I’m itching to play something like Cities Skylines, but also something that isn’t just about growing and growing, rather building within certain (spatial?) limitations and/or solving problems or something. I hope this isn’t a contradiction, but I’d also like if it had a bit more focus on individual buildings and livability rather than optimizing car traffic, if that makes any sense. I guess i’m looking for something that is a bit more than just a city sculpting sandbox, but less than a full blown metropolis-society-simulator.
I am not sure if it fits your bill, but when I am overwhelmed by my factorio mega base or tired of traffic in cities skyline I now switch to the recently released Sintopia. It scratches the build-optimising itch, but does so in rounds with a clear goal and a defined end. You can go endless and sandbox if you wish but I find it at the moment relaxing to know that after maximal 10 ish hours of avoiding the goal I can finish the run anytime and do a new one. And don’t actually have to fix everything.