Just like last year, 2024 was a busy year for city builders. Some of the most anticipated city builders finally arrived—Manor Lords and Frostpunk 2—but there were plenty of other great examples of the genre released this year as well, plus a bunch that launched into 1.0 after spending some time in early access.
Counting them all up, I was surprised to find I played 23 city builders this year alone. The genre is still booming, as you'll see below: even though I wanted to narrow down my list to five favorites from this year, I couldn't help but throw in honorable mentions in each category—and sometimes more than one.
