City builder
Also said as City sim, Management sim
You lay out roads, homes and work, and a simulated population decides whether to move in. There is usually no win screen. It promises a place of your own that visibly comes alive.
The simulation gives you back your own decisions as traffic, taxes and empty lots. Every fix causes the next problem, so there is always one more thing to improve.
Say it
“City builder with no win state: homes need a road and jobs, shops need residents, and a tax above 12% slows move-ins. Show demand for all three zones as bars.”
Where you’ve seen it
SimCity (1989), by Will Wright, has no way to win, and it shows a small R, C, I meter for residential, commercial and industrial demand. Cities: Skylines (2015) added a detailed traffic simulation that became the main thing to fight.
Not to be confused with sandbox
A sandbox lets you make what you like. A city builder lets you make what you like, and then its systems tell you whether the people who live there are happy.