I can see the reasons why this game is so highly regarded, but I think the AI problems are massively downplayed. I started the genre recently with Wandering Village and went from there to the more known/well received. For this one, I've already went through 3 different attempts and they all failed for the same reason. Duke Nukem knew what sex is, and he didn't tell ANY of these motherfuckers. Keeping happiness high, health high, stocking up on food, good stock of tools and clothes, none of these are what actually makes the population grow. It's a specific set of actions at the right time and the hope that they'll not screw up the family distributions once you start building or upgrading houses.

And my God this game is slow. It's the only one I've seen with a 10x speed and somehow it feels even slower than other city builders at 2x. It's a good game on theory. On practice it's one of the most boring games I've ever played and if it was the one recommended to me as "beginner friendly" I would've given up on this genre altogether. At the very least it made me appreciate the Londoners more because, as annoying and disruptive as they are, they still do their fucking job and only ruin a run if you actually screw up.

"The townspeople of Banished are your primary resource." And by far the most whimsical to manage of them all...