Zeus is by far the best, no competition about it .

You are welcome! Even though my personal favorite is Pharaoh I agree that Zeus is easier to get into and more diverse game.

If just Pharaoh had campaigns too instead of building every city from scratch, it would have been my favorite but for now Zeus is the king as building the city from scratch for 40+ missions is just frustrating.

Since you already went all Zeus, so I'm a little late. But you said "relaxing and fun" and if you don't mind a little warfare included, please have look at the Settlers: http://www.gog.com/game/the_settlers_2_gold_edition. That just comes to my mind from your post.

Anyone tried and willing to throw Banished up here yet? To rich for my blood at the moment but will likely snatch it up when some kind of discount pops.

I wholeheartedly recommend Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader. It's a sim of castle building, and of course fighting to either attack or defend them.

Now when SimCity 4 Deluxe is here on Gog, I'm happy as that's my favorite of the series

My favourite is Theme Hospital, seconded by Rollercoaster Tycoon. Haven't played other games yet.

This is the ONLY thing I have been playing the last two weeks. I actually have a somewhat accurate Arkham going on right now, based on an actual sketch from H.P. himself.

It's not really a city builder, however Master of Magic is pretty good. It's cheap as well, and the graphics do not look like crap imo. It's a 4X game like Civ with larger focus on combat. I realize that this may not be what you're looking for, but checking it out couldn't hurt. It does have some strategic city building, though. You're not actually doing any building yourself, however you have to decide what your builders are going to build, which gives building your city some strategy when it comes to choosing the building that will benefit you the most.

Personally I would recommend Banished. There is no fighting involved in the game, it's just city building and survivial. I find it very interesting and relaxing to play. I've lost numerous hours in the play of it and expect to lose numerous more :-)

If not Banished I would recommend sim city 4, it's a classic that will also cause you to lose numerous hours in LOL


Whatever you decide on I sure hope you have fun with it :-)

I've bought Caesar, Zeus and Pharaoh, but I've played only Caesar. In my opinion, it is the most complex city builder I've ever played(ever, not only from the ones released on gog). It is more complex than Settlers and ANNO series.
Zeus seems to be the most fantasy of those, it contains mythical animals and beasts. Pharahoh seems to be like Caesar, but in ancient Egypt.
Then there is Children of the Nile. Again, I've bought it, but haven't play it yet(you know, gogs sales :-D), so I can't give any opinion on that. Only that it is in 3D.

Where do 'god' games fit into the sim genre, or do they totally NOT fit in? :P I was thinking of my fave Black & White but the Populous games and Dungeon Keeper come to mind as well. There is also "Heaven & Hell" which I'd love to try even though I've heard it's kind of hit and miss.

Well, my favorite here is the Sim City 2k and the original Tropico. I still wish for Caesar 2 (definitely my all time favorite city builder) and Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom.