Timberborn
Ranked 10 of 21 city builder games by recommenders
City builder where wrong guesses about fluid dynamics can kill everyone; people find it fun, chill and neat since its 1.0 release, though some say it feels unfinished.
City builder where wrong guesses about fluid dynamics can kill everyone; people find it fun, chill and neat since its 1.0 release, though some say it feels unfinished.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 80%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Unique fluid dynamics twist on city building
“I think it's a great city builder, plus a fluid dynamics simulator where if you guess wrong everyone dies.”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “SimCity 3k in 4k” “It's like banished but mixed with fluid dynamics.”
Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “City building games have a Soul Problem pt.2” Chill, enjoyable city builder
“I think it's a great city builder, plus a fluid dynamics simulator where if you guess wrong everyone dies.”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “SimCity 3k in 4k” “Timberborn 1.0 is indeed quite nice! Very chill, and the surprise automation feature drop is a god send.”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis” Recent 1.0 release with automation
“Timberborn 1.0 is indeed quite nice! Very chill, and the surprise automation feature drop is a god send.”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis” “It’s rather neat, and recently hit 1.0.”
Comment from 23 Mar 2026 in “The gold standard of optimization: A look under the hood of RollerCoaster Tycoon”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Feels unfinished, poor execution
“Timberborn is a good idea, terrible execution, and feels unfinished.”
Comment from 28 May 2026 in “SimCity 3k in 4k”
Other city builder games people recommend
The four most recommended other city builder games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SimCity 3000 | 23 | 2 | 92% | 5 | — | Approved |
| SimCity 2000 | 20 | 7 | 74% | 11 | — | Approved |
| SimCity | 20 | 12 | 63% | 9 | — | — |
| Cities: Skylines | 20 | 18 | 53% | 9 | — | — |
| TimberbornThis page | 8 | 2 | 80% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
9 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It's like banished but mixed with fluid dynamics.”
“the only game with which I had an issue was Timberborn”
“All the current popular city builders work fine (eg. Timberborn, Foundation, Manor Lords).”
“Timberborn is a good idea, terrible execution, and feels unfinished.”
“To me it got boring quite quickly.”
“I think it's a great city builder, plus a fluid dynamics simulator where if you guess wrong everyone dies.”
“It’s rather neat, and recently hit 1.0.”
“Timberborn 1.0 is indeed quite nice! Very chill, and the surprise automation feature drop is a god send.”
“definitely a fun premise for a game”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.