve is just how many mouse clicks are needed to build a building. The menus for choosing a building are so nested that you need way too many click. I can deal with 2 clicks but 4 gets annoying quickly.

Would I buy the game? Only with Game Club on Big Fish or PlayPass on PlayFirst. Don't pay full price.

Try the free trial on Big Fish Games or PlayFirst.

Romopolis reminds me of Caesar III. They are both city building games, and they are both about the Roman empire. Romopolis is, of course, a lot simpler being a casual game and all. I'm a big fan of theme city building games. The historical period theme gives all the buildings a certain look and feel to them. I really like how the maps have road and aqueducts. You can build shrines and markets and various other buildings. The big difference between Romopolis and Caesar III is that you don't get to build roads, meaning you don't have to worry about the walking accessibility of your city. Whew. That should save a lot of thinking.

This game consists of 24 levels. The first 4 levels are tutorial levels, and they really get you up to speed. To meet the goals of each level, you need to satisfy some requirement like a minimum population, a happiness level, some number of buildings, or some combination of that. If you do it all within the time challenge limit, you get a medal. Some levels have bonus goals that can get you a trophy.

Upgrading buildings or building bigger buildings help your population grow. People want to move into big buildings. However, those citizens who live in bigger houses will demand services. If those services aren't met, they won't be as happy and will show you by not paying the maximum rent. In this game, especially in the later levels, a little strategizing will go a long way. Limited space means you can't build an infinite number of buildings and facilities. Because people like living near gardens, you can get a happiness boost if you plan your residentials just so. There's no pre-zoning in this game, though sometimes you will have to cut down some forest or clear out old buildings to create some space. While there are several ways to beat a level, later levels definitely get harder and require some clever thinking for building placement.

Every few seconds, rent is collected, which allows you to build. In addition, money is the key to buying more resources and training more workers. More workers allow you to build bigger buildings as well as speed up upgrades. You can't multitask if you don't have enough workers, and that's important when time is of the essence. You also need to use income to unlock blueprints for new buildings, which are transferable from one level to the next, and to buy concessions like trade routes, which are not transferable.

I read that this game is exactly like Townopolis, though I've never played that. I can certainly imagine this game being similar to that. In fact, it seems like it would be very easy to get another opolis game with a different themed skin.

Why I Like It: Game keeps moving, layout is great, all required buildings and menus are easily accessible. Nice graphics, challenging game with different difficulty levels.

Why I Don't Like It: Can be a little slow when you're waiting for rent to come in. I want more levels! Though there is a level editor but I don't really get into that.

Would I buy the game? Yep. I think this game is really fun!

Try the free trial on Big Fish Games or PlayFirst.