After nearly 5 years since its original release, city-building simulator Pocket City has gotten a sequel. One-man studio Codebrew Games has just released Pocket City 2 and it features quite a few improvements that will get you, the mayor of your burgeoning municipality, deeply immersed and invested into the joys of civic governance — so much so that it may be a quick and easy addition to our list of best Android games this year.
The core elements of Pocket City remain the same: you'll need to lay out a transport network, land use zones, and utilities to grow your city out while making sure you're collecting enough in taxes to keep the lights on as well as keeping all of your constituents happy about where they live, work, and play. The fun parts are that you get to skip out on city council meetings and election campaigns by completing quests, interacting with non-player citizenry, and more. Like, a whole lot more.
Because on top of all that city-building stuff, Pocket City 2 brings along a first-person experience by letting you create a 3D avatar and literally run wild with the new Free Roam mode. You'll be able to shop around, hunt for loot, equip yourself with tools, decorate your own home, play minigames, and get deep into the events happening around your community. It's like the metaverse, but more like Grand Theft Auto or Animal Crossing (or both at the same time) without all the annoying real people.
And if you'd rather stay back in your skybox with that isometric view from 10,000 feet up, you still get some new treats with day-night cycling, town rivalry competitions, and a sandbox mode for the ultimate city-crafting experience.
Bobby Li, the Canadian developer who runs Codebrew, is always open to feedback and suggestions through the r/PocketCity subreddit — it seems initial reception to this huge update is largely positive so far.
Pocket City 2 is available for both Android and iOS right now for $5. The original Pocket City premium game is still available at the lower price of $3 while Pocket City Free, based on the original version, remains free.