City builders split into subgenres that barely resemble each other. Cities Skylines focuses on traffic optimization and aesthetic building. Anno centres on island logistics and production chains. Banished and Frostpunk push survival mechanics. Tropico simulates dictatorships. Soviet Republic recreates command economy management. Each game builds around different core systems despite sharing the city builder label.

SimCity created the genre in 1989 and dominated until SimCity 4. The series died when it failed to evolve. Cities Skylines launched in 2015 and replaced it by combining Sim City's zoning systems with granular detail and robust modding support through Steam Workshop. Traffic Manager Presidential Edition and thousands of custom assets transformed the base game. Players spent 8,000+ hours building and optimizing cities. Nothing has m ...