The Best Base-building colony simulation Games

Update, : The Last Starship added at rank #37.
1

Dwarf Fortress (2022)

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90
Review score
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PC Windows IOS iPhone Android

Dwarf Fortress is an incredibly detailed, complex game where you help a colony of dwarves build a settlement by carving out bedrooms, dining halls and other necessary structures from the side of a mountain. You don't control individual dwarves but instead provide instructions for them to follow, with each dwarf having their own needs and wants that you become familiar with as you play.


Pros:
  • Robust mouse support
  • New tutorial to help new players understand menus
  • Complex web of characters and relationships
  • Simulated world is full of surprises both big and small
  • Ability to create artifacts and engravings that tell stories
Cons:
  • Inscrutability can be off-putting for those expecting a more streamlined experience
  • Convoluted user interface can make it difficult to figure out what is even possible in the game or how to access the different menus

  • simulation
  • colony
  • management
  • city-building
  • procedural
  • moddable
  • base-building
  • pixel
  • survival
  • economy
  • fantasy
  • construction
  • sandbox
  • text
  • resource-management

2

Space Haven (2020)

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87
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS Linux

Space Haven is an early access game where you can design your own ship and manage your crew as you embark on a journey to save humanity. Build your spaceship tile by tile, explore the vast universe, engage in tactical ship-to-ship combat and witness the drama and emotions of your crew. The game allows for complete freedom to customize and design your ship symmetrically or asymmetrically.


Pros:
  • Great sprites and sublime music
  • Game is approachable with a balanced feel
  • Unlimited freedom to build your own ship
  • Core game loop is engaging and not monotonous
  • Developers fully commited
Cons:
  • Lacks crew leveling up
  • Lacks variety in gameplay beyond building bigger ship and fending off pirates.

  • colony
  • simulation
  • base-building
  • space
  • management
  • tile
  • resource-management
  • sandbox
  • pirates
  • building
  • sci-fi
  • city-building
  • resource
  • survival-strategy

3

RimWorld (2018)

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98
Review score
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PC Windows Xbox One Android Mac OS Linux

RimWorld is a life simulator and management game set in a remote planet in the distant future. It features a unique character generation system to create complex personalities with flaws, drives and needs, as well as a story generator that creates unexpected scenarios for players to face.


Pros:
  • Unique character generation system
  • Story generator creates unpredictable scenarios
  • Tons of mods for everything
  • Includes interaction bubbles to show interactions as they happen
Cons:
  • Unintuitive UI
  • Busy work tasks can be tedious

  • colony
  • simulation
  • base-building
  • survival
  • farming
  • management
  • pirates
  • sci-fi

4

Paragon Pioneers (2022)

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90
Review score
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Linux Mac OS PC Windows Android IOS iPhone

Paragon Pioneers is a casual island management game where you build and manage a series of island nations. It offers over 100+ buildings to advance through and has an abstract look and mechanics that make it easy to manage on small screens. It's a stress-free game for casual players.


Pros:
  • Detailed explanations and tutorials
  • No ads or premium currencies
  • Easy to pick up and put down
  • Reminiscent of the Anno series with idle gameplay
  • No inherent time limit
  • Over 100+ buildings to advance through
Cons:
  • Long waiting times
  • Lack of a thrilling narrative
  • Game mechanics become increasingly complex
  • Colonization aspect may be troublesome for some players
  • Combat has a limited army size and isn't very interesting

  • idler
  • city-building
  • colony
  • tutorial
  • management
  • base-building
  • building
  • simulation
  • medieval
  • crafting
  • economy
  • top-down
  • relaxing
  • 2d
  • resource-management

5

Oxygen (2019)

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78
Review score
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Android PC Windows

Oxygen is a survival city builder. Build your city around the Oxygen Center and ensure your people's survival in a post-apocalyptic future, threatened by crack explosions, deadly winds, droughts and frosts. Lead your people and more importantly keep the Oxygen Center running!


  • survival
  • colony
  • simulation
  • base-building
  • city-building
  • management
  • sandbox
  • resource-management
  • building
  • economy
  • realistic
  • 3d
  • crafting
  • colony-building
  • post-apocalyptic

6

Timberborn (2021)

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93
Review score
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Mac OS PC Windows

Timberborn is a unique city builder game where you manage a society of beavers in a post-apocalyptic world. With a focus on water and food resources, players must create dams and other structures to control rivers and survive droughts. The game offers a relaxed building experience with a novel water mechanic that refreshes the genre. It is a worthy purchase for fans of colony/survival simulators seeking a unique and refreshing challenge.


Pros:
  • Unique beaver cast of characters
  • High degree of control over society shape
  • Novel water mechanic
  • Verticality offers multi-layered societies
  • Challenging gameplay
Cons:
  • Perfomance issue on big town
  • Lack of late-game content
  • Early game only provides traditional needs
  • No storyline or scripted challenges

  • city-building
  • colony
  • survival
  • base-building
  • automation
  • post-apocalyptic
  • building
  • resource-management
  • simulation
  • management
  • agriculture
  • science
  • editor
  • level
  • voxel

7

Imagine Earth (2021)

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77
Review score
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PC Windows Xbox Series X Xbox One

Imagine Earth is a thrilling real-time planet simulation and strategy game that lets you explore and colonize distant planets. In this game, you play a space colony manager tasked with building profitable colonies while preserving living conditions for your people amidst corporate greed and environmental concerns. Dig for resources, build power plants, farms, and factories while fending off threats like asteroids, wild fires, and hostile colonies. You can trade resources and technologies to enrich your colonies, build towers, and research for advanced technologies. Now, it's time to expand your colony and dominate the universe!


Pros:
  • Well-polished game with unique art design and relaxing gameplay
  • Heavy emphasis on competitiveness with multiple ways to hinder AI competition
  • Great fun in multiplayer games
  • Continual and meaningful updates from the developers
  • Unique approach to a tile-based system
Cons:
  • Lack of micromanagement may disappoint city-building enthusiasts
  • Voice acting could be better
  • Limited countermeasures against weather effects
  • Unintuitive resource gathering and pollution mitigation

  • simulation
  • diplomacy
  • colony
  • lore
  • nature
  • city-building
  • grand-strategy
  • science
  • management
  • base-building
  • economy
  • procedural
  • sandbox
  • space
  • resource

8

Stranded: Alien Dawn (2022)

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82
Review score
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PC Windows Xbox One Xbox Series X Playstation 5 Playstation 4

Lead a group of survivors in Stranded: Alien Dawn, as you explore an expansive living world and build a base to protect against hostile creatures on an unforgiving alien planet. Manage your survivors' needs and make difficult choices to shape their fate. Are you ready for the unpredictable journey ahead?

Buy

Pros:
  • Rimworld vibes
  • Easy to learn
  • Nice graphics
  • Well-thought-out characters
  • Good building and storage system
Cons:
  • Currently lacking in content
  • Crude combat system
  • Healing skill not important

  • survival
  • base-building
  • simulation
  • management
  • crafting
  • hunting
  • colony
  • cooking
  • destruction
  • tower-defense

9

Kingdom: New Lands (2016)

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83
Review score
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PC Windows Linux Xbox One Nintendo Switch IOS iPhone Playstation 4 Mac OS Android

Experience the mystery and challenge of managing a kingdom in Kingdom: New Lands. Explore new lands, build your kingdom, and defeat greedy creatures while discovering the secrets of this minimalist strategy game. With stunning visuals, simple controls, and a haunting soundtrack, Kingdom: New Lands will keep you hooked for hours as you learn and grow your empire.


Pros:
  • Innovative gameplay mechanics
  • Expanding game world
  • Addictive gameplay
  • Beautiful visual style
  • Rewarding learning curve
Cons:
  • Lack of control over characters
  • Limited diversification of gameplay loop
  • No clear instruction

  • pixel
  • tower-defense
  • colony
  • medieval
  • rogue-like
  • strategy
  • simulation
  • scroller
  • base-building
  • survival
  • building
  • 2d
  • resource-management
  • side-scrolling
  • defence

10

Going Medieval (2021)

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88
Review score
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PC Windows

In Going Medieval, you step into a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a deadly plague. As the leader of a small colony, you must build, expand, and defend your community from raiders, animals, and the elements. With simple-to-use terrain building tools, you can design your own perfect fortress. Protect your villagers from starvation and emotional distress, and watch them form relationships and grow over time. Will you survive in this lawless new world?


Pros:
  • Active and dedicated dev team
  • Vast research options
  • Unique underground feature
  • Great for city and castle building
  • Replayability with seeded environments
  • Easy to learn but complex enough to keep coming back
Cons:
  • AI and pathing issues
  • Micro management required
  • Lack of variety in environments
  • Lack of consistent flow of settlers
  • Combat system needs improvement

  • colony
  • building
  • city-building
  • simulation
  • medieval
  • base-building
  • survival
  • resource-management
  • real-time
  • sandbox
  • strategy
  • buildings
  • mech
  • crafting
  • management

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