Top 10 Most Creative Gridless City-Builder Games

Summary

Gridless city-builders offer city planning freedom and creativity, removing the grid-based system’s restrictions.
Games like Memoriapolis, Ostriv, and Manor Lords provide historical depth and organic development in a gridless environment.
Games like Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles, and Planetbase utilize gridless gameplay to aid immersion.

City development is fueled by creative thinking and innovation at its core. It’s the ability to foresee a sprawling metropolis and watch it materialize over a matter of hours or so. However, this field has historically relied on grid-based construction, which restricts structures to rigid squares or rectangles, potentially limiting the essential spark of creativity. Yet, an increasing number of city developers are adopting gridless mechanics, providing more natural approaches to urban planning.

In these exceptional city-building games, the constraints are lifted, allowing players to mold their settlements according to their vision. This includes establishing vast city centers, intricate road networks, and distinctly shaped districts. The result is an engaging and adaptive gaming environment where cities change based on player decisions. Simply put, these games represent top-tier city-building games that opt for a gridless construction method.

10. The Settlers 7: Paths To A Kingdom

Freely Building A City For Structured RTS Gameplay

The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom hails from a distinguished lineage of city-building monarchs. Despite being released in 2010, it offers remarkably flexible building mechanisms. Players can place buildings anywhere within their controlled territory without the limitations imposed by the grid system that was common among many city-builders back then.

Although The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom has begun to feel dated and predominantly adheres to a Real-Time Strategy (RTS) format, it’s often challenging for city-building enthusiasts due to its steep learning curve. However, despite these challenges, the game provides an engaging gameplay experience that is hard to find in many other strategy games. Although it doesn’t fully leverage a gridless building system, The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom offers some enjoyable tools for creating visually attractive cities within an RTS setting.

9. Planetbase

No Grid, No Gravity—Just Pure Space Strategy

Release Date: October 16, 2015
Developer(s): Madruga Works
Platform(s): PC; PS4; Xbox One

Despite not boasting the smoothest construction system or the most attractive architectural designs, Planetbase captivates players by allowing them to establish a self-sustaining colony on an alien planet, according to their creative vision. The building process entails positioning prefabricated structures wherever desired and linking them with tunnels to other structures that already exist.

Regrettably, the available land for construction is rather limited due to the fixed maps and the surrounding natural barriers like rocks and mountains. This restriction can sometimes make the building process feel less flexible compared to other games in this genre, especially those offering more expansive landscapes such as Surviving Mars. However, if you’re looking for a calmer colony-building space game that stimulates creative problem-solving amidst harsh conditions, Planetbase is definitely worth giving it a try.

8. Land Of The Vikings

A Viking-Themed Sandbox For Aspiring Jarls

This game, The Land of the Vikings, offers an exceptional chance for individuals who wish to build and nurture a realistic Norse settlement. Unlike other games with grid systems, this one allows you to place buildings freely across the map, fostering the ability to design your Viking village according to your unique imagination. To enhance this creative process, the structures are meticulously designed to adhere to historical accuracy, mirroring traditional Viking architecture that many will find familiar.

A standout aspect that warrants high commendation is the in-game building editor, which grants players the opportunity to tailor an infinite number of buildings or decorations according to their whim. These creations can subsequently be employed in any preferred spot within the game, accentuating the game’s gridless adaptability even more. Upon finishing a village and witnessing the transformation from simple wooden huts to thriving market towns in Land of the Vikings, it establishes itself as an exceptional creative journey.

7. Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles

A Vertical City-Builder On The Big Blue Sea

Release Date: January 30, 2024
Developer(s): Tomas Sala
Platform(s): PC; PlayStation; Xbox

Without a doubt, Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles stands out as a unique addition to the city-builder genre, offering a departure from the norm. Instead of building a thriving community in a typical setting, players are tasked with constructing resilient settlements on treacherous landscapes. This game is somewhat of a follow-up to The Falconeer, where inhabitants of The Great Ursee universe erect towering structures clinging to the sides of cliffs, connected by intricate networks of rickety walkways and bridges, all enveloped by an endless, open-world sea. In such an unstructured environment, a grid system would be impractical.

As a devoted fan, I find the premise of this city-building game simply mesmerizing, making every moment spent on it even more engaging and thrilling. Though it might not top the charts as the most complex or replayable title among conventional city-builders, there’s certainly no lack of depth in Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles‘ innovative take on the genre.

6. Black & White 2

A Timeless Fan Favorite With Classic God-Game City-Building Charm

Looking back at 2005, Black & White 2 made a significant impact in the city-building genre by providing an exceptional gaming experience that was unlike anything that had been seen before. The game offered intriguing puzzle-style gameplay, combat, an interactive map, and not forgetting the massive creatures to control. Additionally, it was one of the first games to abandon the grid-based system, giving players the liberty to position buildings anywhere within the defined area.

Despite deviating from the conventional format of city-building games by organizing play into progressively challenging level zones rather than the usual structure, Black & White 2 efficiently uses its unique gameplay elements and without question belongs to a series that is worthy of being revived.

5. Tiny Glade

An Endearing Masterclass In Detailed Building Mechanics

Tiny Glade, in essence, represents the pinnacle of open-ended urban development games. It offers an exclusive experience where gamers are challenged to create anything from charming cabins to majestic castles as part of an enchanting miniature scene, based solely on their imagination. With the liberty to design and the capability to add minute details, players can swiftly build a tiny community that resembles a masterpiece; it’s simply astonishing.

In essence, let me clarify that Tiny Glade is primarily a construction-focused video game, devoid of explicit objectives or challenges. If you’re seeking a serene experience where you can meticulously craft a picturesque village, then Tiny Glade is tailor-made for you.

4. Memoriapolis

Craft A City That Grows Naturally Through Time

Memoriapolis boasts being a unique city-building game where players can lead their civilization through various historical periods, starting with the Ancient Age and continuing into the Middle Ages. Unlike many other gridless city-builders, it allows for building placement freedom, but here, the settlement evolves autonomously, building itself around existing structures as more residents move in to live.

This system stands out as it thrives on the absence of a traditional grid layout, creating an illusion of a sprawling civilization that’s continually growing, all while reducing the need for excessive micromanagement, a common aspect in many city-building games. It boasts complex faction and policy dynamics that steer your city towards prosperity. Plus, it features Wonder buildings that echo the style of the Civilization series, making Memoriapolis an impressive historical contribution to the genre.

3. Ostriv

An In-Depth Strategy Game That Tests Skillful City-Builders

In contrast to city-building games, Ostriv primarily concentrates on constructing a 18th-Century Ukrainian village, allowing players to design a settlement complete with thatched houses and unique neighborhood layouts. Although it might not initially seem exciting, Ostriv provides a significant degree of customization for the player, enabling them to envision their village in a personalized manner. The game utilizes a user-friendly drag-and-drop system to adjust the size of houses and resource buildings, giving players the freedom to design their village and the game map as per their desires.

In the game Ostriv, the way buildings function contributes to a village that appears genuinely authentic and inhabited. The authenticity of this virtual world is further emphasized by the game’s focus on resource management and labor systems, which are vital components of its complex gameplay, particularly as you approach the endgame. Players are given the liberty to construct structures according to their preferences, prompting them to think strategically and plan ahead, thus helping them navigate challenges efficiently as they arise.

2. Manor Lords

Recreate The Medieval World With Free-Flowing Historical Precision

In the realm of historical city-building games, Manor Lords distinguishes itself with its innovative and lifelike portrayal of a Medieval European town, using a unique gridless design. The game’s city-construction mechanics are not only detailed but also historically accurate, frequently leaving players in awe at the striking resemblance between the in-game towns and actual 14th-century settlement reconstructions. A notable aspect of this gridless system is the addition of burgage plots—flexible living spaces that can be customized into an array of shapes to suit your imagination.

In Manor Lords, there are some optimization considerations concerning the size and position of structures, but essentially, players are given the liberty to shape their settlement however they desire, creating a lively and evolving environment. Originating from a modest encampment, they can quickly expand it into a vast urban center with minimal effort by simply clicking a few times.

1. Foundation

Shape And Customize Your City From The Ground Up

Engaging, endearing, and tranquil, Foundation offers immense pleasure as you craft a quaint Medieval hamlet. Unlike in Memoriapolis where structures are manually placed, villagers here construct buildings on their own in areas chosen by the player. This results in incredibly realistic and organic gameplay, ensuring that no two villages are identical.

What makes Foundation unique is its capability to build structures without using pre-made components. This innovative method lets players construct buildings progressively, adding rooms one by one, reaching heights that were once thought unattainable. It functions as an advanced customization tool, harmoniously complementing a game focused on individual creativity. By making use of its gridless system in an optimal manner, it showcases the pinnacle of creative freedom.

2025-03-27 07:47