Kinda like something like Roller Coaster Tycoon or Cities: Skyline where you jump into a scenario and are given challenges to survive and thrive. I haven't tried the "endless" version and I'm not sure about different environments. There was a sequel released to this recently and I'm sure it's much bigger in scope though.
But it's great fun, such a unique idea on city building, a steampunk city builder in an ice age, pretty much. I did manage to beat the first scenario and the second one is a different type of challenge in a new area.