Thriving City: Song

In 960 A.D., the Zhao Song Dynasty was established. As the mayor, you'll need to help the townspeople settle down, cultivate the land and expand. However, when the emperor issues a national mandate, conflicts between factions threaten city development—what strategy will you adopt?

Thriving City: Song is a simulation, city builder and strategy game developed by White Star Studio and published by IndieArk.
Released on May 29th 2024 is available on Windows and MacOS in 2 languages: Simplified Chinese and English.

It has received 2,746 reviews of which 2,244 were positive and 502 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.9 out of 10. 😊

The game is currently priced at 13.86€ on Steam and has a 25% discount.

The Steam community has classified Thriving City: Song into these genres:

Simulation City Builder Strategy Historical Resource Management Casual Strategy RPG Drama Building Quick-Time Events Agriculture Real Time Tactics Base-Building Choices Matter Management Inventory Management Hand-drawn Mining Economy Trading

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at Thriving City: Song through various videos and screenshots.

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Requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Microsoft Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5-4590
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: nVIDIA GeForce GTX 750ti
Storage: 2 GB available space

MacOS

OS: MacOS
Processor: 苹果 M1 或英特尔酷睿 M
Memory: 16 GB RAM

Reviews

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

Oct. 2024

The best Chinese city-building game ever! Absolutely love the graphics, and it's fantastic that I can play it on my Mac. It's often difficult for Mac users to find great games, but this one is top-notch. Totally obsessed—love, love it!

Aug. 2024

Loved this game. Very challenging and complex. The major issue I saw was the frame rate starts to slow down when I hit 1000 population. I hope they have a sequel for this and optimize their engine.

July 2024

This is a nifty city-builder, similar in the vein of the old Impression Games from the early 90s to mid-2000s, but with key differences. For starters, housing & structures are not built instantaneously but require resources that must be harvested/mined. In that sense, it resembles an RTS, to a passing extent. Speaking of, unlike the Impression city-builders, Thriving City's military elements are a bit more fleshed out, with similarities to the Stronghold series, albeit in a much more limited capacity. The soundtrack should also be commended, as it is quite pleasing to the ears. As for the setting, per its name, the game takes place over the course of 319 years of that 10th to 13th century imperial Chinese dynasty. The game's nine (itself a symbolic number in Chinese history & culture) campaign missions encompass that time period, beginning with military general Zhao Kuangyin acceding to the Dragon Throne as Emperor Taizu of Song following the Chenqiao Mutiny on February 2, 960, and concluding with Zhao Bing, the child-emperor of the greatly reduced dynasty who died alongside his loyal servant Lu Xiufu at the Battle of Yamen on March 19, 1279, where both committed suicide to escape the grasp of the invading Mongol armies as they fought to establish the succeeding Yuan Dynasty. For anyone who is a history buff like myself, especially Chinese history, it makes for an interesting turn of things when, as you play the missions, you encounter famous personages from the Song Dynasty, including the poet Liu Yong, the calligrapher Ouyang Xiu, the imperial chancellor Fan Zhongyan, and even the famed Bao Zheng, whose dedication to integrity and incorruptibility still remains a byword among the Chinese peoples nearly a thousand years after his lifetime. As a county magistrate (县令), the player is also tasked with adjudicating on cases that crop up every now and then, some of which are based on the gong'an fiction genre. Not only that, you also hire skilled assistants who bring benefits to your city, a reflection of the centuries-old Chinese imperial examinations. Not to mention juggling between the residents' demands and the decrees from the imperial court. If anything, the game is an ironic reminder that imperial Chinese county magistrates were often overworked & underpaid, afraid of their constituents & terrified of the mercurial whims of the Emperor or his immediate subordinates. Thriving City has few drawbacks; I don't recall any major game-breaking bugs. The few I can mention includes the lack of a map radar, which is essential in a city-builder game. Similarly, there is no fire alert button which takes you to the site of the incident, forcing you to search the whole city to determine where the flames are. The lack of immediately visible basic statistics like population size is also a drawback, as you need to look at the in-depth stats tab to find out. Its primary shortcoming, I must admit, is the lacklustre localisation. Since I cannot read/write Mandarin, I won't comment on that. But the English translations often leave something to be desired. For example, the player's residence is translated as 'Parliament', which is not only a historical anachronism but also an inaccurate term. It would have been better to refer to it as the magistrate's residence or court. Naturally, as the game's developer White Star Studio appears to be an indie outfit, and likely made this game for the Chinese-speaking market first and foremost, I suppose they can't be blamed altogether for additional localisations, let alone an improved English one. The tutorial's audio dialogue is wholly in Mandarin, with only the text in English. I imagine making more localisations might be a strain on their resources as is. Overall, I have no major complaints about Thriving City: Song, since it's a reasonably enjoyable game. But the localisation hinders replayability, and hopefully (since the game was fully released over a month ago, as of this review) that can be improved, with more languages added later on.

July 2024

I have really enjoyed this game so far. I wanted a city builder to while away some time, and Thriving City: Song attracted me because of its Chinese historical setting and hand-drawn art. The mechanics should be familiar to fans of the genre. In playstyle it reminds me most of Kingdoms and Castles, though it has its own gimmicks and a story mode. I like the Imperial Examination system, as well as the different kinds of shrines and their effects, both of which add meat and flavour to the game. I played this in English, and the localisation is entirely serviceable. However, it needs a bit of polish. Some issues include: * Terms translated inconsistently * Obscure or unclear choice of translation * Tense or mood choices not matching the situation * Text not fitting on UI and overflowing. Overall I am having fun with the game and will continue playing, but I hope the developers can revisit the localisation and improve it.

June 2024

A fun little city-builder and management game—with an ancient chinese twist! It is quite clear that this is originally a Chinese game that is then translated to English, but the translations are good enough that the game is playable—and enjoyable! The graphics are very cute, and the music fits the mood well. I love the historical setting, and I love zooming in close on the buildings to get a better look at the animations of people going about their daily lives. There's not too much in terms of what can be improved. The English translation can be a bit more comprehensive, although not by much, and the biggest gripe I currently have is that I don't see a way to move existing buildings and I don't understand how the flow of resources works throughout the city; there's no way for me to see that except for watching the citizens closely. All that being said, I still enjoy this game, and it's amazing to see the Song dynasty brought to life in such a vibrant way—especially considering how small the developer studio is. The prosperity and turmoil of the times really shine, and politics play a key role in the game. I like it a lot! I hope to see it continue to grow and improve!

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