Manor Lords, Steam’s most wish-listed game at the time of writing this article, will soon launch on PC, leaving console fans and players behind for now.
As an organic city-builder with a glance at medieval warfare, it’s not easy to find something exactly like Manor Lords on consoles, but if you can’t wait any longer, the games below will give you a fascinating experience of city-building, resource management, and survival. Hopefully, some of these games also support a multiplayer mode, unlike Manor Lords.
Medieval Dynasty
A First-Person Survival And Clam-Builder
- Features native next-gen version
- Supports up to 4-player co-op multiplayer
Medieval Dynasty is the most unique entry on the list, as it features a first-person view rather than an isometric perspective, but that doesn’t make it fall short on the city-building features.
Medieval Dynasty is a sandbox open-world experience where you have a campaign to complete, but in the meantime, you should survive the challenges and you can start building your very own village. Build your home, set up farming lands, create roads, and even get married to the girl you love.
This game is rich in every part, and if you don’t mind sacrificing a bit on the management stuff and adding more immersion to your experience, Medieval Dynasty will be an enjoyable part of your gaming.
Humankind
An Empire-Builder Covering The Entire History
- Features native next-gen version
- Supports up to 8-player co-op mode
Humankind is better to be called a 4x empire-builder rather than a city-builder, as the challenges you face throughout the experience have a much larger scale.
The most important feature of Humankind is the evolutions that occur for your empire from time to time, and you are the one who decides in which direction your country should move ahead.
There is a massive variety of evolutions that could turn you from a war-hungry nation to an economically advanced region in the world. And all of this process through time as you begin from the ancient days of humans until the very modern era of now.
They Are Billions
Build Your Colony, Survive The Undead
- Playable through backward compatibility
- Single-player only
Set in a post-apocalyptic world where billions of zombies have taken over the world, you are tasked to build humanity’s last resort and defend yourself against the dead army.
They Are Billions is a colony-builder with an extra focus on surviving elements. Manage your people and resources to stay alive until you can beat the defined challenges in Survival mode, or follow the story campaign to see where the last hope of humans ends up.
They Are Billions also features epic battles where you must defend your colony against massive zombie swarms.
Northgard
Build Your Viking Nation At The Heart Of Norse Myth
- Playable through backward compatibility
- Supports up to 6-player co-op mode
Depicting Norse mythology, Northgard is a comprehensive city-building, management, and strategy game that comes with both co-op and PvP online modes.
Featuring both story-based campaign and sandbox modes, Northgard is one of the closest experiences to Manor Lords on this list, as it gives you a bit of everything.
You can build your very own clan, send out your people for various tasks, seek to conquer new lands and attack other clans, and resist the challenges of winter and the invasion of giant creatures.
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord
An Ultimate Zero-To-Hero Strategy Masterpiece
- Features native next-gen version
- Supports online multiplayer mode
Even though Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is more of a war simulator than a city-builder, it is still a superb strategy experience if that’s what you are looking for.
Bannerlord is your ultimate clan builder, as you start with almost nothing, gather followers, form a clan, and either take over castles or settlements.
When you become powerful enough to own a settlement, you can operate it the way you want, build new structures, upgrade defensive buildings, and manage resources so that your citizens have a peaceful life.
RimWorld
Lead Colonists In A Collapsing World
- Playable through backward compatibility
- Single-player only
Known as the master of colony sims, RimWorld puts an excessive focus on survival more than anything else. You start small with a few colonists who have almost nothing, and you continue to build one of the biggest human shelters in the world.
Thanks to the game’s AI story generator, every playthrough is different from the other, as you will randomly receive in-game events from time to time, which does change your progression’s direction significantly.
What makes RimWorld a unique experience is its exemplary attention to detail. Colonists are not just random NPCs. They each come with unique backgrounds and they face emotional dilemmas as you are dealing with a wide variety of challenges to survive. So, there is indeed much more to manage than you could have ever imagined.
Tropico 6
When Politics Get Involved In A City-Builder
- Features native next-gen version
- Supports up to 4-player co-op mode
The latest entry in the Tropico series extends the borders of your city-building dreams by allowing you to manage different smaller islands and connect them together using modern transportation means.
Despite being a city-builder at its core, Tropico 6 also has a special focus on politics. It’s on you to become a ruthless leader or a beloved and peaceful ruler. But keep in mind that each route you take will have its own consequences.
Throughout your playthrough, your island sees four different eras, each with its own challenges that you must overcome to keep your region safe and sound.
Frostpunk
How Long Can You Make Tough Decisions?
- Playable through backward compatibility
- Single-player only
Frostpunk is yet another survival-based city-builder where you have to make tough decisions and even sacrifices to keep the community alive.
Trapped in a freezing cold, your main job is to survive at any cost. Resources are rare to find and your workforce isn’t big enough, but you have to make do with all you got.
The narrative part of Frostpunk deeply affects your decisions and the way your people judge your leadership. If you become too kind, you might not survive long enough, and if you stay fierce and aggressive, workers might lose trust in you. It’s a challenge to find that balance in leadership, which is the reason why Frostpunk is an intense and addictive experience.
Anno 1800
From A Small Town To The World’s Industrial Metropolis
- Features native next-gen version
- Supports online multiplayer mode
Almost in the same genre as Tropico 6, Anno 1800 is a deeper city-builder with an extra focus on economics and resource management.
The Anno series has always been about making progress rather than waging war, and as the latest entry, Anno 1800 takes that realism to the next level by putting you in the midst of the Industrial Revolution.
Just like Manor Lords, Anno 1800 tasks you with turning a small town into a massive metropolitan, but there is a lot to take into account when making decisions, as consequences could be quite punishing. Keep your people happy or you are deeply in trouble!
Cities Skylines
Surprisingly Realistic City-Builder In The Modern Age
- Features native next-gen version
- Single-player only
Cities Skylines is the closest experience to Manor Lords. Delivering a deep city-building and management system, Cities Skylines is all about improving your small town to a mega-city while keeping the people happy.
While there is no warfare here, Cities Skylines will throw a lot of challenges at you that you may find a colossal war easier to manage than a breathing city.
Hopefully, the second iteration of the game is already out on PC, but it will only be released on consoles after exiting the Early Access state.
