The Best Colony Games

Update, : The Last Starship added at rank #28.
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

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

3

Tropical Resort Story (2022)

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98
Review score
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PC Windows IOS iPhone Android Nintendo Switch

In Tropical Resort Story, you get to develop your own lush island full of nature and create the most luxurious resort possible. From building accommodations to discovering great travel packages, you can make your guests' dreams come true. Improve the ocean water quality by adding marine plants and rocks in the ocean, and releasing fish you've caught while fishing. With more tourists visiting your island, you get to open stores and restaurants, and even create new products. This game will keep you hooked on creating your tropical paradise!


Pros:
  • Ability to create immersive natural environment
  • Opportunity to collaborate with business partners
  • Discovering winning combinations of features
  • Colorful and appealing graphics and sound effects
  • Easy to learn and play
Cons:
  • Janky handling on desktop
  • Narrow grid range makes building efficiency difficult
  • Limited challenge, low pressure gameplay

  • colony
  • simulation
  • city-building
  • 2d
  • casual
  • nature
  • building
  • pixel
  • cute
  • colourful
  • relaxing
  • fishing

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

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

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

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

8

Farlanders (2023)

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92
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS Linux

Farlanders is a turn-based city builder set on Mars, with a puzzle game mentality and an engaging story that challenges you to think about the right you have to change the face of a planet. You play as Marco, an architect who discovers that all is not what it seems. Balance resources, build structures and manage colony happiness in this demanding but rewarding space colony simulator.


Pros:
  • Vibrant visuals
  • Realistic environments
  • Dynamic building system
  • Strategic choices
  • Challenging gameplay
  • Turn-based city builder
  • Procedurally generated maps
Cons:
  • Complexity can be overwhelming for some players
  • Steep learning curve
  • Requires careful resource management

  • city-building
  • turn-based
  • mars
  • colony
  • resource-management
  • base-building
  • simulation
  • building
  • strategy
  • space
  • procedural
  • pixel
  • management
  • survival

9

Songs of Syx (2020)

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93
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS Linux

Songs of Syx is a retro-style city-building game that lets you manage a single city with multiple races and cultures while conquering neighboring territories. With real-time combat and a massive world of different gods, creatures, and races, each playthrough is unique. Although it still has some rough edges, the game is promising and worth trying.


Pros:
  • Unique city-building simulation with complex gameplay
  • Ability to control thousands of troops in real-time combat
  • Encourages players to improve the lives of their subjects for tribute
  • Randomized content each playthrough makes it unique
  • Frequent updates to improve the gameplay
Cons:
  • City-building aspect requires better balancing
  • Map is too small for the maximum number of citizens

  • city-building
  • colony
  • grand-strategy
  • simulation
  • base-building
  • moddable
  • building
  • empire
  • fantasy

10

Dungeon Village 2 (2021)

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79
Review score
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PC Windows Android Playstation 4 IOS iPhone

Recruit adventurers and monsters to create your own RRG-style town!


  • colony
  • simulation
  • city-building
  • life
  • dinosaurs
  • 2d
  • building
  • pixel
  • nature
  • dungeon
  • loot
  • fantasy
  • rpg
  • 2.5d
  • management

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