Highrise City is a city builder from Fourexo Entertainment and published by Deck13. This city builder mixes the style of city builders like Cities Skyline and Tropico-like city builders.
In an overpopulated world, our aim is to create an autonomous city that does not need help from outside towns. So, we have to build up our settlement from scratch.
Like Cities Skylines and SimCity, you can decide where accommodation will be built on the map by zoning. But, despite this, zoning is not free; you need money and materials to construct houses.
To obtain the necessary materials, you need to set up an entire supply chain. From raw resources to refined materials, through logistics like warehouses and transportation. So, in Highrise City, we have a complex management system that takes us into a different mindset.
Highrise City: A New City is Born
As soon as you start a game in Highrise City, you begin to build the necessary infrastructure for electricity and water. With the available resources, the first lower-level residential zones are designated for the working class. In fact, there are different levels of residential areas in Highrise City, each level requires different materials for the construction of houses, and their population has increasingly sophisticated needs.
Once the initial residents arrive, it becomes crucial to create employment opportunities for them through the construction of factories. These factories will generate materials for constructing additional homes and manufacturing goods for the people. Subsequently, it will be essential to develop farmlands and construct fishing docks to ensure food production. Additionally, the cultivation of hemp fields and establishment of sawmills will provide insulation and wood required for constructing more residences.
As the population increases, we unlock milestones that allow us to build more advanced structures. These structures require more refined materials. As the zones level up, the population density and the height of the buildings also increase. Level one dwellings are small one-storey houses, while level five buildings are skyscrapers that reach high into the sky.
In Highrise City, there is a unique feature where factories require not only workers who physically work there but also office workers for proper functioning. There are two types of areas: residential and office. The more factories we construct, the more offices we will need.
We appreciate the hyper-realistic approach to managing industries in Highrise City. However, it’s important to acknowledge that not all resources will be readily available and may not be within our territory. Therefore, we will need to depend on collaborations with other cities to acquire the materials necessary for efficiently running our large-scale city.
The Backbone of a City
To ensure the smooth functioning of any city, an efficient transportation system is essential. In Highrise City, we prioritize managing transport routes and logistics to ensure the seamless movement of goods and people.
We establish transport companies near factories to create a comprehensive network that facilitates the swift exchange of goods. This prevents factories from stockpiling goods or facing shortages of materials for production.
The level of transport companies determines the capacity of their trucks to transport goods. Moreover, the quality of roads also plays a crucial role in enhancing transportation efficiency, as it affects the cost of journeys.
Similarly, the transportation system has a direct impact on our residents. Specifically, citizens have the option to utilize public transportation or drive their own vehicles to access factories.
Introducing the new Highrise City DLC: Metro & Planes addresses this issue. With this DLC, we can construct a metro system that enables citizens to travel longer distances at a faster pace, all while reducing their expenses.
Moreover, airports play a crucial role in expanding trade opportunities, facilitating the exchange of goods and contributing to the city’s continuous growth.
In Conclusion
Highrise City offers a user-friendly interface and a well-organized tutorial. The graphics are average, but the game excels in resource management. We played for several hours without experiencing any performance issues or crashes caused by the number of assets on the map.
One aspect that stood out to us was the inclusion of in-game mini-quests. These quests add variety to the city management gameplay by giving us specific goals to accomplish within a limited time. Some quests may require us to construct a particular building, produce a specific amount of resources, or deliver an item from one location to another. The delivery missions are particularly interesting as they allow us to drive a van through the streets of our city, giving us a citizen’s perspective. Completing each mission rewards us with money or unlocks new buildings.
We were disappointed by one thing in particular. We found it surprising that a hyper-realistic simulator like Highrise City does not have a sewage management system, but allows us to construct a facility for storing and purifying toxic waste from factories. The absence of sewage management is a significant drawback in our opinion.
Regarding the DLC, Metro & Planes, we feel that it lacks sufficient content. Considering the price at which it was released, we would have liked to see the inclusion of additional modes of transportation like trams and light rail.
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