Saturday Morning RPG
Saturday Morning RPG
Game
Game2022
Urbek City Builder
Developer Fridus
Urbek City Builder is a city-building video game developed by Estudios Kremlinois and published by RockGame. The game also has a puzzle aspect. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
204 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Lemmy, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
76
LovedLoved
138 positive · 43 negative
95% range 70–82%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 138 | 43 | 0 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Bluesky * | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 4 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
923 of 1,042 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
77% recommend · 139 yes, 42 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 181 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (1,792 of 2,006 positive).
Players describe it as a puzzle game disguised as a city builder. [1][2][3] Many praise its innovative, resource-based mechanics and relaxing gameplay. [4][5][6] Some criticize it for being tedious and lacking freedom compared to traditional city builders. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
If you want a puzzle game, this is for you. As a city builder its way too tedious. You constantly have to chase the next resource thats running low, and have very limited freedom in how you can expand your city.
- [4]
Reading other reviews of this game makes me want to completely dismiss the entire city-builder genre and its community. There is something truly new and innovative in this game both in terms of how the dev views and understands what a city is and how they implement the various mechanics to express such views and ideas. A lot of people complain about the restrictions of this game, but I believe there is a serious …
- [5]
Urbek City Builder is a refreshing take on the city-building genre, developed by Fridus and published by RockGame S.A., that strips away the traditional focus on currency, taxation, and economic micromanagement in favor of a resource-based simulation centered on sustainable growth and logical planning. The game reimagines what it means to build a thriving city by asking the player to think in terms of ecology, …
- [3]
A puzzle game disguised as a city builder. A hidden gem for those who like resource management and layout optimization. Can run on a potato PC.
- [1]
Well I put a positive review because the game is fine, but for me it's not really a city builder. I asked a refund because it's not for me. I see this as a little puzzle game where you have to place buildings to create synergy to develop differents biomes. Construction is intantaneous, and destroy existing buildings cost nothing, there is no transport or traffic to manage.
Summarised from 34 of the 205 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Urbek City Builder talk about innovative and refreshing take on the genre; those who didn't talk about not a traditional city builder; more puzzle-like. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Smith praised the voxel art, suggesting Urbek has better graphics than many indie games in the genre. Frances Addison of KeenGamer found the building design appealing. Smith compared the addition of the puzzle aspect to Concrete Jungle. Plunkett wrote that despite the apparent complexity of some of the game mechanics, the gameplay felt more relaxing than other city builders, other reviewers found a similar atmosphere. Addison also wrote about creativity in the gameplay and suggested "the core of the game is putting your city together just as you want it to be". Plunkett similarly suggests that the game has "malleability" allowing for creativity by the player.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 204 · most liked firstSimcity 3000 Retrospective/Mini Review & Screenshot Walkthrough. It has been over a quarter of a century since Simcity 3000 was released in 1999. Since then we've had some enormous changes in the city-builder genre, with EA's arguably failed multiplayer focused [Simcity (2013) reboot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity_%282013_video_game%29), the rise of [Cities: Skylines](https://steamdb.info/app/255710/charts/#3y), and the appearance multiple smaller indie competitors like…
neutral · AI labelView post →I really wanted to like this game. I wanted to build the way I want like any good city builder allows, but the whole game is locked behind the longest tutorial I've ever played. I can't play any other map or mode until I finish the insanely long tutorial checklist map where you have to build the city they decide. The art style makes it impossible to see what's what without clicking on every building or playing on a colour-vomit overlay map where you still can't tell whats what. Everything is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Steam deck badge of shame. This has the green badge, and yet again it's just plain wrong. The controls for this game are simply not setup for the steam deck. Devs are pleased to take your money, but can't be bothered to follow through on steam deck compatibility. This is a trend for the steam deck. Really disappointed in the blatant lies. To be verified, ALL game mechanics should be functional, and buttons should be identified visually in the menus and interface. It does NOT meet this…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Reading other reviews of this game makes me want to completely dismiss the entire city-builder genre and its community. There is something truly new and innovative in this game both in terms of how the dev views and understands what a city is and how they implement the various mechanics to express such views and ideas. A lot of people complain about the restrictions of this game, but I believe there is a serious misconception in those complaints. The various restrictions the game imposes on…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simcity 3000 Retrospective/Mini Review & Screenshot Walkthrough. It has been over a quarter of a century since Simcity 3000 was released in 1999. Since then we've had some enormous changes in the city-builder genre, with EA's arguably failed multiplayer focused [Simcity (2013) reboot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity_%282013_video_game%29), the rise of [Cities: Skylines](https://steamdb.info/app/255710/charts/#3y), and the appearance multiple smaller indie competitors like…
neutral · AI labelView post →If you want a puzzle game, this is for you. As a city builder its way too tedious. You constantly have to chase the next resource thats running low, and have very limited freedom in how you can expand your city.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you like puzzle games this is right up your alley. If you like city builders, it's not. I keep trying to come back to enjoy it and I fail every time. Half the maps are unbeatable unless you edit them before playing. There is no true Sandbox mode. I had such high hopes for this game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Why is trains a DLC?? Maybe fix the game before DLC? Its not really a well fine tuned city builder at this point. Not a lot of freedom. Devs are not going to a right direction ngl
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simcity 3000 Retrospective/Mini Review & Screenshot Walkthrough. It has been over a quarter of a century since Simcity 3000 was released in 1999. Since then we've had some enormous changes in the city-builder genre, with EA's arguably failed multiplayer focused [Simcity (2013) reboot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity_%282013_video_game%29), the rise of [Cities: Skylines](https://steamdb.info/app/255710/charts/#3y), and the appearance multiple smaller indie competitors like…
neutral · AI labelView post →Well I put a positive review because the game is fine, but for me it's not really a city builder. I asked a refund because it's not for me. I see this as a little puzzle game where you have to place buildings to create synergy to develop differents biomes. Construction is intantaneous, and destroy existing buildings cost nothing, there is no transport or traffic to manage.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really enjoyed this, Urbek is a neat spin on the city building genre. It's much more puzzle-like in that placement optimization matters more than it does in SimCity and similar, but not so much so that it becomes too complex. There's a nice series of systems at play where, say, you need more labor, so you build housing, but then you run low on food, so you go optimize your farms, and now you can build more housing but to upgrade it you need education, which means you need iron, and so you go…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This isn't a typical city-builder. Construction is free, demolition is without consequence. Traffic isn't part of the gameplay at all. Instead you place a few base-level building types, and depending on their surroundings, they upgrade on their own. Get enough density and commercial infrastructure around a suburb and it becomes a downtown district. Iron isn't produced by mines, but instead the houses built around them that automatically become homes to miners. If you want a sandbox city…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you are OK with historical city-builders, the campaigns for Caesar III, Pharaoh and Zeus/Poseidon, are largely level-focused. They are available on GOG and there is a really nice modern engine for Caesar III. Based on feedback and discussion that I've seen (I haven't tried it yet), Microlandia seems to mostly fit your request in a modern city-builder: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4094120/Microlandia/ Might also be worth checking out Urbek City Builder (also modern).…
neutral · AI labelView post →This is a tedious puzzle game falsely marketed as a city builder.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While I DO recommend the game, take a note that it is mostly a puzzle, than a city builder per se. In order to win the map you have 3 paths, which you choose by starting to follow one of them early. For each path for each map there is an achievement ingame. Each map provides unique features, such as in desert you need to water your houses and irrigate desert in order to plant, while on archipelago there is almost no land space, but you get houses that can be build on water and ferries(no…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Playing a new game I found on the eShop called Urbek City Builder so I'm having a lot of fun with that right now and hoping to build a big city☺️🤞 Also on sale on the eShop in the UK but don't know about other regions. 1/2 #NintendoSwitch #UrbekCityBuilder #Clear3stSpy
positive · AI labelView post →I realized I hand't reviewed this yet. It's an awesome game. Totally different mechanics, so no comparable on that front, but kinda the same feeling I got when I first played SimCity 2000 when it came out. It's a canvas that lets you play with stuff, make cool stuff happen, watch it grow, you can puzzle things out, make a mark on the world if you like that, or conform to way it looks if you would like that too. I love it and recommend it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is not a city building game like you would expect with Sim City or Cities Skylines or even TTD. It's not about setting up zones and watching them grow, it's about hand-plopping buildings that will eventually improve as long as they meet certain requirements and have the right combination of neighboring tiles around them. It is very micro heavy while at the same time removing all money restrictions or friction related to the planning and building aspects of growing your city. As a result,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sometimes the Steam Deck Verified label is simply incorrect, and this is one of those cases. I bought Urbek because it’s advertised as Steam Deck Verified, but the experience on Steam Deck is far from that. The game does not properly detect Steam Deck controls and only shows PC keyboard prompts. On top of that, the default text size is extremely small and not comfortably readable, forcing the player to manually tweak the settings. Another issue I encountered is language detection. My Steam…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Urbek City Builder is a refreshing take on the city-building genre, developed by Fridus and published by RockGame S.A., that strips away the traditional focus on currency, taxation, and economic micromanagement in favor of a resource-based simulation centered on sustainable growth and logical planning. The game reimagines what it means to build a thriving city by asking the player to think in terms of ecology, balance, and community structure rather than profit margins. It uses a colorful voxel…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Voxel Games Need to be Done. Okay, voxel games were cute, everyone loved Minecraft. But that doesn't mean that voxels are the solution to everything! I really am sick of getting excited at a new game on one of the major services (Steam, Epic, etc) only to have the phrase "voxel graphics" tacked onto the end. Yes, I'm sure it's easier to design with than conventional graphics, and I respect that. Maybe you want to just get your game out there based on its other merits, like its mechanics or…
neutral · AI labelView post →Super fun city builder/puzzler. Definitely a non-traditional approach to city building, but incredibly satisfying once you get the hang of it. Also, it's really nice to play a city builder that isn't just raw capitalism.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great chill city builder/resource management game, reminds me of SimCity Societies in its approach and focus on balancing development. Several maps/biomes with unique mechanics keep things fresh. Pixel art is charming and watching the buildings evolve is super satisfying.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →5/10. Not the game I thought I was buying when I bought it, If you're looking for something like Sim City or Skylines this is NOT the game. The mechanics and concept of the game are sound, but I didn't want to play a puzzle game the city I was building, Once you get to the extent to where there's a problem it's either completely retry or flounder trying to reach the end goal. The gameplay is casual and fun enough, until the fun goes away and it's just irritating (for me.)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This review is in protest of the game being deemed Steam Deck Verified. Text and UI is illegibly small by default. But more importantly, the control scheme is not configured well (if at all) and the available community -made control schemes via Steam Input aren't much better. Until these issues are corrected, the game deserves Deck Playable status at best, and I'm more likely to play SteamWorld Build, Cities: Skylines, or even Frostpunk 1 & 2 for my city building cravings on Deck.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A puzzle game disguised as a city builder. A hidden gem for those who like resource management and layout optimization. Can run on a potato PC.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's really fascinating to see a Chilean take on urban development. I like that part. However, it's not a city builder; it's a puzzle game. And a very restrictive puzzle game, at that. You don't place buildings because it's what the citizens would need, you place buildings because you need three of them within a certain radius to unlock another building, which itself has to be OUTSIDE that radius, but within the radius of a different building, which you can't build yet, because the population…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm just here to mention one thing only: if you appreciate that game and think you will explore and play it for some amount of time, immediately get the Trains DLC. Train stations are very powerful when connected to each other and boost the local output by A LOT. So don't sleep on it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →9/10 Good time sink. Modding support. Achievement tracking in the form of various "upgrade paths" makes development intuitive. Lots of easily unlockable maps. Good replayability. Deep, broad simulation taking into account happiness, resource harvesting, nightlife, tourism, unskilled, skilled, and high skilled labor, religious, oppression, culture self-organization, etc. The game doesn't jerk you around and it also doesn't hold your hand. I've played so many sim games: Sim city (2000,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's more a puzzle game where you need to position things in such a way in order to upgrade something else. On sale this is a good deal I'd say.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've stopped buying Paradox games. I was a big fan of Colossal Order, the studio best known for the Cities: Skylines series. Before they got big with Skylines, they made the Cities in Motion public transportation management series. The first game in the series had a unique style and ambience and I loved the euro scenarios and cities. The 2nd one was a solid update, but lacked character; it was essentially a prototype for Cities: Skylines. Both those games had many DLCs, but nothing like…
neutral · AI labelView post →Nice little puzzle-style city builder. Graphics are clear and sharp and have enough variety to give a bit of flavour and difference to your city builds.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i like . i haven't beat a run yet because im too autistic and reset my world each time im unsatisfied with something. but its still fun
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice visually and lightweight, good concept but poor execution and dumb mechanics/logic. Here instead of financial means you have a balance of production and consumption of labor/goods/services etc... Buildings require a certain amount of stored resource and add consumption. The game forces you to build in a very specific way, stuff gets into the negative very often and stalls your city unless you address it, sometimes by demolishing an area adding too much strain on a certain output. It's a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gave this game two chances. First time I refunded within the 2-hour window. Came back a few months later to give it a real shot, and now I've got about 20 hours in, but I still wouldn't call it fun. It's just too repetitive. The pixel art is genuinely nice, and there's a good variety of buildings that make it look like there's a lot going on. But underneath that, the core gameplay loop wears thin fast. The first couple of hours, while you're figuring out the mechanics, there's a real…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Looks like a city builder, plays more like a puzzle game. The freedom is really an illusion, and the way the systems work together means it kills all creativity in city building. You are pretty much forced to do things in certain order, located in certain places and so on. It has some entertainment value, but if you look for a city builder with the ability to actually do things your way this is really not it. Kinda of a weird one for sure. Runs great, works great.. just doesn´t quite understand…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"Do this to continue tutorial" *Follows instructions* Nothing happens... "Build a lumber camp within a forest." *Tries to build a lumber camp within the obvious looking forest and NOTHING HAPPENS.* Don't bother with this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First of all, this isn't exactly a city-building simulator; it's more of a puzzle game. It's about managing resources and territory to advance to a new technological level, which unlocks new resources and buildings to reach the next technological level, and so on. The main limitation here is the amount of the territory provided; you are not limited in time. About 20% of your buildings are specific to each biome. Each biome has three clearly defined end goals; achieving any of them will count…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its not even close to the city builder genre. Its more like very easy city-themed puzzle solver...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Urbek City Builder feels like Minecraft combined with SimCity, which sounds great, but it ends up feeling way too limited. There just isn't enough to do, and after a while it gets repetitive. I wanted more freedom, more things to build, and more depth.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I feel bad giving this a negative review, because it is trying to do something new and it's not terrible.... The problem is, it's just not that much fun. Clunky UI looking up what's needed to upgrade and being able to get stuck in spirals where you can't upgrade the resource you need without that resource which allows you to deadend hours of game play just makes this annoying Overall Im giving a thumbs down but it's only a marginal thumbs down. If on a great sale it might be worth you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short Version: It's a puzzle game disguised as a city builder, but I did not find an ounce of challenge in the first hour of it. I did find that if I rotate the "construction site" stage of the building I want to place down, the game will orient the building randomly anyway, giving no way of actually rotating buildings the way you want. But this is not even the most limiting issue in the game's building. Pedestrians and cars disappear after mere seconds, the bloom effect is blinding. The game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An example of "Good idea, bad execution." The concept of the game is good. The graphics and controls are fantastic, but the main gameplay is boring and repetitive. Another big issue is the very long tutorial. Tutorials should teach you the main concepts of the game and then let you continue, but in this case, the tutorial walks you through almost the entirety of the game for some reason. Apart from the graphics, the entire game just feels like a low-budget Android game. 3/10, Wouldn't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →weird obscure game with a bunch of abstract rules
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have been playing Time Snatcher Handy recently, a roguelike centered around a time-stop mechanic, which only uses 44 MB. It is pretty good. Going through my steam library from the lowest up, here are the others i would recommend, stopping at one GB, because most of my games are under 20 GB and i tend to be relatively selective with what games i get so i consider most of them good also: - TIS-100 (80 MB), programming puzzle game by Zachtronics - Islanders (150 MB), minimalist city builder -…
neutral · AI labelView post →Urbek City Builder is a voxel-based city simulation game that emphasizes organic growth over micromanagement. Instead of relying on money or predefined zoning, progress is driven by resource chains and population needs. Every district, building, and industry evolves naturally based on player choices, making the city feel alive and reactive. The minimalist voxel art style is clean and functional, allowing you to focus on systems rather than spectacle. Gameplay revolves around balancing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the perfect relaxing city builder. There's enough going on to keep you entertained with out asking you to micro manage a dozen different things. You can just let your city run for a bit without all the plates coming crashing down.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I made people live next to a coal mine, and the living conditions were so bad that they rebelled. 10/10 realism
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →trailer makes it look way better than it actually is. tutorial was long, building was uncreative and boring. Not fun.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A supricingly deep Citybuilder. The focus is on the building part. There is nearly no Management part, no trafic or somthing like this. But the Part where in a normal builder you would just place firestation and police down and everybody is happy is way more detaild, also a bit fimiky and puzzly.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My first sitting was 5.7 hours, I was having so much fun I completely forgot an F1 race.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You know what this game is? Noone labeled it as such, but this is a direct, spiritual successor to the ooold Anno 1602 game! The setting is different obviously, but both games run the exact same mechanisms. It's shoking to me how similar those games are. And besides that Urbek is still a very very good game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, city builders re not my go to games but this one really hooked me. The game is great. If you play it in normal mode, expect to spend quite some time to develop your city. That time spent is enjoyable however as the game explains all the relevant metrics to you. The sandbox mode on the other hand is incredibly fun. When it comes to content, I am 8 hours in and I still have not tried the handful of modes. I expect this game to continue offering a good and polished experience…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is not comparable to most city builders because this is VERY easy. Still, very fun: you get a bunch of different neighborhoods that you'd otherwise have no control over, for example, you can create a religious neighborhood, a artistic or nightlife neighborhood, iron miners houses, and so forth, depending on what is in the vicinity, which is fun! Not very challenging, but cute and fun and chill. Those who say it's hard to manage the resources are people who probably can't manage their…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →what a fantastic game!! i would HIGHLY recommend this game if you are a nerd who loves simulation / management type games. you have to build a city from the ground up but also ensure you're managing your resources correctly - you need farms? you need workers. you need workers? you need houses. you need houses? you need wood. you need wood? you need trees. etc. it keeps you on your toes at all times and the hours just pass right by! the graphics are so cute and smooth, i love how everything…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun and relatively chill city builder. It's not too complex with stats, info, traffic, air quality, etc. but it's in depth enough to where it's still interesting.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sorry, but no. First off, I shouldn't have to look up how to get around an issue when I'm only two minutes into the tutorial. Why does it require people to build a lumbercamp and then tell us there isn't enough work for the lumbercamp to be built? Shouldn't the tutorial allow easier placement than the regular game? I don't want the tutorial to be a waiting game, and I shouldn't need a walkthrough just to find out that it's a waiting game. Secondly, the concept of the game is interesting,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like city building games, and this is is amazing without fuss, I mean city housese getting automatic upgrades and maintaining the pace! I AM HOOOKED!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a fun mix of puzzle games and city builders. I like how the "currency" are resources and not money, and I really really enjoy how you can have diverse neighborhoods, like Iron miners, shanty towns, anarchists, social housing, religious neighborhoods, suburbs, villages, downtowns, artist neighborhoods, and so much more. Most city builders struggle with having different classes in cities and this game does scratch that itch of having various types of social classes all in your city. The only…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very nice strategic city builder. Similar to HighRiseCity. I think this is the most realistic game in terms of city grow shape. The city develops as a real one. I have an RTX 4070 Ti, and this is probably the best city builder in the market. Very entertaining and challenging.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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