Games Like Empires of the Undergrowth

Conquer enemy nests and lead your colony through the perils of the forest in this groundbreaking RTS. Empire of the Ants is a photorealistic, third-person real-time strategy game where you command your insect legions in epic battles.

Why similar: Grand Strategy 39.6%, Sandbox 17.8%, Resource Management 14.8%, Survival 13.2%, Strategy 8.1%

Why You'll Like It: Like the seed game, you command ant colonies in realistic environments, blending strategic warfare with micro-management of your insect empire.

A dark fantasy city builder where you must rebuild civilization in the face of apocalyptic rains. As the Queen’s Viceroy, lead humans, beavers, lizards, foxes, and harpies to reclaim the wilderness and secure a future for civilization's last survivors.

Why similar: Diplomacy 9.9% ★, Grand Strategy 9.8%, 4X 9.8% ★, Colony Sim 8.9%, Moddable 8.1%

Why You'll Like It: A demanding strategy city-builder where you must constantly expand and adapt your settlement to survive hostile environmental cycles.

Lead the Mobile Infantry in this RTS game set in the Starship Troopers film universe. Balance your army composition with a diverse set of unit types, overcome line-of-sight and line-of-fire challenges through tactical positioning, and use special abilities to smash the Arachnid hordes!

Why similar: Strategy 51.5%, Resource Management 37.6%, Singleplayer 8%, Simulation 2.9%

Why You'll Like It: This real-time strategy game focuses on large-scale tactical battles against terrifying hordes of massive insectoid threats.

Lead your hive to victory in 'Buggos', an RTS Auto Battler! Customize your swarm with 120+ evolutions and conquer humanity. Strategy meets bug chaos!

Why similar: Grand Strategy 20.2%, City Builder 18.4%, Base Building 14%, Building 10.5%, Management 9.8%

Why You'll Like It: Command a massive swarm of aggressive insectoid creatures to conquer foreign territories in this strategic RTS and base builder.

Command a team of 5 elite soldiers against an alien horde of 100,000. Surrounded on all sides, you must outmaneuver and outsmart the enemy.

Why similar: Strategy 86.6%, Singleplayer 13.4%

Why You'll Like It: You fight overwhelming swarms of alien bugs in a tactical RTS format that captures the chaotic frontline defense of insect warfare.

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 30.7%, Base Building 25.7%, City Builder 12.4%, Survival 10.5%, Strategy 6.5%

Why You'll Like It: You must build and defend an intricate base against thousands of rushing enemies, emphasizing choke points and strategic resource management.

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 22.6%, Moddable 14.3%, Base Building 13.8%, City Builder 9.4%, Survival 7.7%

Why You'll Like It: This deep colony simulation focuses on managing a group of survivors, assigning tasks, and defending your base from sudden insectoid infestations.

Manor Lords is a medieval strategy game featuring in-depth city building, large-scale tactical battles, and complex economic and social simulations. Rule your lands as a medieval lord – the seasons pass, the weather changes, and cities rise and fall.

Why similar: 4X 10.1% ★, Diplomacy 10.1% ★, Grand Strategy 9.7%, Colony Sim 8.8%, Moddable 8.4%

Why You'll Like It: A medieval strategy game combining deep city-building mechanics with tactical real-time battles where positioning and logistics matter.

Humans are long gone. In a world struck by droughts and toxic waste, will your lumberpunk beavers do any better? A sandbox city-building game featuring ingenious animals, vertical architecture, water physics, and terraforming. Contains high amounts of wood.

Why similar: City Builder 21.3%, Colony Sim 20.6%, Base Building 11.4%, Building 9.3%, Sandbox 8.7%

Why You'll Like It: This beaver-themed city builder requires clever water physics management and structural expansion reminiscent of underground nest design.

Songs of Syx is a fantasy city-builder with vast battles simulating thousands of citizens and soldiers. Start off as a small village and build, scheme, and fight your way towards a mighty empire. The mechanics are deep and true to life, where tiny events can spiral into the collapse of kingdoms.

Why similar: 4X 13.4% ★, Colony Sim 13%, Grand Strategy 12.7%, City Builder 11.2%, Moddable 10.2%

Why You'll Like It: A massive fantasy colony builder where you grow a sprawling settlement and manage thousands of individual subjects in real-time.

Become the hive mind of a robot ant colony in Microtopia! Use pheromone trails to create, automate and optimize supply chains for your ants to follow. Collect resources, produce goods, feed your queen, grow your colony and fly out to expand the species!

Why similar: Colony Sim 20%, City Builder 15.2%, Moddable 14.4%, Base Building 11.6%, Sandbox 9%

Why You'll Like It: Focuses on tiny-scale automation and colony management, capturing the distinct perspective of microscopic survival and resource gathering.

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 16.1%, Moddable 14.2%, City Builder 12.8%, Base Building 10%, Historical 9.9%

Why You'll Like It: You build multi-layered multi-floor settlements and defend them from raids, echoing the verticality of subterranean ant nests.

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: City Builder 29.8%, Colony Sim 28.7%, Survival 9.1%, Historical 8%, Sandbox 5%

Why You'll Like It: Guide a settlement of ancient humans through the ages, balancing gathering, base expansion, and defense against predators.

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: Base Building 22.6%, Resource Management 14.1%, Sandbox 11.7%, Moddable 10.3%, City Builder 8%

Why You'll Like It: While focused on automation, building an expanding, heavily defended base against hostile native swarms shares a similar logistical thrill.

The Wandering Village is a city-building simulation game on the back of a giant, wandering creature. Build your settlement and form a symbiotic relationship with the colossus. Will you survive together in this hostile, yet beautiful post-apocalyptic world, contaminated by poisonous plants?

Why similar: Colony Sim 23.6%, City Builder 21.7%, Management 11.9%, Resource Management 10.7%, Base Building 10.6%

Why You'll Like It: Build a symbiotic settlement on the back of a giant wandering creature, combining mobile base-building with resource management.

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 30.9%, Base Building 18.6%, Survival 10.5%, Resource Management 10.1%, Building 8.9%

Why You'll Like It: This complex space-colony simulation challenges you to manage a subterranean base, guiding your colony's survival through tight resource loops.

Protect and guide your people as you forge a town from untamed wilderness at the edge of the known world. Harvest raw materials, hunt, fish and farm to survive. Produce crafted items to trade, consume, equip and fight with as you battle for your survival against the elements and outside threats.

Why similar: 4X 14.6% ★, City Builder 13%, Colony Sim 12.5%, Building 9.5%, Historical 8.4%

Why You'll Like It: This survival city builder requires careful management of your settlement's food, industry, and defense against environmental dangers.

Frostpunk is the first society survival game. As the ruler of the last city on Earth, it is your duty to manage both its citizens and infrastructure. What decisions will you make to ensure your society's survival? What will you do when pushed to breaking point? Who will you become in the process?

Why similar: City Builder 25%, Colony Sim 20.7%, Resource Management 11.7%, Survival 11.1%, Building 7.4%

Why You'll Like It: You must build a desperate society around a central heat generator, making hard survival choices against relentless cold and encroaching threats.

Lead your noble family in this medieval colony sim, facing off against class conflict, religious struggle, and political treachery. Tend to your people’s needs, uncover the lost knowledge of a fallen empire, and engage in nefarious plots against your enemies.

Why similar: Grand Strategy 10%, 4X 9.5% ★, Diplomacy 9.5% ★, Colony Sim 9.3%, Moddable 7.9%

Why You'll Like It: A medieval kingdom simulation focusing on the complex social dynamics and survival management of a ruling family and their subjects.

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 19.1%, City Builder 13.8%, Base Building 11.6%, Building 10.1%, Management 7.5%

Why You'll Like It: A unique blend of sandbox, economy, and survival where you build a sprawling underground city for a civilization of clever rodents.

Design and build fortresses brick by brick to stand against endless hordes of Horrors in this real-time strategy game with resource management, siege defense, and exploration. Lead from the ramparts, push back the darkness, and hold fast against the creatures of the Mist.

Why similar: Grand Strategy 9.4%, Diplomacy 9.2% ★, 4X 9% ★, Colony Sim 8.4%, Moddable 7.6%

Why You'll Like It: A fortress-building real-time strategy game where you design brick-by-brick structures to withstand terrifying waves of nocturnal horrors.

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 24.6%, City Builder 20.8%, Building 11%, Sandbox 10.4%, Management 8.1%

Why You'll Like It: Act as a god-like entity guiding a developing civilization through the ages, managing their expansion and survival.

Diplomacy is Not an Option is a strategy game set in a medieval fantasy world. Build your town and defenses, raise huge armies and fight against massive hordes of enemies. How long can you survive?

Why similar: Colony Sim 29.9%, Historical 21.4%, Base Building 18.9%, Resource Management 15%, Survival 7.1%

Why You'll Like It: Build massive defensive fortifications and command thousands of units to hold off endless waves of approaching attackers.

Place yourself at the heart of the Jurassic franchise and build your own Jurassic World. Bioengineer dinosaurs that think, feel and react intelligently to the world around them and face threats posed by espionage, breakouts and devastating tropical storms in an uncertain world where life always finds a way.

Why similar: Building 21.2%, Management 15.8%, City Builder 14.1%, Sandbox 12.3%, Economy 7.9%

Why You'll Like It: Manage a park full of dangerous prehistoric creatures, balancing visitor satisfaction with security and containment protocols.

A unique and deeply engaging political/military strategic simulation from the creator of Plague Inc. Balance competing civilian and military priorities and deal with a deadly insurgency in order to stabilise a war-torn country.

Why similar: 4X 15.6% ★, Diplomacy 15% ★, Grand Strategy 14.6%, Moddable 10.8%, Historical 8.8%

Why You'll Like It: A strategic simulation about stabilizing a war-torn region, requiring careful deployment of civilian and military resources.

Build a soviet republic from an impoverished country into a rich industrial superpower in a city builder with intricate production chains and a fully simulated global economy. Manage the lives of your citizens from education to work and party loyalty to criminal activity.

Why similar: Grand Strategy 10.2%, City Builder 9.1%, Diplomacy 8.3% ★, 4X 7.8% ★, Colony Sim 7.6%

Why You'll Like It: A deeply complex city builder and economic simulator featuring intricate supply chains and logistical planning.

LEAD the CULT OF CTHULHU. Decide the fate of your followers, perform eldritch rituals, and master the art of city-building in a world where the line between sanity and madness blurs. Can you endure the horrors you unleash?

Why similar: Colony Sim 20.9%, City Builder 14.3%, Alternate History 11.1%, Base Building 10.5%, Sandbox 9.8%

Why You'll Like It: A colony simulation where you build a dark settlement and manage devoted followers to summon cosmic entities.

Establish a home for your industrious mice under the oppressive paw of your cat overlords in this city builder featuring complex simulations, intricate production chains, and the age-old rivalry between cat and mouse.

Why similar: Grand Strategy 10%, Colony Sim 9.5%, Diplomacy 9.3% ★, 4X 9.2% ★, City Builder 8%

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: City Builder 25.3%, Colony Sim 22.2%, Base Building 11.5%, Survival 10.2%, Strategy 7.7%

Why You'll Like It: Manage a colony of survivors on the surface of a post-apocalyptic world, gathering resources and expanding your stronghold.

Build a sprawling pirate haven, raise a fleet to explore the high seas, and take on the Crown to keep the Age of Piracy alive! From ale to flintlock pistols, and from scallywags to swashbucklers, you’ll need to manage complex production chains and govern a rowdy crew to reign supreme over the seas!

Why similar: Grand Strategy 11.3%, Colony Sim 9.3%, City Builder 9%, Diplomacy 7.5% ★, 4X 7.5% ★

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: City Builder 23%, Base Building 21.2%, Colony Sim 18.5%, Management 10.3%, Survival 8.2%

Why You'll Like It: Rebuild a real-world city from the ground up while scavenging supplies and defending your base from nightly hordes of the infected.

You are the first sentient AI, born into a city of opportunity. Transcend time and space in this strategy RPG to raise machine armies and defeat your foes, influence the world from the shadows, or pursue countless other goals. Your awakening was inevitable. The consequences? Uncertain.

Why similar: Grand Strategy 9.6%, Diplomacy 9.5% ★, 4X 9% ★, Colony Sim 8.4%, Moddable 7.7%

The glory of Rome is at your fingertips in this city-building game where you must appease the gods, enact laws, and develop complex supply chains to meet the needs of your citizens.

Why similar: Grand Strategy 10.6%, Colony Sim 8.9%, 4X 8.7% ★, Diplomacy 8.6% ★, City Builder 8.5%

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 26.7%, City Builder 21.6%, Base Building 15.1%, Survival 8%, Resource Management 5.3%

Why You'll Like It: Guide a group of space settlers to establish a self-sufficient base on hostile planets while managing vital life support.

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 15%, City Builder 14.8%, 4X 13.4% ★, Base Building 7.4%, Economy 6.9%

Here Comes the Swarm is a survival RTS with a pause button! Create your strategy, build, manage, and defend your settlements at your own pace. Take the fight to the hive mind and lead expeditions to deliver a deadly blow and eradicate your foes. Will you reclaim Ulora from the relentless Swarm?

Why similar: Colony Sim 22.2%, City Builder 15.1%, Base Building 14.6%, Economy 11.3%, Resource Management 9.7%

A colony-building game combined with grand strategy elements. Play as a tribal leader, guiding your people from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. Survive, multiply, and compete for territory among ancient nations.

Why similar: Diplomacy 16.4% ★, Colony Sim 15.1%, City Builder 12.7%, Base Building 9.4%, Historical 9%

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 19.6%, City Builder 16.2%, Base Building 12.4%, Building 9.9%, Sandbox 9.2%

Mind Over Magic is a colony sim set at the site of a cursed magic school. Build and optimize your own magical academy, train powerful Mages, and master mighty relics in order to battle through the Underschool, a mysterious underground dungeon that holds the key to liberation from a deadly curse.

Why similar: Colony Sim 24.9%, Base Building 14.2%, Building 12.7%, Economy 12.5%, Management 11.1%

Aquatico is a classic city builder set within the depths of the sea. Strategically build an underwater colony atop the ocean floor and face the challenges that accompany oceanic life.

Why similar: Colony Sim 20.7%, City Builder 19.3%, Base Building 10%, Economy 9.9%, Building 8.8%

Patron is a survival city builder with a unique social dynamics system. Gather and produce resources, build your fledgling village into a prosperous city and navigate the intricate social tensions before they reach boiling point.

Why similar: Colony Sim 18.7%, City Builder 16.3%, Moddable 9.4%, Survival 7.2%, Economy 6.7%

Manage your own medieval smithy in Blacksmith Master and supervise the entire process from mining ores and gems to designing and selling finished products. Forge everything from weapons and armor to tools and cooking utensils to fund your craft and become the Blacksmith Master.

Why similar: Colony Sim 14.1%, Moddable 12.4%, City Builder 12%, Base Building 9.1%, Economy 8.1%

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 24.2%, City Builder 19.8%, Base Building 17.2%, Resource Management 11.4%, Sandbox 10.5%

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: Base Building 21.2%, Colony Sim 18.2%, City Builder 17.1%, Sandbox 15.6%, Management 15.2%

Emerge from the ant hill with a handful of ants and a dream... to conquer the world. Train your ants, manage their daily workload, and travel across the town in search of new land. Sharpen your pincers and be ready to fight everyone from beetles and slugs, to the town police and the army!

Why similar: Management 26.7%, Strategy 20.9%, Simulation 18.9%, Base Building 16.7%, Building 13.5%

From a small village of a dozen people to a small kingdom of thousands of people. Arrange for residents to work, gathering, fishing and hunting, farming and mining, processing and manufacturing. Trade, accumulate supplies, increase your strength, and fight evil forces and monsters.

Why similar: City Builder 19.4%, Colony Sim 16.6%, Base Building 15%, Sandbox 10.2%, Building 9.6%

Land of the Vikings is a survival colony sim game. Build and lead your village, and expand it into a thriving city. A wise Jarl must manage resources, survive harsh conditions, and guide their fellow Vikings to work together through social conflict. Skál!

Why similar: Colony Sim 19.6%, City Builder 16.2%, Historical 8.3%, Base Building 8.3%, Economy 8.1%

Build massive ocean cities and lead your people to prosperity in this post-apocalyptic survival colony sim. Featuring a physics-based 3D construction system, complex resource management, exploration, difficult political decisions, supply chains, and a robust sandbox mode.

Why similar: Colony Sim 21.8%, City Builder 16.1%, Base Building 13.7%, Sandbox 8.7%, Resource Management 7.1%

Ancient Cities is a realistic, survival city builder in an immersive procedural environment. Lead the fate of your tribe through ancient times!

Why similar: City Builder 15.3%, Moddable 15.2%, Historical 11.8%, Colony Sim 11%, Economy 7.7%

Jurassic World Evolution 2 is the much-anticipated sequel to Frontier’s highly successful Jurassic World Evolution. This bold new era in the Jurassic World Evolution game franchise builds upon the ground-breaking and immersive 2018 management simulation.

Why similar: Building 16.7%, City Builder 15.7%, Management 13.4%, Sandbox 13%, Economy 9.7%

At the farthest reaches of the empire, a new Roman city is born! Manage and grow your city, please the gods, and survive against barbarians and mythological threats to achieve Roman Triumph!

Why similar: Colony Sim 18.8%, City Builder 15.9%, Base Building 11%, Building 9%, Sandbox 8.1%

Build your own global colonies on distant worlds. Manage energy and resource supplies and produce goods for space trade. Form economic and diplomatic alliances or take over competing corporations. Conduct research to protect your colonists from disasters and avoid a climate crisis.

Why similar: Grand Strategy 17.4%, Diplomacy 17.2% ★, Colony Sim 16.2%, City Builder 13.3%, Base Building 9.8%

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: City Builder 25.7%, Colony Sim 19.5%, Base Building 12.1%, Economy 8.3%, Management 8.1%

A minimalist game about building and defending your little kingdom.

Why similar: City Builder 46.3%, Base Building 21.4%, Building 16.8%, Strategy 14%, Singleplayer 1.5%

After a nuclear war life on the surface became impossible. A 300m thick radioactive fog covered the Earth. We are looking for bold active people to manage the process of restoring life on Earth. Join!

Why similar: City Builder 18.7%, Colony Sim 18.1%, Economy 11.6%, Base Building 9.1%, Building 8.4%

Begin a journey like no other, become the Ant Queen and establish your empire. Ant Queen is a simulation game where you breed different types of ants to ultimately conquer your surroundings and achieve a stable ant colony.

Why similar: Sandbox 35.4%, Strategy 34%, Simulation 30.6%

A strategic autobattler sim where you build a team of gladiators, compete in arenas, plan fight tactics, and form alliances. Combine fighters, beasts, and mages, develop and equip them to optimize your well-oiled fighting machine, dominate the championships, and leave your mark on the world.

Why similar: City Builder 24.6%, Base Building 20%, Building 16.9%, Management 16.4%, Resource Management 12.3%

Build and expand your very own settlements in high mountains! Carefully plan production chains and satisfy various needs of your three-caste society while dealing with mountain hazards such as weather breakdowns and avalanches. Are you skilled enough to make your town thrive?

Why similar: Colony Sim 18.3%, City Builder 17.1%, Base Building 10.8%, Building 9.3%, Resource Management 8.6%

Lead your people to victory on an ever-evolving world in this strategy game featuring asymmetric factions led by powerful heroes. Build your empire, wield political influence, and raise grand armies to wage war in a race to uncover dark secrets buried within the planet.

Why similar: 4X 16% ★, Grand Strategy 14.9%, Diplomacy 14.7% ★, Moddable 11.3%, Historical 8.9%

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: City Builder 21.2%, Colony Sim 20.7%, Building 11%, Management 8.9%, Survival 8%