5 Franchises Ripe for Making into City Builders

A city builder, for those who don’t know, is a mobile game that has you - for whatever reason - building a town from scratch. Now, this list isn’t going to feature IPs that are most likely to be getting a city builder. For instance, South Park is pretty much a shoo-in for getting one sooner rather than later, given the nature of the TV show. Instead, here are five IPs that I feel deserve a city builder game due to how easily they could be adapted to it.

Marvel Comics

Your first question is probably “Why not DC Comics?” - well that’s easy to answer. Most of Marvels heroes live in New York, so the game would only need one city area - the majority of DC super heroes each have their own individual city. Sure, not all of them are there all of the time in the comics, but most characters are members of the Avengers - a team with a headquarters in New York. The reason to rebuild New York is simple: a Reality Warping Device created by Doctor Doom erases New York and now the Fantastic Four and Avengers have to put it back together.

Futurama

With the success of The Simpsons Tapped Out, this one makes the most sense to create - however with no new episodes planned to ever be made, it’s highly doubtful we’ll ever visit New New York and the year 3000. It also counts against it that most of the episodes feature plots taking the team out of New New York. For instance it wouldn’t make sense for the head of President Nixon to be in the game as he stays in Washington DC, Zapp Brannigan is rarely on Earth and the Wongs live on Mars. Of course the reason to rebuild New New York is easy - Professor Farnsworth does a Homer Simpson and nukes the city, so it’s down to Planet Express to rebuild.

Thomas the Tank Engine

Yes, you read that correctly - Thomas & Friends is ideal for a city builder. You would have to place tracks for the trains to run along, so they can do quests between Tidmouth Sheds and the Steamworks. Thomas’ branch line would require a 24 hour job, whereas Percy’s mail route would only be four hours. The story behind the restructuring would be a little more difficult - perhaps Sir Topham ‘The Fat Controller’ Hatt needs to modernise the island of Sodor. It’s either move everything about, or scrap Henry and his ‘special Welsh coal’.

Monkey Island

Rather than being a city, this would need to be a Tri-Island area builder. But when you consider how little there is on each island, having a peninsula isn’t really too over the top. Using some voodoo magic, LeChuck manages to destroy the Tri-Island area - but the Voodoo Lady does something to avoid total catastrophe thus allowing Guybrush Threepwood to rebuild. You’ve got Governor Marley’s mansion, Monkey Island, Big Whoop - there’s plenty to build and events can be catered for pretty easily.

Super Mario

Yes, it’s not as small as New York, but rebuilding the Mushroom Kingdom would be pretty cathartic. All of those frustrated gamers who just wish Princess Peach would stay locked in the one castle - they could do it. One of Bowser's jobs would inevitably be “fall in some lava” - you don’t have to let him out of it. You can bet the whole reason the game exists is because Bowser casts some star magic and it’s up to Mario to put the kingdom back together. And with Nintendo looking to make some apps, this one is probably more likely to be made than any of the others.