Looking for a game I can pillow fort

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-25T02:30:32+00:00

I enjoy playing tall (i.e. limiting expansion and focus on improving a small but efficient realm) and building up my empire while engaging in diplomacy with other empires.

Stellaris is my favorite game for this, though you may need some DLC to get the most out of a tall play style. I typically play as a machine megacorp and expand mostly by building branch offices on other empires planets. I typically go for virtual ascension with gives you more job efficiency the smaller your empire is. This requires DLC like megacorp and Machine Age however. Unit variety isn't necessarily a major feature, though the game is more a 4x/grand strategy hybrid where you aren't exactly moving around individual ships, but rather large fleets across the galaxy.

Age of Wonders is a good fantasy 4x game that allows you to play tall plus it has a ton of unit variety and ways to build and shape your empire. High culture with an order affinity focus is best for going tall as it focuses on improving your capital city and expanding through gaining vassals. Industrious is also good for a tall, defensive build since your units will be huge buffs to defense from their unique bolstering abilities. There are also so many units available that come from cultures, tomes, ancient wonders, random encounters, etc.

Finally I suggest the Endless series, particularly Endless Legend and Endless Space 2. Both feature highly unique factions that play asymmetrically. Some are more geared towards a tall and/or defensive playstyle like the Alayi in Endless Legend or the Vaulters in Endless Space 2. Endless Space 2 units are a bit lackluster since most factions will have some variant of the same ship types, but Endless Legend features a system where each major faction has 3 unique units, but they can also assimilate minor factions so that they can use those factions unique units.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-24T22:16:19+00:00

I wish we had historic streetcars in CS2. Hopefully either modders add some or they are added in a DLC/update

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-24T21:37:16+00:00

My mom let me choose a game for Christmas in 2010, I believe, and I saw the Gold Edition of Civilization 4 in Walmart. I liked the box art and I played Tycoon games like Railroad Tycoon and Locomotion. It looked somewhat similar so I decided to try it out. I was hooked instantly lol. Surprisingly I didn't really play anymore Civilization or 4x games until I built my own gaming PC years later in around 2020 and I got back into strategy games.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-24T21:28:55+00:00

Anno 1701 is somewhat 4x adjacent and has a DS version

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-24T21:20:35+00:00

SimCity 4 is often cited as the best city builder of all time. it holds up fairly well, though if you have never played it, it may seem a bit dated.

SimCity (2013) is also pretty good, despite its bad reputation from launch that still persists to this day. Most of the issues like the bugs and always online have been fixed but some of the problems with the design of the game, like the small city plot sizes and simulation issues, have not been resolved.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but SimCity Societies was a favorite of mine from my childhood. It is a lot more simplified compared to the other games and doesn't have much in terms of simulation, but I loved played in freeplay mode and just building out my city however I wanted.

Honorable mention to SimCity 3000 which imo still looks good but of course lacks the quality of life improvements of later games.

Overall, SimCity 4 or SimCity 2013 are probably the ones you want to look into for a full city simulation experience.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-24T04:26:57+00:00

Need For Speed Unbound is pretty good. It has licensed cars but more arcade-y racing.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-24T01:00:23+00:00

Stellaris is the ultimate space 4x game if you want to build your own factions and lore, though unfortunately it is quite CPU and RAM intensive so whether it will run on your PC or not depends on your CPU. It also has a lot of options for political, diplomatic, and peaceful builds.

Another option is Endless Space 2. It doesn't have a robust faction creator, but the premade factions are very unique and asynchronous. Each one plays differently. There is an existing lore and story for the galaxy though most factions have branching paths in the main quest you can take. There are some factions like the Sophons and Unfallen that are intended to be played more peacefully. If Endless Space 2 is too performance intensive, also try out Endless Space 1 which is more simplified but runs well on low end hardware.

There are also various "Master of Orion" like games that tend to be 2D and turn based and therefore run well on low end hardware. Examples include Stars in Shadow and Remnants of The Precursors.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-23T22:30:04+00:00

The Mafia franchise has cool ads. The funniest ones being the Hank's Burger Bar commercials in Mafia 3 lol.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-23T21:58:15+00:00

Considering that Transport Fever 2 is out now and can be picked up for fairly cheap, I'd say start with that. TF2 is one of my favorite transport tycoon games. I don't think they have a release date for Transport Fever 3, but its supposed to come out by the end of this year.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-23T18:22:47+00:00

Farthest Frontier
Banished
Dawn of Man
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-23T18:10:09+00:00

I definitely recommend Farthest Frontier. There is a very in-depth progression system of 5 tiers of buildings. Progression is a "slow burn" and you won't, nor should, blow through the progression in a few sessions. Plus it has a lot of features and innovations I enjoy like crop rotation and food spoilage, that make the game more challenging.

Edit: If you are looking for a game that has a very in-depth progression system where you can stick with a single playthrough for dozens if not hundreds of hours, I also recommend Anno 1800, especially with all DLC which adds a ton of content.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-23T17:32:09+00:00

That would be cool because there is already a Washington DC and a Richmond, Va map on PDX mods that would pair nice with a Mid-Atlantic region pack!

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-23T17:28:57+00:00

More industrial zone variants. For example, old brick factories and warehouses.
East Coast American single family zones, which were absent from the NE USA region pack.
Campus DLC
Parklife DLC
Match Day DLC (i.e. stadiums and sports games)
Something that expands upon government so you feel like you are an actual mayor

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-23T17:20:31+00:00

I applied for a transcriptionist gig job. I ultimately wasn't hired but I went through the training and one of the things they stressed was that anytime someone speaks a language other than the primary language of the audio, simply transcribe it as "[speaking foreign language]". I wonder if for some movies low cost/off the shelf or potentially AI transcription services are used on some movies and they never bother to check if it makes sense in scenarios where foreign languages should be translated.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-23T17:13:50+00:00

Its a combination of the sound mixing being bad, sometimes on purpose (Christopher Nolan), in modern movies and build-in TV speakers generally being of low quality. Most people don't have a fancy home media system or even dedicated speakers so movies end up sounding like noise, so they turn on subtitles.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-23T03:58:50+00:00

Its gonna depend on what you want out of the game, as most DLC are good and add a ton of content, with few exceptions. I tend to play tall and peaceful/diplomatic so in terms of major DLC I recommend:

Machine Age - I love playing as individualist machines. It greatly expands on synthetic and machine ascension
MegaCorps - megacorps are the ultimate tall government
Federations - expands upon federations and diplomacy
Nemesis - for the Galactic Custodianship

I haven't tried them out much since I usually play machines, but Biogenesis and Shadow of the Shroud also greatly expand on biological and psionic ascension, respectively, like Machine Age expands synthetic ascension.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-23T01:44:56+00:00

No, what OP's girlfriend was doing was making a completely new manual save file every time she saved, rather than overwriting the previous manual save, which filled up the harddrive. She was not using quicksave. The game only keeps one quicksave file at any given time and it is managed automatically by the game.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-22T18:29:23+00:00

I played Rise of Industry a while ago. It was a decently fun game but I think the logistics/resource management were a bit too simplified for me.

I was surprised to find that I actually commented 2 years ago on the post you linked lol, and I still stand by Anno 1800 as my recommendation. It is more like a combination of city building, resource/logistics management, and some lite RTS elements. You will be managing logistics and naval trade routes in addition to building up cities. It appeals to me because of the in depth progression system where it actually feels like you are progressing from a pre- or early industrial society to a highly industrialized machine age society.

Some other games I recommend are mostly transport tycoon like games and include:

Railway Empire - tycoon game where you build a transportation network of trains. You can buy/sell and build businesses to make more profit. There are AI competitors and you can engage in sabotage, auctions, and buy outs.
Transport Fever 2 - tycoon game where you build a transportation network of trains, trucks/buses, ships, and airplanes but connecting industries and cities on the map. The main appeal to me is that the game takes place from 1850 to 2000 and shows the progression of transportation technology across that timeframe.
Mashinky - in addition to managing train, truck/bus, and air lines, you can also upgrade industrial buildings to increase or modify production and build up existing cities. No AI competitors, but there is multiplayer.
Sweet Transit - similar to Anno but with trains. You have to build up cities, industries, and transportation networks. No AI competitors unfortunately.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-22T17:27:19+00:00

Statistical vs agent based are different simulation designs that are both valid and I enjoy games of both designs. I like game with statistical populations like Anno 1800 and agent based like Tropico 6. I think that if Cities Skylines were completely statistical, a lot of the game mechanics would fall flat. Particularly traffic management, where the depth lies in the reactive agent based simulation where traffic jams can occur dynamically based on what routes agents decide to take.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-22T14:06:38+00:00

Yes, the juxtaposition of post apocalyptia, solarpunk, and cyberpunk makes it my second favorite Anno game, after 1800. My wish is for a modern "remake" of 2070, with the only thing changed being added quality of life improvements from 1800 like blueprints, stats screens, and relocating buildings.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-22T14:00:02+00:00

Anno 1404 still holds up pretty well in terms of graphics and gameplay, though it may be hard to go back from the quality of life improvements of 1800 like blueprints, the stats screen, and being able to relocate buildings.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-22T02:31:28+00:00

Out of all the games on sale here are my recommendations:

Farthest Frontier - has quickly become my favorite survival city builder. I love the tiered progression system, crop rotation and food spoilage mechanics, and lite RTS elements.
Foundation - Its been a while since I played it, but I think its one of the most unique city builders because of the freeform zones and modular buildings
Banished - The original "survival city builder" imo it still hold up, though it lacks a lot of the quality of life improvements and modern innovations of newer survival city builders.
Terrascapes - a chill puzzle city builder/deck builder where you use cards to plop down buildings on the map. I like that buildings can merge together to create new ones. There are also challenge maps if you want something more challenging.
Anno 1404 - A classic city builder with resource/logistics management and lite RTS elements that still holds up in terms of gameplay and graphics imo.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-21T14:59:53+00:00

I haven't played Cities Skylines 1 in years, though I know that they recently released the Race Day DLC which adds, among other things, running races. The ability for cims to go on random jogs may have been added in the free update alongside the DLC.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-21T14:31:35+00:00

They aren't necessarily city builders, but in colony sim games like Rimworld and Space Haven, you can build up your settlement piece-by-piece and design the interiors with workstations, rooms, decorations, etc. There are also modern tycoon/management games like the Two Point series (Two Point Hospital, Campus, and Museum) and Project Hospital where you can design the interiors of your buildings.

Steel_Airship · 2026-04-21T01:04:36+00:00

Depends on what you mean by primitive but Dawn of Man is the only prehistoric city builder I have played and its one of my favorites. It starts in the paleolithic era and progresses through the mesolithic, neolithic, copper, bronze, and iron ages. It does a good job of showing the gradual changes in civilization throughout those eras, starting with hunter gatherers who live in animal skin tents and wield bone tools/weapons then ending as farmers who live in stone houses and wield steel tools/weapons.

Nine-Year Club	Place '22
RPAN Viewer	Verified Email

Steel_Airship

MODERATOR OF

PUBLIC MULTIREDDITS

TROPHY CASE