Summary
The city-building genre has been around for many years, with iconicgames such asSimCity 2000,Banished, andCities: Skylinesbeing amongthe genre’s greatestentries. However, many of these games are exclusively single-player affairs, which is unfortunate for those who enjoy playing with friends.
Many city-builders that include multiplayer features are versus games, but there are a handful that include options for online co-op. However, while most of these games are strictly about city-building, some of them - such asParkitectandOpenTTD- don’t fit the description as well as others. Regardless, fans of city-builders should enjoy many of these co-op games.
Updated on July 09, 2025, by Harry Ted Sprinks:City-builders are a dime a dozen on the Steam store, with a variety of experiences available that allow players to design, plan, and build massive cities. Unfortunately, many of these city-builders are designed as single-player experiences. Games that feature light city-building elements are usually more open to cooperative play, with games such as Conan Unconquered and Go-Go Town being some of the most recent examples. There are, however, a handful of traditional city-builders that do fit the bill, such as Anno 1800.
10Skyward Collapse
A Rough-Edged God-Game With Online Co-Op
Skyward Collapseis a rough-edged God-game in which players build multiple cities in a turn-based fashion, placing tiles and optimizing their score. However,Skyward Collapsedoesn’t hit every mark, and many players simply may not enjoy its slow-paced gameplay.
Graphically,Skyward Collapseis also a bit of a mess, though it does retain a certain old-school charm. However, despite its downsides,Skyward Collapsedoes have a handful of interesting and innovative ideas that make it worth a try. Furthermore, the game can be played in online co-op with up to eight players.
9Go-Go Town
An Accessible, Boots-On-The-Ground City-Builder
Go-Go Townis a relatively lightweight experience that’s more about building and expanding a town, rather than a city. This allowsGo-Go Townto be extremely accessible, and its shared/split-screen co-op allows players to enjoy it together.
Go-Go Townis also a relatively unique city-builder, giving players control over their own character and allowing them to perform errands in and around the town. Although its management and building mechanics are limited,Go-Go Townis an accessible co-op experience that’s as colorful as it is charming.
8Parkitect
A Nostalgic Throwback That Can Be Played With Friends
This throwback tycoon game isa nostalgic business-simthat tasks players with building and managing a theme park. The nostalgic gameplay ofParkitectclearly hearkens to the likes of gamessuch asRollercoaster Tycoon, and although players don’t build a literal city, the gameplay loop is a similar affair.
InParkitect, players will have to build and manage their park by creating rides, managing finances/logistics, and ensuring that their customers are happy. The game features both a campaignand a sandbox mode, either of which can be played with up to eight players in online co-op.
This Norse-themedstrategy game tasks players with building and expanding a settlement through the careful management of their resources and Vikings. Every game, playerstake on the role of a unique clan, often attempting to conquer as much of the continent as possible.
Northgardalso features a Conquest mode that allows players to play through challenging scenarios in online co-op. Furthermore, the game’s multiplayer mode allows players to play both with and against their friends.
This classic combination of real-time strategy game and city-builder tasks players with leading and managing one of several civilizations. InAge Of Empires 2, players will gather and manage resources to build and expand their territory, and eventually muster an army to conquer nearby opponents.
Age Of Empires 2is a tried and true classic that’s aged well since its 1999 release. The game was further improved and brought into the modern age with its 2019 Definitive Edition, making it easier than ever to play co-op with friends through Steam.
This city-builder takes place on an archipelago, in which players must manage resources, engage in light diplomacy, and attempt to grow their city.Tropico 6is arguably one of the best entries in the long-running series, innovating on its ideas while still feeling like aTropicogame.
Tropicois highly focused on player agency and leadership gameplay, offering players the freedom to rule how they want, which helps it to distinguish itself from other city-builders. Despite the game being fairly visually bland, being able to play with friends helps to improve the overall experience.
AlthoughConan Unconqueredis more of a real-time strategy game than a city-builder, it has a heavy focus on base-building and defense. In this way,Conan Unconqueredis not dissimilar from RTS icons such asStronghold.
Conan Unconqueredalso features multiplayer co-op, allowing players to build a shared stronghold. Together, players defend their stronghold against waves of relentless enemies. This results in a game that’s much more about a good defense than it is about effective city management, but players who enjoy both real-time strategy and city-building should consider giving it a go regardless.
3OpenTTD
An Open-Source Transport Tycoon Centered Around Infrastructure
Though more of a tycoon game than a fully-fledged city-builder,OpenTTDhas plenty of the gameplay mechanics that city-builder fans enjoy. Instead of building and expanding a city directly, however,OpenTTDtasks players with running the transportation of cities across the country.
The main gameplay ofOpenTTDrevolves around building and managing the infrastructure of transportation in various areas, all while keeping the local authorities happy and ensuring that the operation remains profitable. Players will also have to contend with AI (or player) opponents, though the game also boasts online co-op.
This entry in the long-runningAnnoseries takes place in the 19th century and tasks players with building a massive city. Players will have to worry about their logistics, economy, and diplomacy throughout every game, makingAnnoa highly strategic city-builder.
Anno 1800is arguably one of the most polished and well-designedAnnogames, with high-quality visuals and strong multiplayer components. AlthoughAnno 1800has plenty of content to enjoy in single-player, it’s arguably more fun when played with friends, especially in online co-op.
1Kingdoms Reborn
Building Cities With A Unique Card System
ThisBanished-adjacent city-builder has players building a Kingdom and managing resources as one of several civilizations with their own unique styles. As seen in games such asCivilization,Kingdoms Rebornsees players progressing through several Ages as they research and unlock new technology.
However, unlike most city-builders, such asBanished,Kingdoms Rebornuses a unique card system to distinguish itself. At the end of every in-game season, players choose building cards that allow them to construct the depicted structure. This dramatically helpsKingdoms Rebornstand out, and the online co-op is another welcome addition.
