Steam's latest breakout hit is medieval city builder Farthest Frontier

Farthest Frontier hit Steam earlier this week, and it's quickly broken out as one of the platform's most popular city-building games.

You're in control of a group of settlers building a village on the, er, farthest frontier of the known world. Your villagers will have to collect raw materials to keep themselves fed and construct buildings. The game features a farming system that'll have you managing crop rotations and soil fertility, as well as villager simulation that lets you see every one of your citizens going about their daily tasks - which makes good roads and transport systems essential.

You'll also have to contend with diseases ranging from dysentery to tetanus by making sure your villagers are well-clothed and equipped with herbs and medicine. You'll also have to fend off attacks from invading raiders - though an optional pacifist mode lets you enjoy a chiller experience.

Farthest Frontier comes from Crate Entertainment, which is best known as the studio behind the action RPG Grim Dawn. The new city builder is currently in early access, and it's expected to be up to a year before it launches in full. The game's set to get deeper late game content, more tiers of housing and production, additional ways to gather resources, and other refinements as early access continues.

User reviews on Farthest Frontier's Steam page currently sit at 'very positive,' with players praising the intricate systems and beautiful visuals. There are some substantial criticisms about resource management and tier structure, but there's plenty of time to work out those issues in early access.

Farthest Frontier has reached a peak of 18,852 concurrent players, which is comparable to the current numbers for the perennial city-building favorite, Cities: Skylines. We'll see how Farthest Frontier continues to stack up as it heads toward its 1.0 release.

The best city building games are equally stressful and relaxing.