- #1 Dwarf Fortress
97% matchVery Positive95% of 31,541 reviews2022
Dev: Bay 12 GamesPub: Kitfox Games
Windows · Linux
Median: 5.6 hrsMean: 39.6 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: Dwarves 41.4% ★, Colony Sim 20%, Building 9.8%, Sandbox 9.1%, City Builder 6.4%
Why You'll Like It: It shares the ultimate deep dwarf colony-management DNA that inspired Craft The World's core themes.
- #2 RimWorld
96% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 247,065 reviews2018
Dev: Ludeon Studios
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 59.4 hrsMean: 267.8 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 43.4%, Sandbox 13.4%, Survival 11%, Building 10.8%, City Builder 7%
Why You'll Like It: Offers a similarly engrossing top-down colony-sim experience where you manage survivors, build bases, and handle threats.
- #3 Gnomoria
96% matchMostly Positive75% of 3,539 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 35.2%, Sandbox 15.6%, Building 11.6%, Crafting 10.8%, City Builder 10.6%
Why You'll Like It: A sandbox village management game where you guide a small group of dwarves to build a thriving fortress.
- #4 Stonehearth
95% matchMostly Positive75% of 13,081 reviews2018
Dev: Radiant EntertainmentPub: (none)
Windows · Mac
Median: 14.1 hrsMean: 38.8 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 36.8%, Building 13.6%, Sandbox 12.2%, City Builder 11.4%, Crafting 7.4%
Why You'll Like It: A charming isometric game centered on exploring, building, and managing a settlement of hearthlings.
- #5 Oxygen Not Included
94% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 144,026 reviews2019
Dev: Klei Entertainment
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 8.9 hrsMean: 69.6 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Oxygen Not Included is a space-colony simulation game. Deep inside an alien space rock your industrious crew will need to master science, overcome strange new lifeforms, and harness incredible space tech to survive, and possibly, thrive.
Why similar: Colony Sim 49.4%, Building 13.9%, Survival 12.6%, Sandbox 9.4%, Resource Management 5%
Why You'll Like It: Combines side-view base building and automated colony management with resource survival mechanics.
- #6 Hammerting
94% matchMixed57% of 2,605 reviews2021
Dev: Warpzone StudiosPub: Team17 Digital
Windows
Median: 3.7 hrsMean: 7.6 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Manage a Dwarven mining colony in the unexplored mountains of Mara. As conflict rages in the Overworld, you will need to craft, explore and fight as you provide the allies of your choice with the finest weapons and gear to assist them in the battle for glory.
Why similar: Colony Sim 42.2%, Crafting 19.9%, Building 19.2%, Resource Management 5.3%, Strategy 4.5%
Why You'll Like It: A dwarf mining colony simulation that mirrors Craft The World's focus on underground excavation and automated crafting.
- #7 Lord of Dwarves
93% matchMostly Positive78% of 76 reviews2020
Dev: Stellar Sage Games
Windows · Linux
Gather resources, craft weapons, and build a castle. Then defend your castle against monsters who will try to siege, sap, and smash their way in. All in a procedurally generated 3D block world that allows for extensive crafting and total construction and destruction of the terrain.
Why similar: Dwarves 79.9% ★, Colony Sim 5.7%, Building 3%, Sandbox 2.8%, Crafting 2.5%
Why You'll Like It: A strategy building game where you construct underground kingdoms and command dwarf armies.
- #8 Timber and Stone
92% matchMixed49% of 864 reviews2015
Dev: Games by Robert, LLC
Windows
Median: 2.6 hrsMean: 12.7 hrs≥1hr: 71%
Timber and Stone is a procedural city building game set in a medieval fantasy world. With over one-hundred resources to gather and craft, Timber and Stone has the feel of a real time strategy game, but with much more depth and complexity.
Why similar: City Builder 24.4%, Sandbox 22.5%, Survival 22.4%, Crafting 19.1%, Strategy 8.7%
Why You'll Like It: A block-based strategy and city-building game focused on managing medieval workers and resource gathering.
- #9 Life is Feudal: Forest Village
91% matchMixed66% of 6,027 reviews2017
Dev: MindillusionPub: Bitbox Ltd.
Windows
Median: 2.5 hrsMean: 31.3 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 44.6%, City Builder 15.5%, Building 10.1%, Survival 6.8%, Crafting 4.3%
Why You'll Like It: Provides a gritty village simulator where you manage a small group of people trying to survive in a harsh environment.
- #10 Mountaincore
90% matchMixed65% of 268 reviews2025
Dev: Rocket Jump Technology
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 48 minMean: 5.0 hrs≥1hr: 45%
Settle an untamed wilderness with the might of Dwarven engineering and thoughtful planning! Design and build your colony towards fame and fortune in a deeply-simulated fantasy world. Chill out in peaceful mode with a bustling settlement, or fight for survival against monsters and invasions!
Why similar: Dwarves 40% ★, Colony Sim 19.8%, Crafting 8.4%, Building 8.3%, Sandbox 6.8%
Why You'll Like It: A mountain-based colony simulation and management game focused on carving out a settlement in harsh stone.
- #11 Castle Story
91% matchMixed65% of 10,656 reviews2017
Dev: Sauropod Studio
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.1 hrsMean: 11.9 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 39.5%, Building 18.2%, Sandbox 14.1%, Crafting 7.1%, Survival 6.2%
Why You'll Like It: A voxel-based strategy game where you design and build castles while defending your little brick creatures.
- #12 Terraria
88% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 1,558,339 reviews2011
Dev: Re-Logic
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 33.9 hrsMean: 152.6 hrs≥1hr: 92%
Dig, fight, explore, build! Nothing is impossible in this action-packed adventure game. Four Pack also available!
Why similar: Sandbox 27.1%, Crafting 20.4%, Building 18.5%, Survival 14.1%, Open World 7.4%
Why You'll Like It: Directly referenced in Craft The World's inspiration, offering a robust 2D sandbox crafting and mining adventure.
- #13 Colony Survival
89% matchVery Positive92% of 9,016 reviews2017
Dev: Pipliz
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 9.6 hrsMean: 28.6 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Colony Survival is a unique first-person strategy game developed by a two-man team. Build your own colony in a voxel world. Command guards, farmers, miners and other colonists. Defend your colony against the horde of monsters that attacks every night!
Why similar: Colony Sim 38.6%, Building 13.9%, Sandbox 10.7%, Survival 10.1%, Crafting 8.3%
Why You'll Like It: A unique voxel-based colony sim where you command colonists to gather resources, build, and defend your base.
- #14 Core Keeper
86% matchVery Positive93% of 66,787 reviews2024
Dev: PugstormPub: Fireshine Games
Windows · Linux
Median: 12.3 hrsMean: 34.9 hrs≥1hr: 91%
Explore a vast cavern of creatures, relics and resources in a mining sandbox adventure for 1-8 players. Mine, build, fight, craft and farm to unravel the mystery of the ancient Core.
Why similar: Crafting 22.5%, Building 20.9%, Sandbox 20%, Survival 14%, Open World 12.4%
Why You'll Like It: An underground sandbox adventure featuring mining, base building, and crafting in a subterranean cavern.
- #15 A Game of Dwarves
89% matchMixed63% of 555 reviews2012
Dev: Zeal Game StudioPub: Paradox Interactive
Windows
Median: 1.5 hrsMean: 12.5 hrs≥1hr: 56%
A Dwarven Prince on a quest to reclaim his people’s stolen land will take you on a great journey. Explore a continent filled with buried treasures and unearth mysteries that have laid hidden since the Great War.
Why similar: Dwarves 76.6% ★, Building 6.6%, City Builder 5.7%, Crafting 4.9%, Strategy 3.9%
Why You'll Like It: Features underground base building and managing quirky dwarf units in a fantasy setting.
- #16 Rise to Ruins
87% matchVery Positive88% of 7,765 reviews2019
Dev: Raymond DoerrPub: SixtyGig Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.7 hrsMean: 18.7 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 44.6%, City Builder 13.6%, Survival 9.7%, Sandbox 8.2%, Tower Defense 6.7%
Why You'll Like It: Blends god-game mechanics with village survival and tower defense elements akin to Craft The World's defense phases.
- #17 Ratopia
86% matchVery Positive88% of 4,899 reviews2025
Dev: Cassel Games
Windows · Mac
Median: 7.9 hrsMean: 25.6 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Ratopia is a new game that has combined elements of both strategic survival and city building. With plenty of content available, and more planned, enjoy a vast world to adventure and populate with citizens! Build your own economical system to sustain your ideal city of Ratopia.
Why similar: Colony Sim 33.9%, Building 17.6%, Sandbox 11%, City Builder 9.5%, Survival 9.4%
Why You'll Like It: A side-scrolling sandbox city-builder where you manage a colony of clever rats and build underground economies.
- #18 Necesse
84% matchVery Positive93% of 29,166 reviews2025
Dev: Fair Games ApS
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.0 hrsMean: 15.4 hrs≥1hr: 80%
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: Crafting 21.6%, Sandbox 21.3%, Building 17.8%, Survival 13.2%, Open World 12.4%
Why You'll Like It: An open-world survival craft game with top-down settlement management and raiding mechanics.
- #19 Dig or Die
85% matchVery Positive90% of 4,291 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: Sandbox 23.7%, Crafting 23.4%, Survival 16.7%, Building 11.7%, Open World 8.6%
Why You'll Like It: A 2D sci-fi sandbox survival game where crafting robust defenses against nightly monster attacks is paramount.
- #20 War for the Overworld
84% matchVery Positive86% of 8,133 reviews2015
Dev: Brightrock GamesPub: Mythwright
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 5.1 hrsMean: 11.0 hrs≥1hr: 89%
War for the Overworld is an unholy union of Dungeon Management and Strategy that rewards all those villainous thoughts you’ve been having. Craft your own perilous dungeon and defend it against pesky heroes who keep exploring it and taking your stuff.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34.9%, Sandbox 29.4%, City Builder 12.8%, God Game 9.9% ★, Simulation 5%
Why You'll Like It: Captures the classic Dungeon Keeper vibe that inspired Craft The World's underground tunneling and creature management.
- #21 Don't Starve
82% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 113,517 reviews2013
Dev: Klei Entertainment
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.2 hrsMean: 28.2 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Don’t Starve is an uncompromising wilderness survival game full of science and magic. Enter a strange and unexplored world full of strange creatures, dangers, and surprises. Gather resources to craft items and structures that match your survival style.
Why similar: Survival 31.6%, Crafting 28.6%, Sandbox 21.7%, Open World 7.8%, Multiplayer 3.9%
Why You'll Like It: A relentless wilderness survival and crafting game focusing on exploration and resource management.
- #22 Force of Nature
83% matchMostly Positive75% of 4,209 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: Crafting 27.2%, Sandbox 17.8%, Building 16.5%, Survival 15.7%, Open World 10.2%
Why You'll Like It: An open-world survival game with heavy crafting, exploration, and base development elements.
- #23 Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation
82% matchVery Positive81% of 2,267 reviews2018
Dev: Suncrash
Windows
Median: 4.7 hrsMean: 25.0 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 39.2%, Survival 11.4%, Sandbox 10.8%, Crafting 10.8%, Building 8.4%
Why You'll Like It: A colony sim focusing on base building and survival against demonic hordes.
- #24 Crashlands
80% matchVery Positive90% of 6,773 reviews2016
Dev: Butterscotch Shenanigans
Windows
Median: 4.6 hrsMean: 13.7 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Fight and tame alien beasts, craft resources into menacing weaponry, befriend the outlandish locals, and go toe-to-chin with a world-domineering maniac.
Why similar: Crafting 22.9%, Sandbox 19.2%, Building 18.3%, Survival 13.7%, Open World 12.1%
Why You'll Like It: A quirky open-world survival craft game with strong emphasis on base building and crafting recipes.
- #25 CryoFall
79% matchMostly Positive78% of 6,472 reviews2021
Dev: AtomicTorch StudioPub: Daedalic Entertainment
Windows
Median: 4.9 hrsMean: 16.3 hrs≥1hr: 88%
CryoFall is a sci-fi colony simulation survival game set on a forgotten planet in a distant future. Master technology, agriculture, trading, industry, cybernetics, exploration, and more!
Why similar: Colony Sim 33.8%, Crafting 17.5%, Building 14.9%, Sandbox 14.1%, Survival 9.6%
Why You'll Like It: A sci-fi colony-style survival game with a strong focus on technology progression and crafting.
- #26 Starbound
79% matchVery Positive90% of 123,321 reviews2016
Dev: Chucklefish
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 17.0 hrsMean: 64.5 hrs≥1hr: 91%
You’ve fled your home, only to find yourself lost in space with a damaged ship. Your only option is to beam down to the planet below, repair your ship and set off to explore the universe...
Why similar: Sandbox 28.5%, Crafting 20.7%, Building 16%, Survival 13.1%, Open World 9.8%
Why You'll Like It: Expands the 2D sandbox survival and building loop across an entire universe of planets.
- #27 Embark
81% matchMixed60% of 389 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 47.4%, Building 11.3%, Sandbox 10.9%, Crafting 10.6%, Survival 7%
Why You'll Like It: A deep voxel colony simulation centered on survival, building, and management.
- #28 FortressCraft Evolved!
81% matchMostly Positive72% of 3,066 reviews2015
Dev: ProjectorGamesPub: Digital Tribe
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.2 hrsMean: 13.5 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: Crafting 23.4%, Sandbox 21.2%, Building 21.2%, Survival 11.1%, Open World 7.3%
Why You'll Like It: A voxel-based world featuring extensive automation, mining, and tower-defense style survival elements.
- #29 Kingdoms and Castles
78% matchVery Positive94% of 31,455 reviews2017
Dev: Lion Shield, LLC
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.1 hrsMean: 16.2 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 30.8%, Crafting 12.2%, Building 12%, City Builder 11.8%, Sandbox 11.1%
Why You'll Like It: A city-building game where you grow a medieval kingdom and defend it from Viking attacks.
- #30 Portal Knights
77% matchVery Positive83% of 22,395 reviews2017
Dev: Keen Games GmbHPub: 505 Games
Windows
Median: 5.6 hrsMean: 21.2 hrs≥1hr: 82%
The world of Elysia needs YOU! Join this cooperative, 3D sandbox action RPG to level up your character, craft epic weapons, conquer enemies in real-time, and build almost anything! Craft your adventure. Forge your hero. Become the ultimate Portal Knight!
Why similar: Sandbox 25.3%, Crafting 23.7%, Building 23.2%, Survival 12.9%, Multiplayer 6.8%
- #31 Odd Realm
76% matchVery Positive84% of 1,022 reviews2024
Dev: Unknown Origin Games Inc
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.6 hrsMean: 7.2 hrs≥1hr: 56%
Build a settlement in a realm recovering from the Fracture, a calamity that nearly destroyed the realm. Choose from several unique races, establish a new kingdom, and survive in a land filled with magic and strange creatures. Farm the land, fish the seas, or raid rival kingdoms for their treasures.
Why similar: Colony Sim 31.5%, Sandbox 12.9%, Crafting 12.8%, Building 12.7%, Survival 8.2%
- #32 Factory Town
75% matchVery Positive91% of 4,486 reviews2021
Dev: Erik Asmussen
Windows · Mac
Median: 3.4 hrsMean: 13.9 hrs≥1hr: 75%
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 31.1%, Crafting 18%, Sandbox 16.7%, Building 11.6%, City Builder 10.7%
- #33 Crea
76% matchMostly Positive75% of 1,408 reviews2016
Dev: Siege Games
Windows · Linux
Median: 5.6 hrsMean: 18.9 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Progress with every slain monster, learn over 80 skills through talents, craft hundreds of items, and explore vast procedurally-generated worlds in this ever-expanding sandbox RPG!
Why similar: Sandbox 29.1%, Crafting 26.1%, Building 13.2%, Survival 11.6%, Open World 6.5%
- #34 Dwarf Tower
77% matchMostly Positive71% of 281 reviews2014
Dev: iosoftware
Windows · Mac
Median: 2.4 hrsMean: 4.9 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Dwarf Tower is a turn-based tactics game of tower building and spellcasting. Each turn you develop your tower by placing blocks, constructing rooms, and play various spells. Your tower can have Libraries (store spells), Crystals (generate mana), Dwarf Dwellings (give you dwarves to repair the tower) and some other rooms.
Why similar: Dwarves 81.7% ★, Building 7.8%, Sandbox 7%, Strategy 2.1%, Indie 0.7%
- #35 Keplerth
73% matchVery Positive84% of 4,170 reviews2022
Dev: TAROPub: Gamirror Games
Windows
Median: 7.9 hrsMean: 16.3 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Welcome to Keplerth! Try to survive on a hostile alien planet in this 2D sandbox RPG, where you can choose to live alone or fight side by side with your friends in the online multiplayer mode. Survive, build, farm, fight, and explore your way to victory in this open-world adventure!
Why similar: Sandbox 24.4%, Building 23.2%, Survival 15.1%, Open World 12.9%, Crafting 10.4%
- #36 Founders' Fortune
74% matchVery Positive80% of 2,189 reviews2020
Dev: Dionic Software
Windows · Mac
Median: 1.5 hrsMean: 10.0 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 45.7%, Building 13%, Sandbox 10.1%, City Builder 10%, Survival 6.8%
- #37 Orebound
73% matchMostly Positive78% of 993 reviews2024
Dev: Emberforge
Windows
Median: 3.9 hrsMean: 12.1 hrs≥1hr: 77%
Orebound is a dwarven themed factory automation game. Play alone or with friends as you build, mine, craft and explore a voxel generated world! Build your fortress, expand your factory, fight off creatures who dwell beneath the mountains and embark on a journey of greatness.
Why similar: Dwarves 59.4% ★, Colony Sim 12.4%, Building 8.3%, Crafting 8.2%, Resource Management 4.7%
- #38 Kubifaktorium
74% matchVery Positive81% of 800 reviews2021
Dev: Neomateria Games GmbH
Windows · Linux
Median: 2.3 hrsMean: 6.7 hrs≥1hr: 61%
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 34.9%, Crafting 16.7%, Building 16.7%, City Builder 11.5%, Sandbox 8.4%
- #39 Towns
78% matchMostly Negative27% of 2,837 reviews2012
Dev: Xavi Canal, Ben PalgiPub: SMP
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.3 hrsMean: 17.6 hrs≥1hr: 53%
The game brings a fresh new take on the city building/management genre by introducing many RPG features. In Towns you manage a settlement on top of an active dungeon. Instead of playing the hero who delves deep into the dungeon, how about playing the town that houses and caters to the hero's needs?
Why similar: Sandbox 26.3%, City Builder 21.9%, Crafting 17.1%, Building 10%, Survival 6.4%
Why You'll Like It: A sandbox city-builder that mixes RPG elements with dungeon exploration beneath a bustling town.
- #40 Blacksmith: Ignite the Forge
73% matchMostly Positive75% of 117 reviews2025
Dev: Floodgate CrewPub: Awaken Realms
Windows
Blacksmith: Ignite the Forge is a mix of a simulator, strategy, and auto-battler. Become a master smith, craft various weapons, and enhance them with magical runes. Equip a team of adventurers with your hand-made tools, send them on missions, gather loot to upgrade your forge, and save the land!
Why similar: Dwarves 67.5% ★, Crafting 13.3%, Building 12.4%, Simulation 2.5%, Resource Management 1.9%
- #41 Life is Feudal: Your Own
75% matchMixed66% of 12,071 reviews2015
Dev: Bitbox Ltd.
Windows
Median: 8.6 hrsMean: 57.9 hrs≥1hr: 88%
Hardcore and realistic; LiF is a Medieval multiplayer sandbox RPG, with free terraforming, a rich crafting system and preset and modular building construction. With engaging survival aspects, no target physics-based combat and a unique formation system - along with numerous other features - LiF is not for the faint of heart!
Why similar: Crafting 23.2%, Sandbox 19.6%, Building 19.1%, Survival 14.1%, Open World 13.3%
- #42 Aurora Dusk: Steam Age
72% matchVery Positive83% of 310 reviews2019
Dev: Sylvain Harlaut
Windows
Median: 4.7 hrsMean: 18.4 hrs≥1hr: 75%
An amazing mix of RPG, strategy, simulation, sandbox and survival game. Aurora Dusk looks like many other games, but instead of being alone, you live in a community. You can play one or more villagers and evolve from the Wood Age to the Steam Age.
Why similar: Sandbox 32.6%, Strategy 25.7%, RPG 17.8%, Tower Defense 8.7%, Indie 7.2%
- #43 Planetbase
71% matchMostly Positive80% of 10,466 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 45.7%, City Builder 14.3%, Survival 10.3%, Building 8.6%, Sandbox 5.3%
- #44 Prison Architect
70% matchVery Positive85% of 76,934 reviews2015
Dev: Introversion SoftwarePub: Paradox Interactive
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.0 hrsMean: 30.3 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Only the world’s most ruthless Warden can contain the world’s most ruthless inmates. Design and develop your personalized penitentiary in Prison Architect.
Why similar: Colony Sim 36.1%, Building 19.5%, Sandbox 17.2%, City Builder 10.5%, Strategy 4.5%
- #45 Magicite
71% matchVery Positive85% of 7,591 reviews2014
Dev: Sean YoungPub: SmashGames
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.4 hrsMean: 11.9 hrs≥1hr: 75%
Explore, craft, and survive in this Multiplayer RPG Platformer with permanent death! Featuring many Rogue-like elements, Magicite randomly generates each underground dungeon for you and your friends to delve deep into.
Why similar: Crafting 40.3%, Survival 16.2%, Multiplayer 11.7%, Sandbox 10.8%, RPG 9.4%
- #46 The Bonfire 2: Uncharted Shores
71% matchMixed69% of 371 reviews2020
Dev: Xigma Games
Windows · Mac
Median: 5.5 hrsMean: 8.3 hrs≥1hr: 95%
Build, survive, explore. Design your city, manage resource chains and workers, Send ships on expedition, trade with cities, discover mysterious dungeons and uncover secrets of ancients.
Why similar: Colony Sim 41.8%, Crafting 13.1%, Building 12.2%, Survival 11.3%, City Builder 8.7%
- #47 Stonedeep
72% matchMixed46% of 105 reviews2021
Dev: Direfang
Windows
Stonedeep is an 2.5D underground city builder. Dwarfs gather resources, build and fend off monsters. Colonies can specialize in culture, production, military and trading. At start, dwarfs need drinks and rest. With a higher civilization level, they will increase their needs.
Why similar: Colony Sim 33.5%, Building 15.3%, Sandbox 11.9%, Survival 9.7%, Open World 6.7%
- #48 SteamWorld Build
68% matchVery Positive85% of 2,285 reviews2023
Dev: The StationPub: Thunderful Publishing
Windows
Median: 2.6 hrsMean: 10.5 hrs≥1hr: 69%
SteamWorld Build is a casual city-building and dungeon-management cross-over set in the SteamWorld Universe, where you build and manage a town on a dying planet. You'll need to balance resources, construction, and exploration to its depths to ensure your town's survival and eventual escape.
Why similar: Building 29.3%, Sandbox 25.8%, City Builder 25.5%, Resource Management 10.1%, Strategy 7.6%
- #49 Factorio
66% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 235,209 reviews2020
Dev: Wube Software LTD.
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 44.9 hrsMean: 193.9 hrs≥1hr: 95%
Factorio is a game about building and creating automated factories to produce items of increasing complexity, within an infinite 2D world. Use your imagination to design your factory, combine simple elements into ingenious structures, and finally protect it from the creatures who don't really like you.
Why similar: Crafting 22.3%, Sandbox 21.7%, Building 12.7%, Survival 9.5%, Resource Management 8.3%
- #50 Niffelheim
69% matchMostly Positive71% of 2,338 reviews2018
Dev: Ellada Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.5 hrsMean: 7.0 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Your avatar is a brave warrior who has fallen in battle. But instead of well-deserved peace in Asgard, his soul is trapped in the harsh world of Niffelheim. Survive in this hostile world, ransack the neighbor lands, explore dangerous dungeons and find your way to Valhalla
Why similar: Crafting 27.4%, Sandbox 23.2%, Survival 14.3%, Open World 11.2%, Resource Management 5.8%
- #51 Planet Centauri
66% matchMostly Positive77% of 2,395 reviews2024
Dev: Permadeath
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 5.7 hrsMean: 13.6 hrs≥1hr: 79%
Dive into an epic adventure alone or with friends! Explore hidden dungeons, capture and tame fearsome monsters, build and defend your village. Craft powerful weapons, master magical spells, and transform an planet into the cradle of a new civilization!
Why similar: Sandbox 25.4%, Crafting 24.6%, Building 20.3%, Open World 13.1%, Multiplayer 5.8%
- #52 Craft In Abyss
69% matchVery Positive83% of 54 reviews2021
Dev: FirePillar2
Windows
Craft in Abyss is a tower defense rogue-lite game. It allow players to design their own mechanical fortress, gather resources and continuously strengthen the fortress facilities within a sci-fi world.
Why similar: Crafting 29%, Building 24.2%, Survival 15.7%, Tower Defense 7.7%, Strategy 7.5%
- #53 Tinkerlands
65% matchVery Positive86% of 4,122 reviews2025
Dev: CodeManuPub: HypeTrain Digital
Windows
Median: 8.4 hrsMean: 14.5 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Explore, craft, and fight your way through uncharted islands — solo or with up to 4 players in co-op! Tinkerlands is an exciting survival adventure where you will build your settlement, craft useful tools to survive, and even use magic!
Why similar: Sandbox 21.6%, Crafting 19.5%, Building 17.5%, Survival 13.7%, Open World 11.5%
- #54 Crafting Town
68% matchMostly Positive71% of 56 reviews2022
Dev: Musa GUNGOR
Windows
Crafting Town Is : A Crafting game with Simulation&Building where you can Craft and Develop your Village, Source Management and Quests.
Why similar: Crafting 39.6%, Building 20.9%, Colony Sim 16.6%, Resource Management 8.9%, Simulation 5.6%
- #55 The Universim
66% matchMostly Positive79% of 10,670 reviews2024
Dev: Crytivo
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 7.3 hrsMean: 34.3 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 33.6%, Building 14.6%, Sandbox 13.8%, City Builder 11%, God Game 8.2% ★
- #56 Undholm
70% matchMixed64% of 87 reviews2019
Dev: Pixelmeal Games, LLC
Windows
A dwarfish colony sim set in a fantasy world. Inspired by Rimworld and Banished. Dig deep to uncover riches and challenges, recruit dwarves to produce goods, and trade with other settlements (or raid them) to help your colony succeed.
Why similar: Dwarves 94.7% ★, Simulation 3.6%, Indie 1.7%
- #57 Hearthlands
69% matchVery Positive82% of 414 reviews2017
Dev: Four White Cats
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.4 hrsMean: 7.1 hrs≥1hr: 58%
Hearthlands is a medieval/fantasy city-building real time strategy game in which you take a role of a king in a procedurally generated world. You can not control your subjects directly; instead you focus on city-building, resource management, diplomacy, magic, etc.
Why similar: Colony Sim 44%, City Builder 17.3%, Sandbox 14.1%, Strategy 6.1%, God Game 5.4% ★
- #58 First Feudal
67% matchMostly Positive76% of 647 reviews2021
Dev: Harpoon Games
Windows
Median: 3.6 hrsMean: 10.9 hrs≥1hr: 83%
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 32.1%, Building 14.7%, Crafting 14.3%, Sandbox 10.6%, City Builder 8.5%
- #59 Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal
67% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 4,835 reviews2014
Dev: Knuckle Cracker
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 7.4 hrsMean: 81.0 hrs≥1hr: 78%
Creeper World 3 is what happens when cellular automata takes over a strategy simulation. Instead of discrete units that attack your base, a fluid-like substance spreads over the terraformable terrain. Your base, your weapons, your strategy... you must adapt them all.
Why similar: Tower Defense 48.6%, Strategy 24.8%, Survival 5.6%, Simulation 4.9%, Sandbox 4.5%
- #60 Make Your Kingdom
68% matchMixed58% of 197 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 31.7%, Building 16.6%, Sandbox 12.3%, City Builder 11.3%, Crafting 10%