Cliff Empire

Sci-fi city builder managing three cities atop cramped cliffs

Lion's Shade · Released Aug 6, 2019

Reviews: Very Positive; 87% of 4,379
Recent reviews: Not enough recent
Playing now: 19; right now
Steam Deck: Playable
Last update: 1 year ago; Jan 21, 2025

What is Cliff Empire?

Cliff Empire is a 3D city-building strategy game set after nuclear war leaves Earth's surface uninhabitable. In each randomly generated level, you build three small cities on cliffs, manage their resources and power, and trade between them and an orbital station.

For you if...

+you enjoy planning cities around limited building space
+you like balancing resources and trade across separate cities

Not for you if...

−you want wide-open maps with room to expand freely
−you need clearly explained systems and menus

What players say

87% of 4,379 reviews are positive

Players praise the cliff setting for making city layouts matter and enjoy balancing the economies of separate cities. Some complain that menus and game systems are poorly explained, while others report confusing supply distribution.

Screenshots and trailer

Cliff Empire system requirements

As published by the developer.

Minimum

OS: Windows 7 or newer
Processor: 2 GHz Dual Core
Graphics: Hardware Accelerated Graphics
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Storage: 1 GB available space
DirectX: Version 9.0

PC version details

DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Keyboard and mouse
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Achievements: 20
Steam features: Cloud saves, Family Sharing

Steam Deck: Playable

Default controller config not fully functional
Sometimes shows mouse, keyboard or non-Deck controller icons
Some text entry requires manually opening the on-screen keyboard
In-game text is legible on Steam Deck
Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck
External controllers are not supported for the primary player

Multiplayer and co-op

Single-player

Languages

Full audio: English. Text only: Ukrainian, Simplified Chinese, French, Italian, German, Czech, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish - Spain, Polish, Korean, Turkish, Portuguese - Brazil, Thai.