One of the best city builders I've played recently, but it's more of a tycoon type game.

This game combines elements of Frostpunk, with its strict resource management, along with elements of Kingdoms and Castles' tower defense gameplay, and Anno 1800's island to island trading mechanic. However, if you're looking for a game that is like Cities: Skylines, I don't think this is the game for you. Let me explain:

With all city builders, you have to balance your resources wisely, only building what is absolutely necessary. You slowly build up your city, ever so increasing your stockpile of resources until you can comfortably expand further. However, that's where the similarities end. With Cliff Empire, the focus is more on resource management than with infrastructure. While there's nothing inherently wrong with that, it does mean that you can't make a transit network of roads, subways, and trains, which is a core element of Cities: Skylines. I was slightly disappointed when i realized that pedestrian paths and bus stations were more for decoration, and contributed to a "Social Transport" resource, instead of actually alleviating some sort of traffic.

If you're looking for a general city/tycoon sim game though, you'll love this game. It's one of those "easy to learn, hard to master" games, where taking the time to learn the mechanics of the game is rewarding. On top of that, the game itself looks great, and lends itself well to the futuristic artstyle that it's going for. If you've ever played SimCity 5's expansion Cities of Tomorrow, the artstyle between the 2 games are similar, with Cliff Empire being more bright and clean looking than the sometimes dystopian look of Cities of Tomorrow ie. lots of eye candy to look at.

Basically, if you're like me and play any and every city builder/tycoon game out there, you'll probably end up playing this game until 4am, all sleep deprived, having gotten your money's worth for $13. Don't be like me, buy this game, but also get some sleep too.