The Best City Builder You've Never Played

The Patch Quest Fall Beta can still be played for free via Discord. Just visit the #public-beta channel of the PQ server:
▶ / discord
You can also wishlist Patch Quest on Steam:
▶ store.steampowered.com/app/13...
And you can follow development on Twitter, too:
▶ / patchquest
Music used in this video:
▶ Stha - Pharaoh
▶ Theme A - Islanders
▶ Working - Spacechem
▶ Main Theme - Autonauts
▶ Duel Theme 2 - Yu-Gi-Oh! LotD
▶ Early Development - Satisfactory
▶ The Bottom - Machinarium
▶ Theme 2 - Islanders
▶ Jungle Theme - Patch Quest

[@gubbin_malarkies2455]

Devs: forget to add a building moving system Liam: Genius!

[@ItsEphora]

"What's the core mechanic of Civilization VI?" Me: Screwing people over with culture bombs.

[@michaelwong426]

Forward Settling.

[@ronansuperfrog8425]

Screwing the AI

[@awilddoge9991]

If your playing gandie bombs are your culture

[@electricheisenberg5723]

unless your playing BE then, its getting double affinity and ceasing your enemy's existence

[@electricheisenberg5723]

or you're playing Russia in civ 6 then its getting thermonuclear bombs on turn 40

[@theunknown4834]

The introduction was a very good build up to the body :)

[@just_oofing8271]

You are evil

[@theunknown4834]

@@just_oofing8271 Maybe

[@WilcoVerhoef]

I skipped it

[@eggofwah4852]

This sounds like a bot comment

[@Blackthornprod]

That was so interesting :)! Thanks for the great video, and inspiration. Jonas and team sure did an awesome job creating this beautiful little game. Also, Patch Quest is looking awesome, I look forward to seeing more progress on that!

[@nejatulusal1475]

Wow everyone is here its like smash bros but its game dev bros.

[@JonasTyroller]

Nice. Thanks a lot for making this gem of a video. Also little hint that the Steam link in your description doesn't seem to work at the moment. Cheers. :)

[@nejatulusal1475]

Finaly someone covered your game

[@jatrovymnam8178]

so u where here

[@dmarsub]

What do you think about his ideas for expanding the game? :)

[@LycheeGameLabs]

Ah god damn I post that broken link every time ;_;

[@zestydev_]

aha I only clicked on the vid cuz I saw ur game

[@_KT0]

name of video: City builder you've never played me: played this game for 40 hours

[@DavidGuild]

40 hours? Those are rookie numbers, son.

[@technopriest6708]

You gotta pump those numbers up,those are rookie numbers

[@thomasmontgomery3367]

72 chad hours

[@sulfurical7439]

@@thomasmontgomery3367 BAHAHAHA.

[@Fearl0ck]

I remember playing this as a mobile game years ago

[@thaunzero1251]

I've played Islanders myself and yeah, after listening to what you've said I see exactly what you mean about adjacency bonuses and stuff. Also, I will say one reason I find to go back to Islanders over other similar games, is that it's just such a calm experience, both in it's aesthetic and music, as well as just the way it plays, there's no rush to make any decision, there's no pressure beyond trying to think where is the best place to put stuff, and seeing what funky ways you can build your city, and it's just an overall rewarding game to play and relax to. And if you really want to chill all the more, then there is the sandbox mode, that let's you go to town and build without limitations, and bring to life exactly the kind of city you want to make, which again with the games aesthetic is something really satisfying and rewarding to sink a couple of hours into every now and then. heck even just browsing the steam community for the game and seeing all the other cities others have built is always an enjoyable experience too, and so i definitely can agree it would be awesome to see other games take inspiration from and build off of this game and it's simple but effective design.

[@jucom756]

For me it's the kind of game i leave alone for long periods and then get sucked in for hours. I have it just sitting on my desktop for over a year now, and sometimes i just play it when there's nothing else to do.

[@tigerfun8644]

Tldr

[@frejawennberg3454]

This seems like such an interesting game, I wanted to buy it directly! I may get bored of it quickly, but it feels like it could inspire me to maybe try more programming again, and just a nice chill game to play sometimes! Thank you for showing this game to us

[@LycheeGameLabs]

It's very cheap, so I recommend getting it

[@reversemoon2655]

I also recommend getting it its very chill and relaxing, its also really cool looking at all of the buildings when your about to go to the next island. Plus its not complicated and easy to learn. (Even though like 90% of the rules were already mentioned in the video)

[@DavidGuild]

It's well worth the price. It could use a few "meta" QoL features but the core gameplay is very good.

[@swordsouls]

@@LycheeGameLabs Anyone notice the Satisfactory music in the background?

[@calebprouty288]

It was less than $5 when I bought it, so def worth it

[@nocontexthuman6103]

This channel is such a gem, I really love it and glad I found it. Very nice author with his very interesting dev logs and tips he makes, really want it to be more popular!

[@SorchaSublime]

i feel like creating an islanders clone with the intention of expanding upon it would be the best way to go about making your own city building game, as it is basically the skeleton of every city builder ever, laid bare as a standalone game.

[@Balajohn_]

Yes islanders feels like a basic core of a game it can be a strategy game were you build cities fortresses and conquer enemy factions it can be an explosion game with economic tycoon type of gameplay or it can be expanded on and try making a city skylines type of game with pop growth and utilities demands it trully is and interesting game and honestly its so simple (and kinda empty) making any game with one or 2 more things doesnt make it a clone

[@lorri1129]

I got suprised when you used music from Satisfactory and mentioned factorio. This means you're a true city builder gamer. Also thanks for this video cause now i got another city builder to cover! :D

[@2009heyhow]

10:00 so that's basically Anno. Most of the mechanics explained in the whole video actually but without the minimalism like Islanders.

[@mrfisher1072]

Straight up thought this was godus at first just from the thumbnail.

[@louisbroadbent8060]

swear all the buildings look the same as well, similar points system. only difference i can see is theres no terraforming or followers

[@aaronsteers]

I also really like the reset dynamic. With the freedom of not needing to move buildings also comes the freedom of "finishing" an island and moving to the next. Really great game!

[@shivarsguard]

That music from Pharao gave me flashbacks!

[@LiamBarden]

Yass

[@QuiteTheKetch]

I've put so many hours into islanders it's such a soothing game for dealing with bad days. Its one of those games that knows exactly what it wants to do and does that well. Nice to see someone else showing it some love.

[@veilen]

5:30 When you talked about the long term strategy, I thought "So it's like go"... I didn't think you would actually notice that too. Nice. :)

[@EduardoEscarez]

First, I have played Islanders and I love it. Second, the 10:00 sounds similar to "Before we leave" (also a game I have), because you mission is 1- Rebuild a basic civilization, 2- Start to explore the planet you are to get additional resources and 3- When you have enough resources and you have an advance civilization, start to explore other planets around you.

[@gpaderx6105]

My favorite from childhood was simply Cityville in FB.

[@OscarModzz]

Same.alwAys run out of space thp

[@tokleb]

The thing I really like about the game is that even if you just put your buildings where they give the most points, it somehow looks really good. I never really pay attention where I put the buildings as long as the points are high, but when I finish a city and look at it it suddenly is a really great old town. Where the expanding homes are starting to bleed into the industrial areas but there is also an old city center that is purely houses. Some lumberjacks just in the middle of the city, only trees are in parks because it expanded so much.

[@platformergamedesign5286]

I’m glad to see you’ve found time to make some game design videos! These are some of my favourites.

[@PhoenixStriker1]

Extrapolating further can actually help in multiple planning industries. It sounds rather obvious that games like Sim City and Cities Skylines can prepare us a bit for the concept of city planning, but as a design major in architecture, video games as a whole have many lessons to offer. And I think part of the appeal to these games is that they are so good at teaching basic design and planning concepts, which allow us to begin exploring the more complicated nuances with regards to design.

[@jennyh.4135]

I just picked it up on steam during the city builder sale on steam and I 100% agree with you. It has me interested in getting into game development just to expand on the promise this game shows. Really great video! Subscribed!

[@ImNumber13]

Amazing video man! Islanders is awesome, love the simplicity and at the same time my OCD doesn't let me be so simple with the placing! Thanks for sharing

[@jonp3674]

Very interesting analysis. I really dug Pharoah back in the day too, I always wished it had what you are talking about, cities that a persistent on a world map where you can trade with each other. That way you could go back to an old city and upgrade it, making an interesting twist on an old level.

[@GummieI]

While you certainly have some good points, (and your points really go way beyond just city-building games) you fails to realize what it means for a game to be considered a city-builder. Civilizations and AoE are NOT city-builders, those are strategygames (AoE being real time strategy, and Civ being 4X turn based strategy). Building a city/cities in those games is merely a means to an end (whether that end is a conquest victory, or a more peaceful option like a wonder/relic victory in AoE or religious or diplomatic victory etc in Civ) In contrast real city builders the end is about making a fully functiononal city or city-like thing, ie sim-city, cities skylines, pharoah, factorio and so on. These games you either win by having a good and functional city of a certain size, or there is no real win and the whole experience is about expanding your city forever while keeping it functional all the way through. Building a base in AoE, or a city is civilization by contrast alone will never win you the game, you have to do something else in addition to that to actually win

[@OMamifero]

Ugh completely agree. I don’t even consider this game a city builder - it definitely has a city building theme but I would NOT consider it a city builder honestly. It’s a puzzle game imo

[@decalcomanie123]

Yeah I had the exact same thoughts. It's a puzzle game that happens to be city-builder themed rather than actually a city builder.

[@Fanofanime111]

The entire reason I played AoE and Civ games was that, and still is, I enjoy building up cities and civilizations. Not everyone plays those games for the same reasons as you or even as the creator quite intended. You mentioned the Sims, and that's a great example. It's meant to be a life simulation game. However, many people exclusively play the building mode of the game. Others only play with the Sim creation section. For those people the game is becomes differentiated from a life simulator. It's a building game, it's a character creator, tucked into another greater game. For me, things like Civ or AoE were so enjoyable because of the civilization/city/base building parts. They're also strategy games with combat, which I also enjoy because that entails upgrades to technology, units, or buildings. But all of that went back to the idea of improving a bunch of pixel people's lives as they live in a city I made for them. It's just a matter of perspective.

[@GummieI]

@@Fanofanime111 That is cool and all, but just because you play the game differently does not change the genre of the game. A genre of a game is dictated by what features the game offer(including but not limited to victory condition(with city building games being one of the few genres that don't always need a concrete victory condition)), and games like AoE and Civ does not have the features needed to be called city building (and I NEVER mentioned sims... sim-city and sims are 2 COMPLETELY different games, genre wise)

[@lolitaras22]

Totally with you

[@RealNacho]

I think the ideal game you're talking about (e.g. habing different regions/islands getting unlocked one after the other in order to build the ultimate capital city) is Anno (1800 in particular)

[@Jacob-yg7lz]

Oh boy, this is exactly what I've been looking for. I've always had a primal itch for adjacency bonuses (I really liked them with CIV 6 districts), and wanted a game to help scratch that itch, and maybe even create my own game off of that idea. Thank you for making this!

[@lukajolich7669]

City builders are really fun to make and there's still so many opportunities with them. For instance, maybe you could have the job of constructing a city during wartime, where your job isn't to fight the war or battles, but just to keep your people alive. Maybe that could be mixed with strategy or tactical games for when the city comes under attack. But despite whatever happens, you're still gonna keep managing the city as long as there are people still there, even if you have to manage under a new government, which could have some rule changes.

[@KurtWoloch]

This game reminds me of another game I have in mind which doesn't exist yet... a scooter sharing company simulation! You have to buy electric scooters, fix the optimum price, fix your service area inside a given city and then hire and send around service drivers, selecting where to deploy and pull scooters for moving or charging for optimum efficiency, seeing your scooters on a map with their charge status.

[@TheDemonGyro]

I found this game completely by accident and love it! It's totally worth picking up if you want a zen city building experience.

[@totaltakeovergames7275]

This was a fantastic video, even coming form somebody who has played Islanders beforehand. Seriously, the way this video was made it always kept my attention, never losing it once.

[@flame3642]

Just found your channel, and it makes me happy to see Islanders getting more love and appreciation. Man I enjoy the game so much. So simple but so fun. That, is what people and game devs need to strive for.

[@RatchetSly]

I picked this game up a couple years ago, it's such a lovely experience. My favourite type of islands I've encountered are the archipelagos where there's barely any land, and instead you have to rely on floating sea platforms for your terrain. It's aesthetically pleasing, and a twist on the usual placement challenge.

[@Sam-rx5dh]

Your videos are so well edited and written, I always look forward to them

[@ilcondottierocartografo6770]

Well done, your explanations were crystal clear, great video!

[@briansinger5258]

I love that we’re still calling _City Skylines_ “SimCity” because Maxis basically defaulted on the name.

[@SpahGaming]

i think barely anyone calls cities skylines simcity

[@muzi_3029]

Literally no body calls skylines SimCity

[@sirfoxington2258]

I have never heard anyone call city Skylines “simcity” anyway I think city Skylines is the best

[@PadeMoro]

I think very few people actually call Cities Skylines "SimCity", but the inspiration certainly came from there.

[@DarcyCardinal]

Sim city is dead, long live Skylines!

[@WilcoVerhoef]

Art is a big aspect of all these games as well. Most players are perfectionist mayors that want their city to look nice in some way.

[@DanksterPaws]

So the trend now is city building? I see, let’s see what comes of this. Surely there’s more to come.

[@julienmauguin3214]

Honestly, i can get behind this trend 😂

[@SaiponathGames]

Yup, most devs work on city building games, and myself as well.

[@davidkonevky7372]

I would like to see a city building that focuses on culture, might be interesting to see people create their own religions, art, architecture, attire, etc and how they get inspired from other tribes. How it would work idk, but if someone figures it out it would be very interesting

[@SaiponathGames]

@@davidkonevky7372 Thanks for the idea, I'm working on it.

[@ronnielusso3209]

Glad you’re getting into the game analysis space. Good stuff.

[@user-gk8ur3mb9n]

I love games that build complexity around simple and intuitive mechanics. Beautiful graphics as well! I usually don't like games of this genere but you've made me want to try it!

[@ollekath]

Great video! Thanks for the insights, I'm trying to create the rules for a city building simulation and this really helped. What I didn't quite get was the transition between adjacency bonuses and these themed islands at 9:45 that you said would be a mechanic on top of Islanders. They don't go well with the initial design in my opinion. My modification would be: The central island isn't the end goal, but your first city. Once you have enough points to build a port, you can start new cities on the specialized islands. The port is the first building you place there, connecting it to all other ports and thus making them adjacent. The purest way to continue the theme would be to let your adjacency stretch to the port region of other islands. But that would be a pain to display as soon as you had more than two ports. And it could have counter-intuitive effects on how the port region develops. So I'd maybe let the ports level up depending on what's close to them, and that level affects the bonus the ports have on ALL buildings of the island, in addition the its constant adjacency bonus. Which would mean it makes sense to only allow one port on an island. That would need testing. If you want to add an end goal, I'd probably go for some you-win-building like a palace, after which no more buildings are unlocked so the game ends. I mean, building a city on a desert island is hard, yes. But why would I want to do that?

[@southhill6667]

A fantastic little game. I personally completed the game and all its achievements in just over 3 hours, but I had a lot of fun throughout, and it's a nice and satisfying little experience to drop in on once in a while due to that exact simplicity. Despite being so short and simple, I'd definitely recommend it! :D

[@climate_sentry_123]

Huge respect for using OST from SpaceChem

[@Lessen_]

At 9:38 I was just waiting for the realisation, that you just discribed the Anno series, with the tiers of your population unlocking Buildings, you needing multiple islands for recources, and in the end you can build a capital on one island which is supplied by the other islands

[@shanemcdowell273]

Your point at the end reminds me of a game called 1602. Different islands were better for growing certain crops, or had iron and/or gold. You could build smaller towns on each island or do as you mentioned and have one giant city. I really miss that game actually.

[@dartutorials7859]

jonas is such a nice guy and hes an inspiration for many of us looove it that you showed his game here!!!! its acutally amazing played it and was really surpised how good it is!! :)

[@josh_richards]

This game is one of my favorites, never woulda thought a video on this game would be this popular. Hopefully this has caused more people to get the game and in turn supporting the devs because it’s a good game

[@lolin6379]

Man... your videos are always so high quality. Keep it up!

[@AthenaAGT]

I love this game! Got it when it first came out and it’s a nice relaxing game. Also I really like your music choice. Satisfactory music works surprisingly well here

[@dokvald]

Have around 6 hrs in this game and even a few screenshots of levels i was particularly proud of. Fun little gem, would recommend.

[@JenoDevo]

It's cool to get devlogs and video essays from the same channel. Keeps things interesting!

[@fosterturtle]

Gotta love games with intuitive design! Great job on this video!

[@porcuspine2368]

Your 'expanded game' at 9:40 sounds very similar to Before We Leave by Balancing Monkey! It's a hex-tile city builder game where you travel outwards to discover new technologies and resources, which you can then integrate into a production and shipping network to provide benefits to your citizens.

[@gasly1018]

I played this game a lot already, it's so calming

[@politeriot]

Damn your video made me want to play satisfactory again. Nice choice of music :)

[@danieldelpozosanchez4398]

The final idea you pitched is basically the core mechanic of the Anno series

[@adriawa]

loved the machinarium music at 8 minutes

[@markusfassbinder8275]

Thank you for the new video! That is an interesting topic.

[@mrgraystripe1373]

YOO I WAS TRYING TO FIND THIS GAME FOR BASICALLY A YEAR NOW THANK YOU!

[@olymolly3637]

Ahhh the simple voxel-ish designs are delightful to me. As simple but delicious as chocolate.

[@Farisyairy]

Very good review. Easy to understand.

[@kitz2572]

Totally agree, islanders is an amazing and hidden gem that absolutely NEEDS more recognition

[@earwhyckque671]

I love how simple mechanics can still make a game feel complex and unpredictable. Did you ever have a look at Townscaper? Kind of the same vibe... And you mentioning the same principles could be used on different scales of games sounds interesting, maybe even with some interconnectivity

[@Apoll022]

What a wonderful concept...its like the best parts from battle of polytopia and civilization

[@liamhandville6107]

I played this so many years ago and forgot what it was called. Glad I saw it in this video.

[@bulldozer8950]

This is a genius way to condense all of resources and mechanics in city games!

[@thepedrothethethe6151]

10:07 That’s the Anno series

[@AH900112]

ANNO 1404 and that series is really on point with the idea you had at 10:00

[@azamhuq]

The quality of this video review is superb 👌

[@zelly4914]

I love this game, it's very chill, but you will also obsess over getting that one extra point. Also it has excellent background music. Good enough that I have actually left the game running and done work to the music.

[@funiwanderer3280]

Whoa this game seems a lot of fun! You can make so cool games,..and even show cool games XD keep up the good work liam!

[@edvinbryntesson2028]

You have a great taste in music!

[@humorinpolitics56]

I picked this up on a whim when it first released and I couldn't stop playing it for weeks.

[@cloutdracula8401]

The novelty and elegant design are definitely appealing for a "best you've never played". Then it becomes another "have played" and doesn't quite hold up those peers... as often seems to be the case with "best ___ you've never ___"

[@ec5897]

This really is a great game. I’m so glad I found this video.

[@barkleyu]

Feels good when the video says "The best game youve never played" and youve played it ;)

[@TheTaylorwailer]

I have played this game before! It was surprisingly fun and calming.

[@beeurd]

Well that's gone straight onto my wishlist. Also, thanks to that music choice I now want to go play SpaceChem for hours...

[@Caspenar]

The game you described at the end was basically Anno series ;p I agree though Islanders is a fantastic little game and I loved my time with it

[@TheDawnTreader1]

I've been playing Pharaoh for 20 plus years- the peak of the genre imho

[@kyc269]

How can I play Pharaoh with newer computers? They all run Windows 10 which is apparently not compatible with Pharaoh.

[@TheDawnTreader1]

@@kyc269 I'm on windows ten, works fine for me through steam- the expansion pack can crash a bit but if you launch the base game you shoulndt have too many issues

[@HaleyRymel]

Omg. I've been trying to remember "That Egyptian city building game" from when I was a kid, for months. Islanders looks cool, but I'm on my way to but a game released in 1999 right now.

[@noemathieu943]

It looks a bit like Blockhood ! I like it ! Great video !

[@eboatwright_]

Woohoo! I love your videos, and Jonas Tyroller's videos so this is awesome! :D

[@PR0J3C7A13X]

That pharoah music, so nostalgic

[@glowner7878]

i played this game, it was quite a lot of fun to play in class since there was no urgency

[@warnacgaming1949]

my heart melted when i heard the pharaoh intro

[@Fitumie]

I’m so glad I’ve been watching your content for some time now, is it bad that patch quest has inspired me to make a game with similar art style? I’m an artist and it’s a bit of a stretch but you and others have inspired me to transition from art and start making games, even though I might be biting off more than I can chew, hopefully one day I can make the games I’ve always wanted to! Thank you once again for the awesome content and inspiration!

[@nikolaihill7364]

Very cool! Reminds me of Godus in the styling.

[@orbitinglogo6462]

Omg ive been playing islanders for about a year, it’s sooooo good

[@isaacb725]

This is badass!! This game needs attention and tournaments

[@chohsena627]

I imagine this game would be so much more satisfying if it had little dots or sticks walking around as people. I always enjoyed watching the people commute and such when I played city builders.

[@infernalanatomy729]

I love this game and how satisfying and simple it is.

[@Luky604]

Really good video, made me go to steam and seeing the game priced at 2,5€ i immediately bought it!

[@cadenniles2669]

I literally just got this game a week ago and now have it in my recommended

[@noorhazem1706]

Great video, thank you

[@IvanoForgione]

insta-bought the game even before the video was over (it's on sale at less than 3 euros on Steam), great stuff

[@scsounds9220]

The pharaoh soundtrack is a blast from the past

[@Krzysiekoy]

Love the autonauts music at ~4:00

[@lecylis]

thanks recommended! i love islanders!