Banished

BUY THIS GAME. Once you've finished DLing it, go to Colonialcharter.com, and download their latest expansion (it's free). While the base game is VERY good, the addition of CC makes this game hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of fun. I'm serious. DO IT NOW.

It's a settlement/village/town/city building sim, that in theory can go on nearly forever and has huge replayability. Manage your resources carefully and decide what will be the future needs of your people. You get it right, your settlement flourishes; get it wrong and it costs people their lives. And you *will* get it wrong at some point, but hang in there and the reward of seeing your management overcome these obstacles is worth it. It's possibly the most relaxing yet rewarding game I own, and it's one of the few I go back to again and again.

The first settlement I started, I knew it was going to get real when one of my settlers died in childbirth. The winter was harsh, people froze to death or starved. I was not prepared. It didn't take too long to figure out how to balance expansion with development. Build too many houses too fast and you're out of lumber for firewood. More houses mean more families, more children and more mouths to feed. Children take time to grow up and don't begin to contribute to the settlement for many seasons. This game is not an economic simulator (even though you can trade goods), but rather a balancing act between nature and civilization. Wipe out the forests too fast and you lose your summer food supply. After you figure out how to start and sustain a village, the desire to really expand creeps in. This is where the game really takes off. A poorly planned year (or even season) could mean the difference between a thriving village or a desolate ruin. This game is beautiful to just watch. There is no combat. Your people can die prematurely in accidents or a medical issue. But, these random events are pretty rare and you feel a real loss when it happens, especially in the early game. I highly recommend playing this game.

I always wanted a city building game where all you have to do is build and manage. No armies to fight, no lands to defend, no nations to argue with... just sit back, build farms and houses. You biggest enemy in this game is starvation. The game graphics are okay (although I would prefer a more cartoon style artwork) and there are bunch of mods out there of you want to change something or add to the game. The UI however is basic and lacks style. Other than that this is the comfiest city building game out there.

This is basically Dwarf Fortress with a good user interface and nice graphics and without any of the crazy fun. It's cute, but after a bit I find myself wondering why I'm playing. Then I go do something else.