What makes a city builder game, a city builder game?

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[MHBrands]

Think we should add to the definitions.

There is a map, and the user shall place the buildings where the user wants them.
The User shall place "pathways" that control the flow of citizens
The placement of the buildings and paths is critical to the city design

That knocks out Turn based strategy like Civilization and Rome Total War

This lets out CotN though and it is definately city builder. You can build all the paths you want, but the people will wander where they wish - usually the path if it seems shorter, but also cutting across, rowing over the river, meandering over hills if they choose...

[Strix]

This lets out Children of the Nile though and it is definately city builder. You can build all the paths you want, but the people will wander where they wish - usually the path if it seems shorter, but also cutting across, rowing over the river, meandering over hills if they choose...

Hoist by my own petard!  .

[Lengo]

Man! That's a huge question. I don't know how to answer it. There's many games that share similar attribiutes -- keeping a population satisfied, promoting growth yet efficiency, balancing the books and acquiring wealth and prestige. Now you've got me all confused!

I have to agree with the real-time idea. That should be integral. Real time is just plain more fun.

City planning should be involved -- providing roads, waste management, etc.  Without these, it's an empire builder, not a city builder.

In my opinion, Tropico is a city builder. Tycoon games are not, but they come close. And I disagree about Sim CIty. It is a city builder. It's not a very good one, but it is indeed a city building game.

Sid Meier's Pirates is not a pirates game! It's various arcade games wrapped up in a pirate theme!

Really, what matters is do you have fun with it. Some of the Tycoon games come awfully close to being city builders, but they are just as fun for the challenges that they present. But actually defining what a city builder is and when a game crosses over to become something else is a challenge that I'm not up to. The lines are too fuzzy.