Choose Project Highrise
Choose Project Highrise if it carries the stronger Steam consensus at 85.2% positive across 2,227 reviews.
Project Highrise vs Rise of Industry
Project Highrise and Rise of Industry both land in Strategy, Simulation on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Strategy, Simulation on Steam. Project Highrise (2016) is 3 years older than Rise of Industry (2019). Project Highrise scores higher on Steam reviews (85.2% positive) than Rise of Industry (73.6% positive). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Rise of Industry
Choose Rise of Industry if you want an Indie experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2019) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 1,866 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Project Highrise and Rise of Industry sit in Strategy and Simulation on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 Project Highrise |  Rise of Industry | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2016 | 2019 |
| Genres | Strategy, Simulation | Strategy, Indie, Simulation |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Deck Playable |
| Price | 19.99 USD | 29.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 85.2% positive (2,227 reviews) | 73.6% positive (1,866 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | SomaSim | Dapper Penguin Studios |
Side by side
- Both share Strategy, Simulation on Steam.
- Project Highrise (2016) is 3 years older than Rise of Industry (2019).
- Project Highrise scores higher on Steam reviews (85.2% positive) than Rise of Industry (73.6% positive).
- Project Highrise is currently ~33% cheaper on Steam than Rise of Industry (19.99 USD vs. 29.99 USD).
- Both are Deck Playable.
Project Highrise vs Rise of Industry — FAQ
- Which is better, Project Highrise or Rise of Industry?
- On Steam reviews Project Highrise scores higher (85.2% positive) than Rise of Industry (73.6% positive). Both have enough reviews to trust the signal, so for players using reviews alone, Project Highrise is the safer pick. Genre fit still matters — check the side-by-side table for the categories each game lands in.
- Should I play Project Highrise or Rise of Industry first?
- If you want chronology, Project Highrise (2016) came out before Rise of Industry (2019). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Project Highrise and Rise of Industry similar?
- They overlap on Strategy, Simulation on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.