The most popular urban setting games

In Grand Theft Auto the player takes the role of a criminal who can freely roam around the city (Liberty City) completing tasks for the local mobs: stealing cars, killing pedestrians, all of it while avoiding the police and the army. The freedom of gameplay and the "I'm the bad guy" appeal of the game made the Grand Theft Auto series very popular.

Grand Theft Auto 2 is the second chapter in the successful Grand Theft Auto series. GTA 2 is an abandoned top-down action-adventure / driving hybrid game developed by DMA Design and released by Rockstar Games in 1999 for various platforms, including PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, and Game Boy Color. GTA2 is set in a fictional city called "Any...

Road Rash is an abandoned motorcycle racing game developed by Papyrus Design Group and released by Electronic Arts in 1996. Road Rash runs on Windows XP/98/95 but was also published for Amiga, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, 3DO, Game Gear, PlayStation, Saturn, Game Boy. In Road Rash you're a motorcycle racer that needs to win against other racer...

Crazy Taxi is an abandoned driving / racing game developed by Sega and released by Activision in 2002 for Windows and other platforms (it's an arcade conversion). Crazy Taxi is set in a city full of potential passengers: get them on your taxi and drive them to various destinations in time.

Leisure Suit Larry: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards is the first adventure of the Leisure Suit Larry series, created by Al Lowe and published by Sierra On-Line. As a virgin male in his forties, your goal is to, well, find the woman of your dreams. In 1991 Sierra released a VGA remake.

Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel is an adventure game released in 1987 by Sierra On-Line, designed by former police officer Jim Walls. It's the first installment in the Police Quest series and is known for its realistic portrayal of police procedures.In the game, you play as Sonny Bonds, a police officer in the fictional city of Lytton, ...

Midtown Madness is a car racing game developed by Angel Studios (later known as Rockstar San Diego) and released by Microsoft in 1999 for Windows. Midtown Madness is known for its open-world design, allowing players to explore a virtual representation of Chicago and engage in various racing events and challenges within the city.

SimCity 2000 is a classic city building simulation, part of the popular SimCity series, developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. SimCity 2000 is a huge step up from the 2D predecessor SimCity and boasts improvements like: isometric view, underground, water pipes, subways, new buildings like prisons, schools, libraries, museums, etc.

Alley Cat is an arcade platform game designed by Bill Williams, developed by Synapse and released for IBM in 1984. As a cat, your goal is to jump around the neighborhood, enter apartments - each being a mini-game - to find your lost loved one.

Paperboy was one of (if not THE) arcade hit of 1985. It was developed by Atari for the arcades and later published by Mindscape for DOS in 1988. More conversion were made for quite a few other platforms. Paperboy gameplay is peculiar: you control a boy riding a bicycle and your goal is to deliver as many newspapers as you can to a number of ho...

SimCity (or SimCity Classic) is a popular city building simulation in which you, the mayor of a city, have to build a metropolis from the ground up. You can build police and fire departments, assign industrial, residential or commercial areas, manage power distribution, build ports and airports. Grow your city from village to metropolis and try to ...

Carmageddon was a controversial and violent vehicular combat / car racing game, where the player must compete against a number of computer controlled opponents. Running over pedestrians and damaging opponents cars grant time bonuses and credits to be spent for upgrades.

Dope Wars is a text-based simulation game that originated as a DOS program in the early 1980s, but gained popularity in its Windows version released in 1998. The game puts players in the role of a drug dealer navigating the underground economy of buying, selling, and transporting various illegal substances.In the Windows version of the game, player...

Capitalism 2 is simulation game designed by Trevor Chan, developed by Ensemble Studios and released by UBI Soft in 2001 for Windows and Macintosh. Capitalism 2 is the quintessential capitalistic simulation and involves stock exchange, business management, marketing, etc.

Duke Nukem 1 was released in 1991 by Apogee Software for MS-DOS, and it marked the beginning of the Duke Nukem franchise. Duke Nukem is a side-scrolling action platformer game with a sci-fi theme. In this original game, players control Duke Nukem, a muscular action hero tasked with saving the world from the evil Dr. Proton. Dr. Proton has taken con...

SimTower is an old Windows 3.x (1994) building and business simulation game where the player is tasked with the management of a skyscraper nonetheless. Raise floors, build apartments, shops, offices and try to avoid bankruptcy if you can. SimTower spawned some similar games for mobile devices, most notably the wonderful Tiny Tower, It's surprisingl...

Rise of the Dragon is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Dynamix in 1990. It was originally released for MS-DOS and later ported to other platforms such as the Amiga and Sega CD. The game is set in a cyberpunk-inspired future Los Angeles, where the player assumes the role of William "Blade" Hunter, a private detective taske...

The Bard's Tale 1 is the first chapter of a popular first person RPG series by Interplay. You control a group of six adventurers with the task of defeating the evil wizard Mangar the Dark. You will fight monters, explore the city of Skara Brae, solve riddles and guide your party into earning levels, gold and glory.

Sam & Max Hit the Road is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by LucasArts. It was released in 1993 and is based on the characters Sam and Max created by comic artist Steve Purcell. The game follows the titular characters, Sam, a detective canine, and Max, a hyperkinetic rabbity thing, as they embark on a bizarre and humoro...

Quarantine is a futuristic racing/driving game released by GameTek in 1994 for DOS. Quarantine is set in a dark dystopian futuristic city where the player drives around in a taxi cab, picking up passengers and killing everyone else. If you loved Carmageddon, you will also like Quarantine. Stay away if you don't like gratuitous violence, gore and bl...

Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line. It was released in 1995 as a sequel to the original Gabriel Knight game, "Sins of the Fathers". The game was designed by Jane Jensen, who also wrote the story and script.In GK2 The Beast Within, players assume the role of Gabriel Knight...