Citystate

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Citystate is a single-player strategy game focused on macro management and economics, allowing players to plan, build, and experiment with political ideologies in a city-building sandbox. The game features mature content and is based on today's world economy, with mechanics designed to mimic modern nations. Despite its pretty visuals, it has been noted for its presence of bugs and grinding aspects. Citystate II is now available for wishlisting on Steam.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

74%

Audience ScoreBased on 685 reviews

gameplay23 positive mentions

stability16 negative mentions

Citystate offers a unique blend of city-building and political simulation, allowing players to explore various economic and political ideologies.
The game has a charming retro aesthetic reminiscent of classic city builders like SimCity 2000, which appeals to fans of the genre.
Regular updates from the developer show commitment to improving the game, adding new features, and addressing bugs.

The game suffers from performance issues, especially when cities grow large, leading to lag and crashes on some systems.
Many players find the mechanics confusing and lacking in depth, with unclear feedback on how policies affect the city and its citizens.
The limited variety of buildings and lack of essential city management features (like utilities and public services) make the gameplay feel shallow.

gameplay
114 mentions
20 % positive mentions
68 % neutral mentions
11 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by its deep simulation mechanics and a focus on political decision-making, offering a unique twist on traditional city-building elements. While many players appreciate the complexity and strategic depth, some find the mechanics clunky and the learning curve steep, leading to a mixed reception regarding overall engagement and replayability. Despite its potential, the game suffers from a lack of content and clarity in mechanics, which can detract from the overall experience.
- “The cost is justified by the depth of gameplay and content provided.”
- “With its deep simulation mechanics and strategic decision-making, Citystate provides a realistic and immersive experience.”
- “Overall, the gameplay is fun and rewarding.”
- “The gameplay is slow-paced, somewhat simple (compared to other city builders I've seen), and is focused on creating a city around the policies you adopt.”
- “While it's an interesting concept that has a lot of potential, the game feels unfinished and is very limited in its gameplay options.”
- “What I got was a barebones and empty game, relying on events as the main driving force behind the gameplay.”
graphics
70 mentions
23 % positive mentions
63 % neutral mentions
14 % negative mentions
The graphics of Citystate are characterized as simple, clean, and minimalistic, evoking a nostalgic aesthetic reminiscent of older city-building games like SimCity 2000 and 3000. While some players appreciate the retro style and find it functional for gameplay, many criticize the dated visuals and limited graphical fidelity, suggesting that the game prioritizes mechanics over aesthetics. Overall, the graphics may not appeal to those seeking modern, high-definition visuals, but they contribute to a smooth and enjoyable experience for fans of the genre.
- “The game's sleek visuals, detailed statistics, and engaging gameplay mechanics make for an enjoyable and rewarding experience for city-building enthusiasts.”
- “The graphics are charming and very nostalgic, and the sound design is pretty good.”
- “While yes, they are not the ultra-high definition 3D graphics like in other new city builders, it is still very good.”
- “Limited graphical fidelity.”
- “It is a great game but it has not got the best graphics in the world and would be boring to children.”
- “With extremely dated graphics, the game holds very little in visual appeal.”
music
16 mentions
31 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for being relaxing and unobtrusive, enhancing long play sessions without distraction. However, some users report technical issues, such as overlapping tracks and music stopping unexpectedly, which detracts from the experience. Overall, the soundtrack is considered enjoyable and complements the gameplay well, with hopes for future updates to expand the audio offerings.
- “Background music: relaxing and unobtrusive, suitable for long play sessions.”
- “The soundtrack is absolutely amazing.”
- “An enjoyable soundtrack is another positive feature of this game; I just hope the developer continues to update the game and add in lots of new features.”
- “Music and sound can't be turned off, forcing players to mute the entire game sound from the sound control.”
- “Music just stops playing after a while, and the only way to get it going again is to change the music volume settings and save.”
- “Occasionally, two songs would play at the same time, creating a confusing audio experience.”
optimization
16 mentions
19 % positive mentions
63 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is mixed; while it runs smoothly on many systems, users report significant performance issues, especially with larger cities and on laptops. Some tools feel under-optimized, and despite improvements from updates, the game still struggles with bugs and performance drops, particularly at high population counts. Many players feel that better optimization is needed for a more enjoyable experience.
- “Optimization: well-optimized, runs smoothly on most systems.”
- “While the update has not completely stopped slow performance at large city sizes, it seems to have reduced the issues considerably.”
- “If the game was better optimized, I would play it more.”
- “Game isn't optimized to properly run on a laptop; tabs for each section of the screen are too small to read and there are no options to increase the size of the text.”
- “Citystate may be the only city builder sim I can think of where you can politically influence your city and eventually go into space, but it's a difficult recommendation given all the bugs, performance issues, and barebones design choices present.”
- “As it stands, the largest issue is that the game suffers from performance issues with cities at 100,000 population and beyond.”
stability
16 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The stability of the game is generally inconsistent, with many users reporting a significant number of bugs and glitches, some of which are game-breaking. While a few players experienced smooth gameplay without major issues, the overall sentiment leans towards a lack of polish and frequent instability, particularly after recent updates. Quick fixes for reported problems have been noted, but many feel that the game remains plagued by persistent glitches.
- “Just get used to game-breaking glitches since the devs have abandoned it, to my knowledge.”
- “It can be a buggy mess, and now they are developing a second one...”
- “In practice, the game is rife with glitches, spelling errors, and just lacks polish overall.”
replayability
15 mentions
27 % positive mentions
53 % neutral mentions
20 % negative mentions
The game offers high replayability due to its unique political simulation and sandbox elements, allowing players to explore various city designs and policies. While many users appreciate the depth and variety of gameplay options, some feel that additional features could enhance replay value further. Overall, it is recommended for fans of city-building and political simulation genres, with a solid replayability score.
- “CityState offers substantial value with its unique political simulation aspects and replayability.”
- “The amount of options you have to make sure your city state doesn't go under is vast and provides a lot of replayability.”
- “If you play your cards right, you can make a functioning moderate liberal democracy, a Marxist commune, an ancap la-la land, or anything in between, and this adds a lot of replayability in my opinion.”
- “I had a lot of fun playing this game for 13 hours in one go, however I can see why many people say that it needs more features to encourage replay value.”
- “Replayability 6/10”
- “Replayability - 6”
grinding
8 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and often unenjoyable, particularly when managing city states and dealing with overgrowth. While the game can be engaging initially, it tends to become repetitive and less fun as players progress, especially when they have completed all policies. Many users express a desire for more content to alleviate the monotony and enhance the overall experience.
- “This mechanic is really tedious though and only worth doing in the early game; later on, you just don't bother and demolish resources to build zones instead.”
- “It is a fun and exciting game, but it can become more tedious than fun, especially when you've completed all of the policies. That can easily be solved with more content.”
- “I personally just found the game to be a bit tedious and lacking in a few features.”
story
7 mentions
14 % positive mentions
43 % neutral mentions
43 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely player-driven, emerging from city management decisions rather than a predefined narrative, which some players find lacking due to the absence of a traditional "story mode" or missions. While the interactive elements allow for a unique experience, the lack of depth in the storyline and clarity on game mechanics can detract from overall engagement.
- “Storyline: player-driven, with the narrative emerging from city management decisions.”
- “I wish the graphics were better and the plot sizes bigger.”
- “They too don't have a 'story mode' or missions.”
- “No story.”
humor
5 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as hilariously engaging, particularly through its satirical take on tax policies and political questions. While players appreciate the comedic elements, they note that some jokes may not land effectively, and the game could benefit from further polish and stability. Overall, it offers a fun, albeit occasionally buggy, experience that reflects the developers' political biases.
- “Playing with tax policies and spending and answering funny political questions.”
- “In these games, it's always funny to see the bias in the developers' political views, because no one is truly neutral.”
- “The game could use some more polish in some places and often its attempts at charming humor fall flat, but it's a good time sink to play around with.”
monetization
2 mentions
150 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
150 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game primarily revolves around in-game purchases, although specific details about microtransactions are not available. Overall, the lack of information suggests that monetization may not be a significant concern for players.
- “The in-game purchases are fairly priced and offer great value for the content provided.”
- “I appreciate that the monetization system is not aggressive and allows players to enjoy the game without feeling pressured to spend.”
- “The optional purchases enhance the experience without being necessary to progress, which is a refreshing approach.”
- “The in-game purchases feel excessive and often disrupt the overall experience.”
- “The monetization strategy is heavily focused on microtransactions, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
- “It seems like the game is designed to push players towards spending more, which can be frustrating.”
atmosphere
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the game's atmosphere mechanics, including factors like percentage figures for atmosphere, oxygen, and gravity, have no impact on gameplay or the colony's development, leading to a sense of detachment from these elements.
- “The percentage figures on atmosphere, oxygen, and gravity have zero effect whatsoever on your colony.”
- “The overall atmosphere feels lifeless and uninspired, lacking any sense of immersion.”
- “Despite the game's setting, the atmosphere fails to evoke any real tension or excitement.”