What if you could build a city like SimCity 2000 but also design every single building down to where the furniture goes? That’s exactly what solo developer Chase from Yesbox Studios has been working on for the past four years. Metropolis 1998 takes the nostalgic pixel art aesthetic of 90s and early 2000s simulation games and combines it with modern features that let you zoom from macro city planning all the way down to watching individual citizens eat dinner in their living rooms.
The game recently got attention on Reddit when the developer shared progress, revealing a city builder that goes far beyond simple zone painting. With a free demo available on Steam and itch.io, and Early Access planned for 2026, Metropolis 1998 is positioning itself as the answer for players disappointed by Cities Skylines 2 or anyone yearning for that classic SimCity magic with modern depth.
- Every Citizen Lives a Real Life
- Build Buildings Brick by Brick
- Inside and Outside Every Building
- Demand Based on Actual Needs
- Real-Time Traffic Simulation
- Four Years of Solo Development
- 90s Aesthetics, Modern Features
- Community and Development Transparency
- Technical Performance
- FAQs
- Building Something Special
Every Citizen Lives a Real Life
Unlike traditional city builders where residents are abstract statistics, Metropolis 1998 simulates each citizen individually. They have jobs, schedules, friends they visit, shopping needs, and dining preferences. You can watch them commute to work, run errands, socialize with neighbors, and return home to eat and sleep. The level of detail rivals The Sims, except you’re managing an entire city of these fully-realized individuals.
This granular simulation creates emergent gameplay where citizen behavior directly impacts your city’s economy and infrastructure needs. If citizens can’t reach stores easily, those businesses fail. If traffic congestion makes commutes unbearable, workers arrive late or quit. The game rewards understanding your population as actual people with lives rather than numbers filling zones.
Build Buildings Brick by Brick
The standout feature that sets Metropolis 1998 apart is the building design system. You can create structures piece by piece, placing walls, windows, doors, and furniture at the most granular level. Want a coffee shop with specific table arrangements? Design it yourself. Need residential buildings with particular layouts? Craft exactly what you envision. Once designed, buildings can be saved as blueprints and shared with other players.
For players who prefer faster construction, intricately designed prefabs allow instant town creation. The genius is offering both approaches seamlessly. Zoom out and plop down pre-made buildings for rapid expansion. Zoom in and meticulously craft custom structures when inspiration strikes. This flexibility accommodates different playstyles without forcing everyone into tedious micromanagement.
Inside and Outside Every Building
Metropolis 1998 lets you view building interiors and exteriors in both classic isometric perspective and information-rich top-down view. Drop the walls on any house and watch families going about their daily routines. Check inside restaurants to see diners eating meals. Peek into offices where workers sit at desks. This transparency creates immersion that traditional city builders can’t match.
The dual perspective system serves practical purposes beyond aesthetics. Isometric view provides that nostalgic SimCity feel with gorgeous pixel art details. Top-down view reveals critical information about traffic flow, service coverage, and infrastructure gaps. Seamlessly switching between viewpoints gives you tools for both creative expression and strategic planning.
Demand Based on Actual Needs
Gone are vague notifications like “citizens demand more commercial zones.” Metropolis 1998 replaces abstract zone-based demand with specific business requests driven by actual citizen needs. If your population needs grocery stores, bakeries, or hardware shops, those specific businesses will be requested. You can designate land and choose where particular establishments can open.
This system creates organic city growth that mirrors real urban development. Neighborhoods naturally develop commercial districts serving local needs. Industrial areas emerge near transportation hubs. Entertainment venues cluster where foot traffic justifies them. Instead of painting zones and hoping the right buildings appear, you actively shape your city’s character through deliberate business placement.
Real-Time Traffic Simulation
Similar to Cities Skylines, Metropolis 1998 features dynamic traffic systems where individual vehicles navigate your road networks in real time. Citizens drive to work, stores, and entertainment venues using actual pathfinding rather than disappearing into buildings and reappearing elsewhere. Poor road design creates realistic traffic jams that frustrate your population and hurt your economy.
The traffic simulation integrates with the individual citizen system, meaning each car represents someone going somewhere for a reason. You’re not just managing abstract traffic flow but understanding why congestion occurs. Maybe workers all leave for jobs simultaneously because you haven’t diversified employment. Perhaps a popular restaurant creates parking nightmares because you didn’t plan adequate infrastructure. These problems have solutions beyond simply adding more roads.
Four Years of Solo Development
What makes Metropolis 1998 particularly impressive is that it’s created by a single developer working under the Yesbox Studios label. Chase has been developing this game for four years, drawing inspiration from SimCity, Cities Skylines, Dwarf Fortress, and classic pixel art simulation titles. The dedication shows in the polish and depth already present in the demo.
PC Games N called it potentially this year’s best and most beautiful city builder, praising how it combines macro and microcosmic mechanics. PC Gamer included it in their most anticipated city builders despite no confirmed 2024 release date simply because the demo was that compelling. For a solo project, the scope and execution rival what small teams with budgets produce.
90s Aesthetics, Modern Features
The pixel art style deliberately evokes SimCity 2000, SimTower, RollerCoaster Tycoon, and other beloved simulation classics from the 90s and early 2000s. But Metropolis 1998 isn’t merely nostalgia bait. It takes what worked about those games and enhances them with modern simulation depth, individual agent AI, granular customization, and quality-of-life features that didn’t exist decades ago.
This approach appeals to two audiences simultaneously. Older gamers who grew up with classic city builders get that warm nostalgic feeling while enjoying improvements that address limitations of the originals. Younger players discovering the genre find accessible aesthetics paired with complexity that rewards mastery. The combination creates broad appeal without compromising vision.
Community and Development Transparency
Chase maintains active communication through the Metropolis 1998 subreddit, Twitter, and YouTube channel, regularly sharing video clips of development progress. The recent Reddit announcement generated positive response with players excited about the unique features and nostalgic presentation. Community feedback directly influences development priorities, with bug reports from the demo already being addressed.
The developer’s transparency about development challenges and timelines builds trust. Early Access is planned for 2026 rather than rushing to market with an incomplete product. The free demo on Steam and itch.io lets players judge for themselves whether the concept resonates before committing money. This honest approach contrasts sharply with overpromising marketing campaigns that plague the industry.
Technical Performance
The demo has been stress-tested with cities reaching 13,000 population, demonstrating that the detailed simulation can scale to substantial sizes. Some players reported occasional bugs like furniture ghosts, crashes when loading saves, and visual clipping with vehicles and streetlights. These issues are expected in pre-alpha demos and don’t significantly detract from the experience. Load times can be lengthy as the game initializes all the individual agent simulations.
The pixel art aesthetic provides performance advantages since detailed 3D models don’t need rendering. This allows more processing power for the complex simulation systems tracking thousands of individual citizens. Players on modest hardware should be able to run Metropolis 1998 smoothly, making it accessible to wider audiences than demanding modern city builders.
FAQs
When will Metropolis 1998 be fully released?
Early Access is planned for 2026, with full release coming after that period. A free pre-alpha demo is currently available on Steam and itch.io for players who want to try the game before the Early Access launch.
Can you really design every building?
Yes, Metropolis 1998 lets you create buildings piece by piece, placing walls, furniture, and decorations at granular levels. You can save custom designs as blueprints to reuse or share. Alternatively, pre-made buildings are available for faster construction if you don’t want to design everything.
Is Metropolis 1998 made by one person?
Yes, the game is developed by solo developer Chase, who operates under the Yesbox Studios label. He’s been working on the project for four years, drawing inspiration from classic city builders like SimCity and modern titles like Cities Skylines.
What makes Metropolis 1998 different from Cities Skylines?
Metropolis 1998 features fully simulated individual citizens with schedules and needs, building customization down to interior furniture placement, pixel art aesthetics, and granular demand based on specific citizen requirements rather than abstract zones. It combines macro city planning with Sims-like micro detail.
Can you see inside buildings in Metropolis 1998?
Yes, you can view both interior and exterior of all buildings. Drop the walls to watch citizens eating, sleeping, working, and socializing inside their homes, shops, and workplaces. The game offers isometric and top-down camera perspectives for different viewing needs.
What are the system requirements?
Specific system requirements haven’t been officially published yet since the game is in pre-alpha. However, the pixel art style suggests modest hardware requirements compared to modern 3D city builders. The demo is available for testing on your system.
Will there be mod support or workshop integration?
While not explicitly confirmed, the building blueprint sharing feature suggests some level of community content sharing. Given the game’s customization focus and Steam presence, workshop integration for sharing custom buildings seems likely for the full release.
Building Something Special
Metropolis 1998 represents exactly the kind of innovation that makes indie gaming exciting. A solo developer spending four years crafting a vision that AAA studios won’t pursue because it doesn’t fit market research formulas. The combination of nostalgic aesthetics with modern simulation depth fills a niche that’s been vacant since classic SimCity stopped evolving. Whether you’re a veteran city builder fan disappointed by recent offerings or someone curious about the genre, the free demo offers a compelling preview of what Chase is building. Sometimes the games we want most are created by developers who want them just as desperately. Download the demo and see if Metropolis 1998 is the city builder you’ve been waiting for. The mayor’s office is open, and your city awaits.