Fortify your game library
From our first years we know what it means to build.
As babies we’re given clacky wooden blocks and colourful Duplo bricks.
We are architects long before we are capable eaters of raw carrot.
When you brick up another hole in your mightyStrongholdto fend off enemy swordsmen.
You’ll find all these games and more on our list.
So here you go: the best building games on PC.
There were some rules to follow.
Games had to have some kind of “eye in the sky” camera view, we decided.
That meansMinecraft,Space Engineersand the like don’t qualify.
Maybe that’ll change in future updates.
But for now, we’re taking a godlike viewpoint as the primo perspective for constructing.
RTS games with an emphasis on waging war also see less attention (but some do still appear).
We’ve also broken the list down into a few sub-categories.
“Building” is quite a broad theme, after all.
Frostpunkis a gorgeous punch to the gut.
It really is beautiful, too.
Beavers have replaced humanity and, let’s be honest, it is for the best.
And farm trees you shall, for the beavers will chow down on lumber at their characteristically alarming rate.
The trick here is that the neo-beavers of earth’s green future do not simply stop at building stuff.
And since its release in 2021, the game has alos added thechallenge of dealing with toxic water.
Don’t worry, you’ll find a way to deal with it.
“Timberborn, you see, is not just about surviving the drought,” said Sinin one article.
Anno 1800sees you building cities across multiple islands in - surprise!
- the year 1800.
It’s the sense of constant, infinitesimal progress that I love.
You’re not building a city inFactorio.
It’s a machine.
A giant, mind-meltingly complex machine that will eventually construct a spaceship.
Be warned, though: it is engrossing.
Let the machine suck you in.
Two great tastes that go well together, in my opinion.
What’s cooler than global logistics chains?
It’s a horrendously large-scale factory building game with Icarus-sized ambitions.
You literally want to harvest the sun.
Other games, given this brief, might make a run at simplify things.
Not so, Dy-Sphere-Pro.
Others are big and roomy, giving your factories more space to set up huge chains of production lines.
yo, Dyson Sphere Program.
I’m begging you.
Thronefall
What else should I be playing:Islanders is another minimalist builder from the same creator.
What if you didn’t need to decidewhereto build things?
That sounds daft, right?
The catch being that you don’t get to plop down your buildings in any old place.
The limitation is part of the appeal, as it boils down the defendy genre to its economic essence.
If you’re looking for total creative freedom, it’s maybe not the right pick.
But as a focused palette cleanse between other building games, it may be just the ticket.
There have been some hits and some misses in theStrongholdseries of castle-building RTS hybrids.
to keep the oafs and ruffians from your keep.
And if you want to get extremely silly, theres always Red Alert 2.
Definitive Edition, however, is more than justAge Of Empires 2’s glammed-up zombie.
And yes, I know I said this list wouldn’t have many pure RTS games on it.
But I love AoE2 so much I had to make an exception.
If you want to try a different sort of beast husbandry experience, I strongly recommend aquatic management simMegaquarium.
Also, check out Planetbase by Madruga Works, makers of the excellent Dawn Of Man.
Offworld Trading Companyis one of the most cleverly designed games I’ve played.
Planet Coasteris not, thankfully, about cornering the market for circular discs on which to rest drinks.
There’s a Ghostbusters DLC too, with Dan Aykroyd in it!
And actual, real ghosts.
It’s bizarre, but great.
I’ve got to say, upfront, that I’m a bit conflicted on Prison Architect.
But, objectively speaking, Prison Architect is a really fun game.
But yeah, prisons.
Dwarf Fortressis my favourite game of all time.
These farmers, hunters, and ox herders can get by on surprisingly little.
A church, some meat, a bit of bread (and maybe a tankard of beer mi’lord?)
will see the earthy people of this medieval settlement sim more or less satisfied.
But click your way through its idiosyncracies and you’ll find a green-thumbed town tinkerer worth the time.
Hunt too much and the nearby game will dry up.
Farm too ferociously without leaving the soil to fallow, and your harvest will eventually diminish.
Oxygen Not Includedmay look cute, with Klei Entertainment’s unmistakable art style bleeding over fromDon’t Starve.
But don’t be fooled.
The clue to how ONI plays is in its name.
It’s not mosntrously hard, once you get the hang of it.
