What I liked about them is the historical settings. However they are quite old now, so there should be something a lot more recent. I used to be a big fan of the Impressions Games city builders Caesar III, Pharaoh, Zeus and Emperor and still consider them them my favourites. I thought I'd ask for more city builder recommendations before the sale ends. Banished seems decent but I don't really like it's map generation much. Anno 1404 has been really fun although I'm not too keen on the missions with other active AI players. With the current Steam sale I've picked up Anno 1404 and Banished.
