- #1 FortressCraft Evolved!
97% matchMostly Positive72% of 3,057 reviews2015
Dev: ProjectorGamesPub: Digital Tribe
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.2 hrsMean: 13.6 hrs≥1hr: 72%
FortressCraft Evolved is a unique blend of Voxel Landscapes, Tower Defense, Crafting, Logistics, Exploration, Combat and Assembly lines. Players begin by crash-landing on a strange alien world, left with only a small handful of starting machines.
Why similar: Base Building 16.9%, Building 16.6%, Survival 14.5%, Sandbox 14%, Crafting 10.4%
Why You'll Like It: It shares the voxel-based world and heavy focus on automation and defense against waves of enemies.
- #2 Going Medieval
96% matchVery Positive89% of 20,881 reviews2026
Dev: Foxy VoxelPub: Mythwright
Windows
Median: 7.9 hrsMean: 31.6 hrs≥1hr: 83%
Build and manage your own castle settlement in a land reclaimed by wilderness. With detailed management, survival strategy, and a moddable sandbox world, Going Medieval challenges you to build the mightiest colony this side of the apocalypse.
Why similar: Colony Sim 30.7%, Base Building 15.7%, Survival 11%, City Builder 10.3%, Voxel 8.8% ★
Why You'll Like It: This colony sim allows for intricate vertical building and requires constant defense against raids in a voxel-like terrain.
- #3 Stonehearth
96% matchMostly Positive75% of 13,005 reviews2018
Dev: Radiant EntertainmentPub: (none)
Windows · Mac
Median: 14.1 hrsMean: 38.6 hrs≥1hr: 91%
Pioneer a living world full of warmth, heroism, and mystery. Help a small group of settlers build a home for themselves in a forgotten land. Establish a food supply, build shelter, defend your people, monitor their moods, and find a way to grow and expand, facing challenges at every step.
Why similar: Colony Sim 40.2%, City Builder 13.3%, Building 11%, Survival 9.6%, Sandbox 8.3%
Why You'll Like It: It features a charming voxel art style and focuses heavily on managing colonists and defending your settlement.
- #4 7 Days to Die
95% matchVery Positive87% of 399,251 reviews2024
Dev: The Fun PimpsPub: The Fun Pimps Entertainment LLC
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 16.9 hrsMean: 108.3 hrs≥1hr: 91%
7 Days to Die is an open-world game that is a unique combination of first-person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role-playing games. Play the definitive zombie survival sandbox RPG that came first. Navezgane awaits!
Why similar: Survival 19.8%, Base Building 17.6%, Building 11.4%, Zombies 11.4%, Voxel 9.3% ★
Why You'll Like It: This first-person survival game excels at voxel-based base building and intense defensive combat against hordes.
- #5 RimWorld
94% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 239,676 reviews2018
Dev: Ludeon Studios
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 59.8 hrsMean: 262.8 hrs≥1hr: 92%
A sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller. Generates stories by simulating psychology, ecology, gunplay, melee combat, climate, biomes, diplomacy, interpersonal relationships, art, medicine, trade, and more.
Why similar: Colony Sim 37%, Base Building 18.3%, Survival 11.6%, Sandbox 7.1%, Building 6.8%
Why You'll Like It: While top-down, it remains the gold standard for colony management, survival, and defending against external threats.
- #6 DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS™ 2
94% matchVery Positive92% of 7,920 reviews2019
Dev: Square Enix
Windows
Median: 11.7 hrsMean: 47.8 hrs≥1hr: 89%
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS™ 2 is a block-building RPG set in a fantasy land threatened by an evil cult. Explore, battle, build and harvest in the charming single-player campaign or build big projects in the online sandbox mode for up to 4-players.
Why similar: Building 28.5%, Sandbox 21%, Crafting 11.1%, Voxel 7.4% ★, Survival 7%
Why You'll Like It: This game perfectly captures the voxel-building aesthetic while incorporating NPC management and defensive combat.
- #7 Rise to Ruins
93% matchVery Positive88% of 7,745 reviews2019
Dev: Raymond DoerrPub: SixtyGig Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.7 hrsMean: 16.7 hrs≥1hr: 83%
A brutal godlike village sim that melds the god game, management, and tower defense genres! Fight off hoards of monsters at night, and expand your village in the day time. Inspired by games like Black and White, Rimworld, and Dwarf Fortress but not quite like any of them.
Why similar: Colony Sim 46.2%, Base Building 15.3%, City Builder 15.1%, Survival 12.4%, Sandbox 5.3%
Why You'll Like It: It blends traditional city-building with tower defense mechanics, mirroring the defensive needs of Colony Survival.
- #8 Eco
92% matchVery Positive81% of 13,905 reviews2018
Dev: Strange Loop Games
Windows
Median: 16.8 hrsMean: 89.4 hrs≥1hr: 88%
Build a civilization of real people, working together to advance society and stop a meteor, all without destroying the ecosystem in the process.
Why similar: Base Building 22.2%, Building 18.7%, Sandbox 14.5%, Survival 14.4%, Open World 10.3%
Why You'll Like It: It emphasizes collaborative voxel world-building and resource management with a focus on long-term survival.
- #9 Astro Colony
91% matchVery Positive82% of 2,526 reviews2022
Dev: Terad Games
Windows
Median: 4.5 hrsMean: 16.3 hrs≥1hr: 78%
Explore endless Universe and create the most efficient constellation of colonies. Build conveyor systems to automate production. Take care of Astronauts and their needs! Establish new colonies as part of intergalactic simulation.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34%, Base Building 22.7%, Building 10.9%, Multiplayer 7.3%, Sandbox 7.2%
Why You'll Like It: It features first-person exploration and automation in space, focusing on building a functional colony on asteroids.
- #10 Dwarf Fortress
91% matchVery Positive95% of 31,055 reviews2022
Dev: Bay 12 GamesPub: Kitfox Games
Windows · Linux
Median: 5.5 hrsMean: 38.6 hrs≥1hr: 78%
Build a fortress and try to help your dwarves survive against a deeply generated world. Keep your dwarves happy, grow their community and beware of digging too deeply. The deepest, most intricate simulation of a world that's ever been created.
Why similar: Colony Sim 31%, Base Building 15.9%, Building 11.2%, Survival 11.1%, City Builder 10.6%
Why You'll Like It: The foundational colony simulator that provides unparalleled depth in management, building, and survival against adversity.
- #11 Satisfactory
89% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 270,461 reviews2024
Dev: Coffee Stain StudiosPub: Coffee Stain Publishing
Windows
Median: 32.6 hrsMean: 110.0 hrs≥1hr: 94%
Satisfactory is a first-person open-world factory building game with a dash of exploration and combat. Play alone or with friends, explore an alien planet, create multi-story factories, and enter conveyor belt heaven!
Why similar: Base Building 29.7%, Building 14%, Open World 10.7%, Sandbox 9.7%, Multiplayer 9.5%
Why You'll Like It: A first-person game that focuses on large-scale building and automation, sharing the satisfaction of constructing complex bases.
- #12 Necesse
88% matchVery Positive93% of 27,199 reviews2025
Dev: Fair Games ApS
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 5.9 hrsMean: 14.8 hrs≥1hr: 79%
Build, quest, and conquer across an infinite procedurally generated world. Play alone or with friends as you establish a settlement and explore deep dungeons, fight monsters and bosses, mine rare ores, craft magical equipment, recruit specialists for your colony, and more!
Why similar: Base Building 16.6%, Survival 16.1%, Sandbox 13.3%, Building 13%, Open World 11.2%
Why You'll Like It: A top-down colony sim that emphasizes combat, progression, and managing a growing settlement of villagers.
- #13 Craft The World
90% matchVery Positive88% of 16,888 reviews2014
Dev: Dekovir EntertainmentPub: Dekovir Ltd
Windows · Mac
Median: 7.2 hrsMean: 38.4 hrs≥1hr: 89%
Craft The World is a unique sandbox strategy game, the mix of Dungeon Keeper, Terraria and Dwarf Fortress. Explore a random generated world populated by dangerous creatures, build a dwarf fortress, gather resources, and craft all the items, weapons, and armor you need.
Why similar: Colony Sim 38.6%, Building 13.9%, Sandbox 10.7%, Survival 10.1%, Crafting 8.4%
Why You'll Like It: This side-scrolling game combines colony management with voxel-based digging and defensive combat.
- #14 Kingdoms and Castles
89% matchVery Positive94% of 31,097 reviews2017
Dev: Lion Shield, LLC
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.1 hrsMean: 16.1 hrs≥1hr: 88%
Kingdoms and Castles is a city-building simulation game about growing a kingdom from a tiny hamlet to a sprawling city and imposing castle. Make trade agreements, alliance, and war with neighboring AI controlled kingdoms. Each villager and resource is individually simulated.
Why similar: Colony Sim 36%, City Builder 14.7%, Building 9.1%, Base Building 8.6%, Sandbox 7.1%
Why You'll Like It: A city-builder that forces you to balance economic growth with defending your kingdom from dragons and invaders.
- #15 Space Haven
87% matchVery Positive86% of 10,442 reviews2026
Dev: Bugbyte Ltd.
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.2 hrsMean: 19.9 hrs≥1hr: 72%
Embark on a space voyage with your ragtag crew of civilians in search of a new home. Build spaceships tile by tile, create optimal gas conditions, manage the needs and moods of their crew, encounter other space-faring groups, and explore the universe in this spaceship colony simulation.
Why similar: Colony Sim 30.8%, Base Building 15.7%, Survival 10.8%, Building 10.1%, City Builder 9.2%
Why You'll Like It: This game offers modular base building and colony management within a survival-focused space setting.
- #16 They Are Billions
86% matchVery Positive85% of 50,888 reviews2019
Dev: Numantian Games
Windows
Median: 14.2 hrsMean: 56.2 hrs≥1hr: 91%
They Are Billions is a Steampunk strategy game set on a post-apocalyptic planet. Build and defend colonies to survive against the billions of the infected that seek to annihilate the few remaining living humans. Can humanity survive after the zombie apocalypse?
Why similar: Colony Sim 35.6%, Base Building 24%, Survival 11.2%, Zombies 8.7%, City Builder 5.9%
Why You'll Like It: This title focuses entirely on the base-building and defensive aspects of surviving against massive hordes.
- #17 Stationeers
86% matchVery Positive88% of 9,014 reviews2017
Dev: RocketWerkz
Windows
Median: 10.2 hrsMean: 83.9 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Stationeers puts you in control of the construction and management of a space station to run by yourself or online with your friends. Complex atmospheric, electrical, manufacturing, agriculture, and gravitational systems require your thought and management at all times!
Why similar: Colony Sim 30.7%, Base Building 16.3%, Survival 11.4%, Building 11.1%, Sandbox 8.6%
Why You'll Like It: A complex first-person base-building game that prioritizes technical survival and resource management.
- #18 Empyrion - Galactic Survival
84% matchMostly Positive79% of 34,194 reviews2020
Dev: Eleon Game Studios
Windows
Median: 6.3 hrsMean: 76.8 hrs≥1hr: 77%
Build and explore in a true space sandbox survival adventure. Construct mighty capital vessels, sprawling planetary settlements, and vast space stations in your galactic journey to discover the mysteries of Empyrion!
Why similar: Survival 17.2%, Building 17.2%, Voxel 11.9% ★, Sandbox 11.7%, Open World 10.9%
Why You'll Like It: It offers first-person space survival with extensive base-building and combat mechanics.
- #19 Life is Feudal: Forest Village
85% matchMixed66% of 5,998 reviews2017
Dev: MindillusionPub: Bitbox Ltd.
Windows
Median: 2.5 hrsMean: 30.7 hrs≥1hr: 63%
LiF:Forest Village is a city builder with survival aspects in a realistic harsh medieval world. Shape, build and expand your settlement, grow various food to prevent your villagers from avitaminosis and starvation. Possess them for additional micromanagement or simply to wander around.
Why similar: Colony Sim 48.7%, City Builder 18.1%, Survival 9.1%, Building 8.1%, Strategy 4.1%
Why You'll Like It: A medieval colony simulator that requires careful management of resources and villagers to survive.
- #20 Settlement Survival
83% matchVery Positive86% of 7,916 reviews2022
Dev: Gleamer StudioPub: Team17
Windows · Mac
Median: 4.0 hrsMean: 10.5 hrs≥1hr: 80%
In this city-building game, you will lead a group of survivors in their search for a new home. Manipulate the landscape, manage limited supplies, plant crops, hunt wildlife, gather resources, and develop trade routes to build a bustling and unique town.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34.3%, City Builder 14.5%, Building 13.1%, Survival 12.1%, Base Building 10.2%
Why You'll Like It: A city-builder that incorporates survival mechanics and resource management in a challenging environment.
- #21 Castle Story
84% matchMixed65% of 10,553 reviews2017
Dev: Sauropod Studio
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.1 hrsMean: 11.8 hrs≥1hr: 80%
Castle Story is a creative voxel-based strategy game in which you can build castles one brick at a time using an army of little creatures called Bricktrons. Design and build your own castles, expand your territory in a vast landscape and defend your Bricktrons against onslaughts of hostile creatures.
Why similar: Colony Sim 42.9%, Building 14.6%, Sandbox 9.6%, Survival 8.3%, Multiplayer 5.2%
Why You'll Like It: A voxel-based strategy game where you command units to build structures and defend against enemies.
- #22 Gnomoria
82% matchMostly Positive75% of 3,535 reviews2016
Dev: Robotronic Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.9 hrsMean: 18.2 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Gnomoria is a sandbox village management game where you help lead a small group of gnomes, who have set out on their own, to thrive into a bustling kingdom! Anything you see can be broken down and rebuilt elsewhere.
Why similar: Colony Sim 40.3%, City Builder 12.9%, Sandbox 11.1%, Building 9.7%, Survival 9.5%
Why You'll Like It: A classic colony management game that focuses on building, mining, and defending a settlement of gnomes.
- #23 Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation
82% matchVery Positive81% of 2,253 reviews2018
Dev: Suncrash
Windows
Median: 4.7 hrsMean: 25.2 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Build, scavenge, craft, and perform occult rituals to survive in a demon-infested, post-apocalyptic colony simulation. Will you survive Judgment day?
Why similar: Colony Sim 37.1%, Base Building 17.5%, Survival 13.2%, Sandbox 6.3%, Building 5.9%
Why You'll Like It: Combines colony management with tactical combat against supernatural threats.
- #24 The Colonists
81% matchVery Positive86% of 1,222 reviews2018
Dev: CodebyfirePub: Mode 7
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 3.8 hrsMean: 12.2 hrs≥1hr: 84%
Build a new home for your team of robots as they begin a new life for themselves on a distant planet where they can fulfil their ultimate dream: to be human.
Why similar: Colony Sim 32.5%, Base Building 13.2%, City Builder 11.6%, Building 11.5%, Survival 9.8%
Why You'll Like It: Focuses on the automation and logistics of building a colony, similar to the worker management in Colony Survival.
- #25 Founders' Fortune
81% matchVery Positive80% of 2,181 reviews2020
Dev: Dionic Software
Windows · Mac
Median: 1.6 hrsMean: 10.1 hrs≥1hr: 56%
A fantasy village builder focusing on creative building, colonist psychology and base defense. Handle resources, farming, production, tools, diplomacy, families, trading, defense, and research, as well as the wishes, expectations, thoughts, and equipment of every villager.
Why similar: Colony Sim 43.1%, Base Building 15.7%, City Builder 10%, Building 8.9%, Survival 7.6%
Why You'll Like It: A colony sim that emphasizes building and simulation, focusing on the needs of individual colonists.
- #26 Valheim
78% matchVery Positive94% of 534,015 reviews2021
Dev: Iron Gate ABPub: Coffee Stain Publishing
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 25.8 hrsMean: 76.9 hrs≥1hr: 93%
A brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players, set in a procedurally-generated purgatory inspired by viking culture. Battle, build, and conquer your way to a saga worthy of Odin’s patronage!
Why similar: Base Building 19.1%, Survival 19.1%, Building 15.4%, Open World 11.3%, Multiplayer 10.4%
Why You'll Like It: Provides a first-person survival experience with a strong emphasis on building and defending your base against raids.
- #27 Hydroneer
79% matchVery Positive86% of 27,793 reviews2020
Dev: Foulball Hangover
Windows
Median: 6.8 hrsMean: 21.9 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Hydroneer is a mining and base building sandbox. Dig for gold and other resources to turn a profit and enhance your mining operation. Build a base of operations, forge weapons, go fishing, and dig deep!
Why similar: Base Building 28.6%, Building 16.4%, Sandbox 14.5%, Open World 11%, Multiplayer 10.5%
Why You'll Like It: A voxel-based digging and automation game that focuses on building efficient systems for resource gathering.
- #28 Sapiens
79% matchVery Positive83% of 2,122 reviews2022
Dev: Majic Jungle
Windows · Mac
Median: 6.4 hrsMean: 18.1 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Create your own prehistoric civilization and lead your tribe in a world you shape. Start with nothing, build towns and industry, and advance through thousands of years of technological breakthroughs in this intimate yet expansive colony sim.
Why similar: Colony Sim 31.6%, Base Building 14.6%, City Builder 10.7%, Building 9.5%, Survival 9.3%
Why You'll Like It: A voxel-based colony sim that focuses on the early stages of human development and settlement building.
- #29 Planetbase
80% matchMostly Positive80% of 10,320 reviews2015
Dev: Madruga Works
Windows · Mac
Median: 8.2 hrsMean: 26.2 hrs≥1hr: 90%
Guide a group of space settlers trying to establish a base on a remote planet. Grow food, collect energy, mine resources, survive disasters and build a self-sufficient colony in a harsh and unforgiving environment.
Why similar: Colony Sim 39.1%, Base Building 18%, City Builder 13.1%, Survival 10.7%, Building 5.4%
Why You'll Like It: A space-themed colony builder that requires managing resources and infrastructure to keep your colonists alive.
- #30 Dig or Die
77% matchVery Positive90% of 4,269 reviews2018
Dev: Gaddy Games
Windows
Median: 4.3 hrsMean: 12.3 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Crash land on a hostile planet where you'll have to build the strongest defenses if you wish to live to escape from it. But be warned... this planet is merciless. Build strong, and smart; else physics may flood or destroy your only hopes of survival.
Why similar: Survival 23.3%, Sandbox 16.7%, Base Building 13.3%, Crafting 11.1%, Building 9.8%
- #31 AColony
77% matchVery Positive89% of 134 reviews2023
Dev: ZeroTris
Windows
A colony building game with an emphasis on unexpected events, online co-op, and managing a unique community. Build your colony, feed your colonists, research technologies, craft advanced weapons, explore the world, fight enemies and defend your property.
Why similar: Colony Sim 32.3%, Base Building 16.1%, Survival 11.1%, Building 10%, City Builder 9.9%
- #32 Dawn of Man
76% matchVery Positive87% of 17,712 reviews2019
Dev: Madruga Works
Windows · Mac
Median: 10.9 hrsMean: 30.0 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Command a settlement of ancient humans, guide them through the ages in their struggle for survival. Hunt, gather, craft tools, fight, research new techs and face the challenges the environment will throw at you.
Why similar: Colony Sim 48.4%, City Builder 20.9%, Survival 14%, Sandbox 5.2%, Strategy 4.7%
- #33 Embark
78% matchMixed61% of 388 reviews2019
Dev: Overly Complicated Games
Windows
Inspired by the deep simulation of Dwarf Fortress, the open world survival of Minecraft, and the social interactions of The Sims. Embark is a colony management game with a focus on complex simulation in a huge living 3D world.
Why similar: Colony Sim 45%, Base Building 16.7%, Survival 8.2%, Building 7.9%, Sandbox 6.4%
- #34 Volcanoids
76% matchVery Positive83% of 9,267 reviews2019
Dev: Volcanoid
Windows · Linux
Median: 3.8 hrsMean: 15.9 hrs≥1hr: 76%
A base-building open-world survival shooter that replaces your typical base with a giant drill. Alone or with friends, explore an island plagued by eruptions, upgrade your drill, and fight robots to uncover what's been hiding beneath the surface.
Why similar: Base Building 21.9%, Building 14.9%, Survival 14.8%, Sandbox 11.9%, Crafting 9.5%
- #35 Don't get lost
74% matchMostly Positive79% of 479 reviews2023
Dev: Michael HutcheonPub: miicck
Windows · Linux
A procedurally-generated, open-world, first-person colony sim. Build colonies in an infinite world, alone or with friends via Steam or self-hosted multiplayer.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34.8%, Base Building 13.3%, City Builder 10.6%, Building 10.3%, Sandbox 9.3%
- #36 Rising World
75% matchVery Positive86% of 5,890 reviews2014
Dev: JIW-Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 3.9 hrsMean: 21.2 hrs≥1hr: 72%
Rising World is a voxel based open-world sandbox game, featuring a procedurally generated world, playable in single and multi-player.
Why similar: Base Building 21%, Building 15.1%, Survival 14.4%, Voxel 11.8% ★, Sandbox 11.5%
- #37 Kingdoms Reborn
73% matchVery Positive91% of 9,605 reviews2020
Dev: Earthshine
Windows
Median: 10.0 hrsMean: 24.2 hrs≥1hr: 87%
A city builder with simulated citizens, set in a procedurally-generated world map. Grow your kingdom through the eras from a tiny medieval hamlet into a prosperous global empire! Cooperate or compete in real-time with your friends in multiplayer mode.
Why similar: Colony Sim 31.2%, City Builder 17%, Base Building 15.8%, Multiplayer 6.7%, Building 6.4%
- #38 Subsistence
74% matchMostly Positive72% of 13,685 reviews2016
Dev: ColdGames
Windows
Median: 4.9 hrsMean: 39.9 hrs≥1hr: 78%
Subsistence is a sandbox, first person, solo or co-op, PvE open-world survival game. Struggle through changing seasons to build a base, develop technology and gear-up in the hostile environment. Defend yourself from wildlife, the elements and AI hunters (who also build bases in the world).
Why similar: Survival 23.9%, Base Building 17.1%, Building 13%, Multiplayer 11.5%, Crafting 11%
- #39 Factory Town
72% matchVery Positive91% of 4,433 reviews2021
Dev: Erik Asmussen
Windows · Mac
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 14.2 hrs≥1hr: 76%
Build, automate, and optimize a giant factory on 3D terrain using conveyor belts, trains, chutes, pipes, and airships. Sell your goods to nearby villages to expand their borders, increase happiness, and unlock even better technology!
Why similar: Colony Sim 31.7%, Base Building 20.2%, City Builder 11.7%, Sandbox 10.5%, Building 8.7%
- #40 TFM: The First Men
73% matchMixed62% of 406 reviews2022
Dev: Gathering Tree
Windows
An open-world colony sim based on stories of the first men. Infinite possibilities await your very own Adam and Eve as they embark on a generation-spanning adventure. How will you shape their future?
Why similar: Colony Sim 39.8%, Base Building 19.7%, Building 8%, Survival 7.5%, Sandbox 6.3%
- #41 Mindustry
71% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 26,625 reviews2019
Dev: AnukenDev
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.9 hrsMean: 27.5 hrs≥1hr: 76%
An open-ended factory management game with RTS and tower defense elements.
Why similar: Base Building 37.1%, Building 14.7%, Sandbox 11.5%, Multiplayer 8.8%, Survival 7.6%
- #42 Maia
75% matchMixed44% of 1,064 reviews2018
Dev: Simon RothPub: Machine Studios
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 30 minMean: 4.4 hrs≥1hr: 41%
Maia is a colony building game set in the not-so-distant future. Your colonists make planetfall on a hostile world and you must ensure their survival and their safety, constructing their off-world habitat from almost nothing and sheltering them from a dangerous, often deadly environment.
Why similar: Colony Sim 48.1%, Survival 13.4%, Base Building 13.1%, Strategy 5.5%, Management 5.5%
- #43 Ascent of Ashes
71% matchMostly Positive70% of 298 reviews2025
Dev: Vivid Storm Interactive
Windows
A colony sim set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. Build and defend your base. Manage your survivors. Engage raiders, aliens, Remnant soldiers and other factions in real-time-with-pause combat. Or use stealth to outwit them. Explore the massive world. Survive at all costs
Why similar: Colony Sim 31.1%, Base Building 15.7%, Survival 11.1%, Building 10.4%, City Builder 9.7%
- #44 Dawn Apart
70% matchMostly Positive73% of 239 reviews2025
Dev: Industrial Technology and WitchcraftPub: Astra Logical
Windows
Dawn Apart is a space colony and factory sim with fully destructible environments. Mine, automate, and defend your settlers, or lead a rebellion against the very corporation pulling your strings…
Why similar: Colony Sim 45.9%, Base Building 22.7%, Voxel 9% ★, Crafting 8.1%, Strategy 4.7%
- #45 Phoenix Hope
73% matchMixed61% of 170 reviews2021
Dev: Honorable Pixel
Windows
Phoenix Hope is a pixel art 2D real-time, side-view strategy game in which you must develop your colony during the day and repel waves of monsters at night.
Why similar: Colony Sim 39.3%, Base Building 21%, Survival 15.8%, Building 11.7%, Strategy 6.3%
- #46 Surviving Ceres
69% matchVery Positive87% of 138 reviews2025
Dev: Ryan SaundersPub: One Man Media
Windows
Explore a handcrafted survival game with an emphasis on crafting and base building. Export manufactured goods to earn funding, manage colonists, defend against hostile aliens, and work towards terraforming Ceres from a frozen ball of ice to a tropical paradise.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34.1%, Base Building 16%, Survival 13.7%, Building 12.8%, Crafting 7.8%
- #47 Survival Vacancy
72% matchMixed64% of 88 reviews2021
Dev: Mind Leak
Windows · Mac · Linux
In a nuclear apocalypse, you have to use your engineering skills to save as many survivors as possible. Defending, mining, crafting, creating production lines, and building an underground city for the survivors is your goal in this 2d side-scrolling automation game.
Why similar: Colony Sim 31.6%, Base Building 13.3%, Building 10%, Survival 9.5%, Sandbox 7.1%
- #48 Infection Free Zone
68% matchVery Positive81% of 17,669 reviews2024
Dev: Jutsu GamesPub: Games Operators
Windows
Median: 7.0 hrsMean: 17.7 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Choose any real region from the world. Choose your base of operations, then rebuild and readapt the buildings around you to create a self-sustaining settlement. Take charge of a group of survivors from your city. And when the night falls - Defend the zone from the infected!
Why similar: Colony Sim 24.3%, Base Building 22.6%, City Builder 12.9%, Zombies 10.7%, Survival 9.8%
- #49 Make Your Kingdom
71% matchMixed58% of 195 reviews2022
Dev: yo_serjioPub: BigGame Publishing
Windows
Make Your Kingdom is a city-building game unique to its genre. Play as a founder of the settlement — help build your kingdom, carry the resources, talk to other settlers, motivate them and fight off hordes of orcs with your own sword!
Why similar: Colony Sim 29.1%, Base Building 12.9%, Building 11.2%, City Builder 11.1%, Survival 10.7%
- #50 From Glory To Goo
67% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 1,633 reviews2024
Dev: Stratagem Blue
Windows
Median: 4.0 hrsMean: 17.9 hrs≥1hr: 69%
From Glory To Goo is a Sci-Fi survival RTS set on an alien world. Serve as humanity's bulwark by establishing a colony and supporting your colonists still in orbit. But beware, for The Goo, a relentless and shape-shifting force approaches from all sides, even above and below.
Why similar: Colony Sim 32.9%, Base Building 19.9%, City Builder 11.2%, Survival 10.4%, Sandbox 8.6%
- #51 First Feudal
70% matchMostly Positive76% of 634 reviews2021
Dev: Harpoon Games
Windows
Median: 3.6 hrsMean: 11.7 hrs≥1hr: 81%
Become a real medieval feudal lord: start with a small village and build it up into an enormous impenetrable castle. You will have to repel enemy raids: hide behind thick walls, lure your enemies into strategically placed traps, and even lead your loyal peasants into battle.
Why similar: Colony Sim 33.4%, Base Building 16.5%, Building 11.3%, City Builder 9.5%, Survival 7.9%
- #52 Grim Realms
68% matchMostly Positive80% of 425 reviews2024
Dev: Edym Pixels
Windows
A dark fantasy colony sim - will your colony end the Dread Storm and redeem mankind, or will they harness the dark powers for themselves? Guide your villagers as they struggle to stay alive in a world overrun by the undead.
Why similar: Colony Sim 38.5%, Base Building 18.4%, Building 10.4%, Crafting 8%, Sandbox 7.9%
- #53 The Universim
67% matchMostly Positive80% of 10,560 reviews2024
Dev: Crytivo
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 7.3 hrsMean: 34.1 hrs≥1hr: 89%
Jump straight into managing your own planets as you guide a civilization through the ages. Build the ultimate empire in The Universim, a new breed of God Game in development by Crytivo.
Why similar: Colony Sim 39.6%, City Builder 13.8%, Building 12.7%, Survival 11.6%, Sandbox 10.1%
- #54 Force of Nature
70% matchMostly Positive75% of 4,202 reviews2016
Dev: A.Y.std
Windows
Median: 4.5 hrsMean: 11.1 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Force of Nature is a Sandbox game that combines Action, Adventure, RPG, Strategy and Management genres
Why similar: Survival 21.7%, Building 13.7%, Crafting 12.8%, Sandbox 12.4%, Open World 10.5%
- #55 Kubifaktorium
69% matchVery Positive81% of 795 reviews2021
Dev: Neomateria Games GmbH
Windows · Linux
Median: 2.3 hrsMean: 6.7 hrs≥1hr: 62%
Build, manage and grow a thriving colony in Kubifaktorium. The game features different biomes to explore, plenty of resources to exploit, complex machinery to build and interesting production chains to master.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34.2%, Base Building 14.4%, Building 12%, City Builder 12%, Voxel 6.8% ★
- #56 StarRupture
65% matchVery Positive81% of 12,313 reviews2026
Dev: Creepy Jar
Windows
Median: 6.6 hrsMean: 22.6 hrs≥1hr: 88%
StarRupture is a first-person open world base-building game with advanced combat and tons of exploration. Play alone or in a group on this sublime and ever-changing planet, extract and manage resources, create your complex industrial system and fight off hordes of alien monsters.
Why similar: Colony Sim 28.5%, Base Building 18.6%, Survival 13.1%, Sandbox 8.9%, Open World 8.2%
- #57 After Long Night
66% matchMostly Positive78% of 442 reviews2025
Dev: 疯狗工作室Pub: OKJOY
Windows
After Long Night is a sandbox survival RTS. Build and fortify your base, scavenge every corner for vital resources, craft deadly weapons, and raise a militia to fight off relentless zombie hordes that strike every night. In this world, scavenging isn't just survival—it's strategy, power and war.
Why similar: Colony Sim 29.6%, Base Building 15.4%, Survival 9.7%, Building 9.4%, City Builder 8.7%
- #58 Colony Simulator
69% matchMixed67% of 424 reviews2022
Dev: Indie Marc
Windows
Can your Colony survive 10 days or more in the desert? Find food, build your colony, recruit new workers, feed your population, craft tools and equipment, cook food and research technologies!
Why similar: Colony Sim 49.8%, City Builder 19.9%, Base Building 18.2%, Crafting 6.8%, Multiplayer 4.2%
- #59 Becastled
64% matchVery Positive82% of 5,534 reviews2025
Dev: Mana Potion Studios
Windows
Median: 3.6 hrsMean: 6.9 hrs≥1hr: 81%
Build a castle by day and defend it by night. Becastled blends cozy city-building with challenging tower defense strategy. Lead the Sun Kingdom’s last stand against the Moon Beasts and end the ancient conflict between light and darkness!
Why similar: Colony Sim 29.6%, Base Building 27.9%, City Builder 14%, Building 12.2%, Strategy 6.4%
- #60 Surviving the Aftermath
67% matchMostly Positive71% of 4,528 reviews2021
Dev: Iceflake StudiosPub: Paradox Interactive
Windows
Median: 4.6 hrsMean: 18.1 hrs≥1hr: 74%
Survive and thrive in a post-apocalyptic future — resources are scarce, but opportunity calls! Build the ultimate disaster proof colony, protect your colonists, and restore civilization to a devastated world.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34.1%, City Builder 16%, Base Building 14.6%, Survival 14.6%, Building 6.7%