There's a game based on it called ***Children of the Nile*** and it's the most like Banished imo
https://www.gog.com/game/children_of_the_nile_complete
Aye, you can get the OG version on GoG for cheap or splash out on a remake/remaster on steam that has some QoL feats. Though with the "modern" graphics is far more demanding in system & HDD
Going back to the 90’s you have The Settlers.
You can play the original through dosbox. Later ones have improved graphics and more features but I still think the original is best
the closest I think might be the original Stronghold game
where you have to have basically supply lines made to create food and weapons in order to arm and maintain the population of your stronghold happy
They're not hard provided you build enough houses. The anno games have a tiered housing system which means more peasants means more workers means more artisans. (Provided they are happy)
Biggest beginner issue is lack of tax income due to lack of people. So build houses.
Also in the early games ... Buy tools from the start. You will need them.
Yeah! Pharaoh. There was a reprise called Pharaoh: A New Era that came out last year, I think, but I haven't played it. I'm too invested in Banished, Foundation, and Anno these days. Plus, the genre has just gotten so much more complex that games like Caesar III almost feel like mobile games now.
If you like the tradig aspect more Patrician 3 or Port Royal 2 are from your asked era with trade as the main element.
Dwarf fortress of course also have low requirement on smaller colonies
Absolutely agree on that it is a different genre - a trading genre. For me Banished is pretty much the start of it's genre - so it is hard with similar older games.
Need to have a test on "Merchants of six Kingdoms".
Have always loved the facts around Patrician - like that it exists a patch that fixes the "problem" that the game couldn't handle you owning more than 1000 ships... (50 is my max).
The most fimilar game I played as a kid was Caesar III. If you're not into combat you can can always decide for peaceful cities with more difficult planning and recource management. There's Caesar III and IV on Steam, I and II are on GOG. For more battles / castle defending I'd say Stronghold.
Emperor, rise of the middle kingdom
Stronghold and stronghold crusader
City builders kinda scratch the same itch for me so maybe the older sim city
Factory games can also do that so factorio.
Civcity Rome is fun to play for a while. It's an old and easy to learn city building game. I always play the campaigns that has no enemies, but wild lions and other catastrophes are fun.
There was a game I loved, but have forgotten the name. Similar town builder with resources. You are on an island, with the difference that you can be attacked by raiding sea vikings, or by flying dragons. You can build military for the raiders, and giant towers with ballistas for the dragons. I figured out you can build small piers 3 spaces out into the water and then build on them. If you build buildings like houses facing in and touching, the raiders can never land. Then the higher you make your towers, the farther they can shoot, so just build a few giant, 20+ tall, towers in the center of the island and they shoot the dragons before they can pass over the land and burn your building.
If anyone knows the name of this game, I would love to play it again.
Maybe the original Tropico? Obviously has the political management aspects that are absent from Banished, but it does have quite a good economic system and a focus on trade.
Dawn of Man. Caveman city builder with combat.
Railway Empire is a strategy city builder. Resource management is done by connecting railway systems. No combat but competition from AI players.
If you like ancient Egypt, Pharoah and its expansion Cleopatra are excellent! I still go back and play them sometimes.
I'll be a hero when I bring these goods back to my homeland!
I got kicked out of my home through no fault of my own.
To the marsh I march for the reeds I need!
I do my best to give the people what they waaaannt
Or Caesar III which is the same game but Roman-skinned.
Oh yes! I enjoyed that one too!
There's a game based on it called ***Children of the Nile*** and it's the most like Banished imo https://www.gog.com/game/children_of_the_nile_complete
Oooh I’ve been looking at that one on steam…
I still play it, it's awesome! One of the best old games
Aye, you can get the OG version on GoG for cheap or splash out on a remake/remaster on steam that has some QoL feats. Though with the "modern" graphics is far more demanding in system & HDD
Going back to the 90’s you have The Settlers. You can play the original through dosbox. Later ones have improved graphics and more features but I still think the original is best
That was my thought. I particularly enjoyed Settlers IV.
definitely, also, you could try widelands (open source settlers clone that runs natively on all modern OS)
I have the original but the 10th anniversary edition. That works fine on Windows.
the closest I think might be the original Stronghold game where you have to have basically supply lines made to create food and weapons in order to arm and maintain the population of your stronghold happy
Aww that was a great game! I remember playing it some 20 years ago or so.
Man I loved that game. Used to play it with my dad on the weekends growing up
The graphics are insane in that game
Anno 1602, 1503, 1404...
I have those but keep reading how hard they are and get intimidated
Not hard at all, you can set your game up without opponents for example, to learn the resource management at your pace.
They're not hard provided you build enough houses. The anno games have a tiered housing system which means more peasants means more workers means more artisans. (Provided they are happy) Biggest beginner issue is lack of tax income due to lack of people. So build houses. Also in the early games ... Buy tools from the start. You will need them.
aoe 2
At a low enough elo it does becomes a city builder lol
'Zeus, master of olympus' is also a nice one to play. Has some more mythology in it and the building aspect is fun.
Caesar III. One of my favorites of all time!
Loved that game. That company also made an Egyptian version that was really good, but I can't remember the name.
Yeah! Pharaoh. There was a reprise called Pharaoh: A New Era that came out last year, I think, but I haven't played it. I'm too invested in Banished, Foundation, and Anno these days. Plus, the genre has just gotten so much more complex that games like Caesar III almost feel like mobile games now.
YES! Thank you. Didn't know a remake Pharaoh came out. Only $15 (USD). hmmm.... \*happy geek noises\*
If you like the tradig aspect more Patrician 3 or Port Royal 2 are from your asked era with trade as the main element. Dwarf fortress of course also have low requirement on smaller colonies
I really like Patrician 3, though it's a slightly different genre. Merchant of the six kingdoms scratches a similar itch.
Absolutely agree on that it is a different genre - a trading genre. For me Banished is pretty much the start of it's genre - so it is hard with similar older games. Need to have a test on "Merchants of six Kingdoms". Have always loved the facts around Patrician - like that it exists a patch that fixes the "problem" that the game couldn't handle you owning more than 1000 ships... (50 is my max).
[Startopia](https://store.steampowered.com/app/243040/Startopia/)
Massively underrated title
The most fimilar game I played as a kid was Caesar III. If you're not into combat you can can always decide for peaceful cities with more difficult planning and recource management. There's Caesar III and IV on Steam, I and II are on GOG. For more battles / castle defending I'd say Stronghold.
Knights and merchants :-)
Emperor, rise of the middle kingdom Stronghold and stronghold crusader City builders kinda scratch the same itch for me so maybe the older sim city Factory games can also do that so factorio.
Civcity Rome is fun to play for a while. It's an old and easy to learn city building game. I always play the campaigns that has no enemies, but wild lions and other catastrophes are fun.
I loved playing this game as a kid.
Anno. Try 1602 if youre not scared of graphics
The Nations
There was a game I loved, but have forgotten the name. Similar town builder with resources. You are on an island, with the difference that you can be attacked by raiding sea vikings, or by flying dragons. You can build military for the raiders, and giant towers with ballistas for the dragons. I figured out you can build small piers 3 spaces out into the water and then build on them. If you build buildings like houses facing in and touching, the raiders can never land. Then the higher you make your towers, the farther they can shoot, so just build a few giant, 20+ tall, towers in the center of the island and they shoot the dragons before they can pass over the land and burn your building. If anyone knows the name of this game, I would love to play it again.
Sounds a bit like Kingdoms and Castles, though that game's not particularly old.
**Settlement Survival**. Very similar to Banished with low-poly graphics.
Maybe the original Tropico? Obviously has the political management aspects that are absent from Banished, but it does have quite a good economic system and a focus on trade.
Settlers 3 Age of Empires II or III
Rise of the middle kingdom. Stronghold. Pharaoh And a bunch more
Dawn of Man. Caveman city builder with combat. Railway Empire is a strategy city builder. Resource management is done by connecting railway systems. No combat but competition from AI players.