This app was mentioned in 66 comments, with an average of 2.77 upvotes
Dungeon Village is the best for sure! I miss that game often, jealous of anyone that gets to experience it for the first time.
Edit: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.bouken_en
This one just fits in to your price range: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.bouken_en
But if you get a few more cents you can buy some other games from the Kairosoft Library which I'd possibly recommend more.
EDIT It's $4.22 in Australian, just realised that it will probably be way less for other regions.
Its probably old as heck now, but I had a a ton of fun with <strong>Dungeon Village</strong>, its perfect for someone that wants to have a little RPG fun while not always having to manage it. As well it has city building, and when I played, it didn't have any IAPs.
Kairosoft has a ton of games that are really similar to Game Dev Story with a different coat of paint and slightly different mechanics. Have you tried any of those out?
The one I liked the most was Dungeon Village.
These games are pretty rare it seems. Which is strange considering how many people (myself included) would love to play something like that.
Not exactly what you had in mind I'm sure, but there's a mobile game called Dungeon Village that I played years ago that was fun. You manage a town and Heroes come to town and you recruit heroes and equip them with stuff from your town's shops. It's free, I believe, with some ads. It;s from a developer called Kairosoft, they have all sorts of little management games in all sorts of different themes.
Another that I've heard of but have never played myself is an older game made for the Wii, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King.
If you're interested in a lighter experience, I really enjoyed Dungeon Village. There's also a time limited free demo if you wanted to try it out first.
Dungeon village Or really of any of Kairosoft's games. Every game they make is nearly the same, but they each have different themes.
It's simple, fun, easy to pick up and pause, and doesn't destroy my battery. Also, most of their games you can just buy and own.
I'd recommend Dungeon Village on mobile. It's probably my favorite of all Kairosoft's games.
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.bouken_en
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dungeon-village/id530445196?mt=8
Check out Dungeon Village by Kairosoft. They make mobile sims, usually reskinned versions of the same game (more or less) but they are decent.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.bouken_en
There's a mobile game by Kairosoft called Dungeon Village where you build and manage a town where heroes and adventurers come and buy things from you and rest.
I played only a short time because I just played two other Kairosoft games before this and was pretty burnt out. But from what I've seen, it's a competent game and seems similar to the Majesty games, probably with a much bigger emphasis on town management.
Dungeon Village is a nice base building game from kairosoft.
I'm still playing Dungeon Village that I bought long time ago.. 5$.. Soo good, still havent finished, keep restarting due to damn new phones. Love to find more games like this for pc or mobile.
And Organ Trail
And rolling-mouse cheap cookie clicker game.. Sooo cute. Almost done with it, my god.
Here's a couple older Kairosoft games that might fight the bill:
1. Dungeon Village. You build a town, that attracts heroes, who you can give items, so they can better defeat monsters, to level up the town.
You run the town and the heroes do their own thing. Outside of having the option to give gifts of equipment and food to heroes, you don't really have much control over the heroes. There will sometimes be dungeons and bosses you can choose to recruit certain heroes to go fight, but you don't really do the combat.
It's a premium game, no ads, no IAP. The various builds complete construction very quickly. It is not an offline game and it only progresses while you're playing. There is also a, free, time limited Lite version if you wanted to try the game first to see if you like it.
2. Ninja Village has similar city building to Dungeon Village, but you have more control of the combat. You also build an army and go out to fight. Also a premium game, no ads, no IAP. Also has a free, time limited, Lite version to try it out.
3. Epic Astro Story is space themed, instead of fantasy. You're colonizing a planet instead of just a town. Also a premium game, no ads, no IAP. Also has a free, time limited, Lite version to try it out.
Several Kairosoft titles:
Dungeon Village down to $1.25 from $4.99. One of their best offerings.
The Manga Works down to $1.25 from $4.99.
Pocket Arcade Story down to $1.25 from $4.99.
Hotsprings Story down to $1.25 from $4.99.
Game Dev Story down to $.99 from $2.50.
Oh hey! LET ME HELP, I love this genre. What I'd suggest is to go back to two of the classics that were basically huge amounts of fun and where Prison Architect drew its inspiration from in some parts. Here are two that are absolutely my favourite:
Theme Hospital - This game. This game is fucking hilarious, and I don't say that lightly. It's very easy to get into, has very clear, achievable goals, still plays superbly even after all these years (I was playing it like a couple of months back) and because of the graphical style doesn't actually feel dated at all. The challenge ramps up nicely, there's a lot to build and it's simultaneously fun and engaging. One of the ones I'd recommend to anyone interested in Sim games. The music is just super catchy too.
Pharaoh + Cleopatra - Do you like city building games with crazy amounts of depth and really neat settings? With a lot of detail and things to manage and to take stuff like economics and politics into consideration? This game is fantastic and one of my old favourites. It's frankly beautiful and very fun, and there's a lot to it that just keeps coming up. The commenters aren't kidding about this being a 'will eat your life and spare time' type of game, I know it did mine. You also really do learn a lot about Egypt, which is nice.
And for two more modern takes on the genre which are by turns hilarious and fun:
Dungeon Village - Yes, it's a mobile game. But it's also one of the funniest little send ups on the RPG / building genre that I've seen in a long time and it's just a tremendous amount of fun. Kairosoft is a developer that makes really well balanced little games that are as smooth to play as they are visually and mechanically engaging, which is very. The setup is that you're the Mayor of a town in a typical RPG game, and you have to get it to run well and keep your adventurers happy and fighting monsters. Do consider this one too!
Recettear - Okay, so it's not strictly building here, but if you want a game that hits all your 'must manage stuff' buttons, this is the one. Also, it might be a good break from the more buildy sort of management games - in this one, you're a small cute girl who's badly in debt and who's going to fix that by basically harnessing the power of capitalism to make the entire town in debt to you instead. Or something along those lines, anyway. It's really a lot of fun, and does scratch that 'build up something from nothing' itch very well.
Well here's some Kairosoft links for Android!
Dungeon Village and time limited free demo. Premium game, no IAP, no Stamina/Timers restricting your playtime, no Ads. On the play store it says contains ads, but I've played through multiple times and there aren't any ads in game.
Game Dev Story and time limited free demo. Also a premium game, no IAP, no Stamina/Timers restricting your playtime, no Ads.
Both of these are older games, but they are both quite good.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.bouken_en
Nice little game, I'm sure it exists on PC too
Give Dungeon Village a go. A warning though, its a total timesink.
I had some fun with Dungeon Village. If you've played one Kairosoft game, then you'll know what to expect.
Also played Bloons Monkey City for a few hours. It was okay, but not great.
As much as I want a nice city builder, the best I've found is playing Tycoon-type games (Like Game Dev Story). Still fun to see and control something and watch it grow. Although it would be a lot better if it was an actual city.
Dungeon Village | 4.6 ⭐️ | $6.99 with IAP | 32MB | ▶️ 🏠
Game Dev Story | 4.7 ⭐️ | $4.99 | 40MB | ▶️ 🏠
^(Legend: |🏠: Family Library| ▶️: Play Pass|)
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Checkout Dungeon Village
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.bouken_en
Dungeon Village | 4.6 rating | $5.49 | 100,000+ downloads | Search manually
> Welcome to an epic RPG world in which the town you build can grow from humble hamlet into a mecca for the land's most ambitious adventurers! The enterprising warriors that stop by your blossoming burg will ...
|Feedback|PunyDev|Lonerzboy|
Dungeon Village | 4.6 rating | $5.49 | 100,000+ downloads | Search manually
> Welcome to an epic RPG world in which the town you build can grow from humble hamlet into a mecca for the land's most ambitious adventurers! The enterprising warriors that stop by your blossoming burg will ...
|Feedback|PunyDev|Lonerzboy|
Yeah it was great! Some of the Kairosoft mobile games come close, particularly https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.bouken_en
Not really a shop/inn/tavern game but check out:
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action
These are not quite the same as what you said are looking for but they might be close/interesting enough for you to try.
Dungeon Village | 4.6 rating | $5.49 | 100,000+ downloads | Search manually
> Welcome to an epic RPG world in which the town you build can grow from humble hamlet into a mecca for the land's most ambitious adventurers! The enterprising warriors that stop by your blossoming burg will ...
|Feedback|PunyDev|Lonerzboy|
Do you mean where you 'Can' do those stuff? If so, does this fall under the category? �� Dungeon Village
Dungeon Village. I love it as well. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.bouken_en
If you liked Game Dev Story you might also these from the same people: Dungeon Village
Epic Astro Story
Ninja Village
Another game from different folks, that reminds me of Game Dev Story, is Fiz.
Definitely Dungeon Village
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.bouken_en
Or if you strictly wanted free apps there is a less featured version of it called Beastie Bay which is also awesome
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.mujin_en
I also recommend Pixel Dungeon:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mitchell.pixeldungeonunleashed
holy shit, I just realized that Majesty is the original version of a knock-off app which is one of my all time favorite mobile games: Dungeon Village Gonna get Majesty and see how it compares to the knock-off!