"Create your perfect metropolis" – relaxed city builder is now free on Steam

City-building games like Anno or Cities: Skylines can feel overwhelming at times, with endless demands and complex traffic systems to manage. Sometimes, however, you just want to build at your own pace without constantly putting out fires. If that sounds familiar, Virtual City Playground could be a refreshing alternative to the genre’s heavyweights.

The team at G5 Entertainment AB promises a city-building experience without complex traffic systems or steep learning curves. Instead, Virtual City Playground focuses on allowing players to build at their own pace. So far, the game has received 54 reviews on Steam, earning a solid average rating of 85%. Players praise the simple yet enjoyable gameplay, while many criticize the aggressive monetization. With enough patience, however, all content can be unlocked without spending any money.

It is worth noting that Virtual City Playground is a port of a mobile title originally released for Android and iOS. While the user interface has been adapted for PC, the visuals remain fairly simple. This is unlikely to be a major drawback, however. The city builder launched on Steam on January 12, 2026, and is completely free to play – in line with many other titles released on the platform in late 2025 and early 2026. Steam Deck compatibility (currently available on Amazon for $480) is currently listed as “Unknown”.