Arcologies - how to build a vertical city of the future and measure its happiness

What happens when humanity can no longer build cities outward?

In the 24th century, Earth is home to 75 billion people, and traditional cities can no longer keep spreading across the planet. Horizontal expansion gives way to massive vertical structures where thousands of people can live, work, relax, and find everything they need without ever leaving the tower. This is the world of Arcologies, where players take charge of their own vertical civilization.

The name combines two ideas - Architecture and Ecology. An arcology is meant to be more than a massive building. It is a complete city contained within a single structure, with residential districts, shops and offices, urban farms, green spaces, and areas for recreation. Everything is connected and works as part of one system, all aimed at creating the best possible living environment for its residents.

In this future, space is the most valuable resource, and the way a city is designed has a direct impact on quality of life. Even getting from one level to another matters, making elevators an important part of the tower. At the same time, the city needs to produce food, expand its infrastructure, and create an environment where people can do more than simply survive - they need to thrive inside the arcology.

How does a city grow in Arcologies?

In Arcologies, players become administrators of their own arcologies, with a limited amount of time to turn a massive tower into a fully functioning city. The standard game spans 10 decades, while the extended version lets the city develop for two additional periods.

Each decade brings new decisions for the city. Players expand their arcology, improve existing districts, accommodate new residents, produce essential resources, and upgrade the infrastructure. Over time, separate parts of the tower begin to work together, transforming it from a collection of spaces into a self-sufficient city.

Time is an important part of this process. Population growth and infrastructure are closely tied to how easily residents can move between levels. Elevators let them travel through the tower more quickly, while other options may take more time. By the end of the game, your choices reveal how successfully the massive structure has been turned into a livable vertical civilization.

How does the urban system in Arcologies work?

An arcology functions as a single organism. Residential districts need the right conditions to grow, commercial and office areas keep the city supplied with essential resources, while green spaces and recreational areas affect the mood of the population. Urban farms help keep food production going, while an efficient transportation system reduces the time residents spend getting around.

That makes building the city less about creating individual impressive districts and more about finding the right balance between all its different parts. More advanced infrastructure opens up new possibilities, but it also puts greater demands on the rest of the system. In the end, resident happiness becomes a useful measure of how well the entire vertical civilization is working.

Arcologies was designed by Alban Viard and illustrated by Adrien Rives, with AVStudioGames as the publisher. The company is known for games such as Clinic, Pulp Detective, and Tramways. Arcologies continues AVStudioGames' interest in economic and spatial strategy games, but takes the familiar idea of a city into a much more vertical and futuristic setting.

Who is Arcologies for, and where can you try building your own tower?

Arcologies supports 1-4 players and offers several ways to play, including a solo mode. A game takes roughly one to three hours, making it a natural fit for players who enjoy developing a complex system over time and seeing how early decisions shape the city decades later.

This futuristic setting will appeal especially to players who enjoy:

• designing cities of the future and turning a giant tower into a complete civilization;
• balancing the needs of residents with infrastructure and urban development;
• watching housing, work, food production, and green spaces become parts of one interconnected system;
• making decisions with decades in mind and seeing how they shape the city;
• exploring futuristic worlds where the familiar idea of a city is completely transformed.

The Arcologies Kickstarter campaign is still running, inviting players into a future where cities can no longer expand outward. By backing the project, players can build their own arcology and guide it through its entire development - from the first levels and basic infrastructure to a complex vertical civilization where resources, transportation, and the well-being of its population all have to be carefully balanced.

And you can already step into this future with the online version of Arcologies on Tabletopia. There, you can take control of your own arcology, see how its different systems work together, and find out whether your decisions can turn a giant tower into a thriving home for thousands of people.