Proximity City: A Relaxing Rogue-Like City Builder Game

Proximity City is a relaxing city-builder that tasks players with expanding an overpopulated kingdom across a series of empty islands. You need to hit specific daily population goals by strategically placing down buildings to keep the expansion going.

Developed by JuicyBeast, the game takes heavy inspiration from titles like Islanders, stripping away the overwhelming micromanagement usually found in the genre. Instead of tweaking tax rates or laying down endless water pipes, you just place buildings. But it isn’t completely mindless. Different structures generate specific types of populations. These distinct groups actually function as different currencies, which you then spend in a randomized shop to unlock new building options.

Adding rogue-like mechanics to a casual building game is a clever twist that gives the spatial puzzles surprising replay value. The shop rotates randomly, and you can pick up various perks along the way. This setup forces you to adapt your layout based on what the storefront throws at you—rather than relying on a single optimized build order every time. It keeps the daily progression feeling fresh.

The core narrative setup is entirely straightforward. The king’s realm is too crowded, so the job of settling new frontiers falls completely on your shoulders. It’s a simple premise that gets out of the way quickly so you can focus on the actual mechanics of island development. JuicyBeast originally built this as a short experimental demo to test out their specific spin on the genre, and that highly focused scope works completely to its advantage.

Game Controls

• Pan camera: W, A, S, D, Arrow keys, or Left-click and drag
• Zoom: Scroll wheel
• Select or place building: Left-click
• Flip building horizontally: F

As always, remember to have fun!