Urbek City Builder

About

In Urbek City Builder, create your own city by building various neighborhoods, such as bohemian or bourgeois, while managing over 30 different resources. This game uses a unique resource management system instead of money, Depleting resources must be managed carefully to ensure they can be replaced. The goal is to balance natural resource management with the quality of life for your city's population.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

91%

Audience ScoreBased on 766 reviews

gameplay43 positive mentions

grinding12 negative mentions

Urbek City Builder offers a unique twist on the city-building genre by focusing on resource management instead of money, making it a refreshing experience.
The game features charming voxel graphics and a satisfying gameplay loop where buildings evolve based on their surroundings, creating organic city growth.
The tutorial is well-structured, gradually introducing players to the mechanics, and the game allows for both casual play and strategic planning.

The game can feel restrictive due to its rigid building requirements, which may lead to frustration when trying to optimize city layouts.
Some players have reported bugs and performance issues, particularly with saving and UI elements, which can detract from the overall experience.
The lack of depth in certain gameplay mechanics, such as traffic management and more complex city dynamics, may leave some players wanting more.

gameplay
138 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
65%
4%
The gameplay of Urbek City Builder is characterized by a relaxed, resource management-focused approach that emphasizes strategic building placement and mechanics over traditional money-based systems. While the game offers a unique and engaging puzzle-like experience with addictive gameplay loops, some players find the mechanics restrictive and the controls lacking, leading to a mixed reception regarding its depth and complexity. Overall, it provides a charming and visually appealing city-building experience that encourages creativity within its structured gameplay.
- “The gameplay is very innovative and made me rethink what one could do with a city-builder, and the fact that the dev is releasing new free updates almost two years after release is really impressive!”
- “This game distills the mechanics of city builders and reforms them into a novel and exciting, nonetheless familiar experience.”
- “Highly addictive gameplay loop.”
- “Also, the whole natural resources mechanic is mostly non-existent, serving only to gate progress; you never really have to factor it in as all resources are plentiful and/or regenerate. It's basically cash in every other game with extra steps.”
- “The process of figuring out what to do next is cumbersome and detracts from the overall gameplay experience.”
- “The gameplay feels like a puzzle despite how open-ended it is, which lets it be a city builder with actual interesting difficulty.”
graphics
104 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
58%
3%
The graphics of the game are characterized by charming voxel art that is both colorful and detailed, creating a visually appealing experience reminiscent of retro city builders. While some players appreciate the simplicity and aesthetic of the graphics, others find them primitive or lacking polish, leading to mixed opinions on their overall quality. Despite these critiques, the graphics contribute positively to the game's relaxing atmosphere and engaging gameplay, making it a unique entry in the city-building genre.
- “The voxel graphics are also nicely detailed and the game is really nice to look at from above.”
- “The graphics in Urbek City Builder are bright and colorful, and the music is relaxing and enjoyable.”
- “The charming voxel art style sells the look of these cities; a big smile filled my face when I first saw the fisherman's homes pop up around my newly opened dock.”
- “Do not be deceived by the graphics.”
- “The graphics will appeal only to a section of the audience and are quite primitive.”
- “Just wish the graphics didn't look like one is trying to build a city out of Lego blocks.”
music
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
45%
9%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its relaxing and catchy nature, while others find it repetitive and limited after extended play. Some users highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature that enhances the gaming experience, while a few prefer to mute it in favor of their own music. Overall, the soundtrack is generally well-received but may not hold up for everyone over time.
- “Ok, who did this game? I never fell in love with the soundtracks of a game before in my 23 years of gaming!”
- “With the amazing soundtrack, this game is so relaxing and fun to play!”
- “Seriously, I usually mute music in games like this to multitask with some YouTube or something else, but there are some great jams on this soundtrack and it deserves a shoutout.”
- “The music gets old quick, and there's one very annoying song, so after the first 20 minutes or so I turn the music off.”
- “I say surprisingly because between the nice looking but shoddily animated voxel graphics and the royalty-free music, the very start of this game will feel pretty cheap.”
- “Turn the music off, put the Sim City 4 soundtrack on.”
replayability
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
57%
13%
The reviews highlight a mixed perception of replayability in the game, with many praising its random map generation, multiple victory paths, and diverse biomes that enhance replay value. While some players find it endlessly replayable and enjoyable, others feel that it lacks depth after achieving all goals, leading to a more limited experience. Overall, the game offers a solid amount of replayability, particularly for those who appreciate city-building challenges.
- “There's replayability here as the maps can be randomly generated and there are 3 different paths to victory conditions.”
- “What I found particularly exciting is that the different biomes present some strikingly different challenges in a way that makes the game much more replayable than other building management games.”
- “I can't wait to figure out the next right way to play this game 10 hours from now... but seriously, this game is a fresh, surprisingly deep take on the city-building genre, and with all of the different paths and biomes, the replayability is huge.”
- “Boring and non-replayable.”
- “Urbek is an interesting idea, but I don't think it works, at least from the standpoint of replayability or any sort of creativity.”
- “However, the game does not offer much in replayability, and I felt unmotivated to finish the later maps of the game after 100%-ing the first map challenges.”
optimization
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
46%
23%
The game's optimization has received mixed feedback; while some players report smooth performance even on older systems, others experience crashes and note that certain areas require further polishing. The gameplay emphasizes strategic placement and efficiency, creating a unique blend of city building and puzzle-solving that challenges players to optimize their designs under various constraints. Overall, the optimization aspect is seen as a core feature that enhances the game's appeal, despite some technical issues.
- “Not really a city builder at all and much more of a placement-based optimization puzzle.”
- “Minmaxing through your building placement to unlock better houses, this optimization game provides instant feedback and guides your options through a reasonable amount of choices.”
- “The result was a lovely and difficult optimization challenge, requiring you to use every corner of the game mechanics to build an organic yet thriving city.”
- “Game keeps crashing; on top of that, it's poorly optimized, I assume because of that pointless ground side view.”
- “Some areas need polishing and optimization.”
- “Urbek shines best when you're under the tightest restrictions, so you don't have space to use a boring, optimized design.”
grinding
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
92%
Reviews on grinding in the game highlight a mixed experience; while some players find the repetitive tasks of farming and resource management tedious and time-consuming, others appreciate the rewarding aspects of city-building and the strategic placement of buildings. The balance between resource gathering and city evolution can lead to boredom for some, especially on larger maps, but others enjoy the challenge and variety of gameplay options available. Overall, the grinding aspect is seen as a double-edged sword, with potential for both frustration and satisfaction depending on player preferences.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “I would have to do it again and again, and it's just not fun after the first time; it's tedious at best.”
- “- despite there being so many resources in the game, food is the biggest bottleneck, and it gets really tedious building the same few food buildings and draping the map in farms/orchards.”
- “I got bored after 4 hours of the process as it was laughably easy and just tedious.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
38%
38%
The game lacks a traditional narrative, focusing instead on gameplay mechanics and city-building elements. Players can engage in optimizing and beautifying their cities without a time constraint, which allows for a more relaxed experience, though some feel the constraints on building can be limiting until advanced technologies are unlocked. Overall, the emphasis is on the mechanics of city development rather than a cohesive story.
- “Going into your beautiful 5-story mixed-use green buildings is a wonderful tiny detail that makes this game better.”
- “(You are free to not end the mission when you reach the goal and instead keep beautifying and optimizing; it's just that the game constrains you too hard until you've unlocked advanced techs.)”
- “☑ no story”
- “There are a lot of items you never really need to build to beat the preset missions, and there is no time limit either, so you're not really challenged.”
- “Depending on whether your housing meets certain criteria like food, schools, clinics, and banks, they develop into villages, suburbs, downtown multistory housing, or high-rise offices.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in Urbek is characterized by its charming and funny concept, offering a lighthearted take on the city-building genre. While some elements may feel rough around the edges, the game provides endless options for amusement, making it an enjoyable experience for players who appreciate humor in gameplay.
- “Urbek is a charming, funny, and simplified entry to the city building genre.”
- “The finish is a bit rough around the edges, but some flavor text is quite funny.”
- “This game offers endless options and plenty of humor.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, the game's stability is mixed; while it runs well on platforms like the Steam Deck, some users report crashes at the initial load screen and occasional graphical glitches. Despite these issues, the gameplay experience remains largely enjoyable.
- “It crashes on the initial load screen.”
- “There are some ugly glitches here and there.”
- “A few little teething glitches but nothing too serious.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by a captivating day-night cycle and impressive graphics, creating a visually appealing and immersive experience. Players appreciate the relaxing ambiance, making it a highly recommended choice for fans of city-building games.
- “The day-night cycle was very atmospheric and nice.”
- “The result is amazing, as the game looks really good and atmospheric, especially at nighttime.”
- “This aspect of the game, paired with its clean graphics and relaxing visual atmosphere, creates an engaging yet satisfying experience that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys city-building games.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is mixed; while it engages players with themes of urban planning and politics, some users find the limited building options and tutorial experience unfulfilling, leading to a lack of emotional connection.
- “The player can control the resource production and the city layout, but building options are limited, so you actually witness your city developing on its own based on the conditions you create - which does raise interesting questions about urban planning, and the game doesn't shy away from touching on politics (surprisingly).”
- “Stopped playing during the tutorial game because emotionally it never clicked for me.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players find the game's monetization strategy to be misleading, particularly criticizing the advertising for not accurately representing the game's content or features.
- “The advertising of the game is very misleading.”
- “The in-game purchases feel exploitative and are not worth the price.”
- “The monetization strategy ruins the overall experience, making it feel like a cash grab.”